After decades of a growing appetite for meat, U.S. consumption is finally dropping after hitting "peak meat" a decade ago. But while many people are eating less meat, giving it up totally is much harder. Few people stick with their decision to become vegetarian or vegan. 
 
 In an attempt to move animal-free diets "from the margins more towards the center," the Humane Research Council just put out the first study to put numbers to the lapsed vegetarian phenomenon. Their main takeaway is essentially what people have said for years: getting people to reduce their meat and dairy intake will be more effective overall than demanding "purity," or complete elimination of animal products from their diet. 
 
 According to their research, drawn from a representative sample of more than 11,000 adults over age 17 in the U.S., while only 2% of the U.S. population is currently vegetarian or vegan, another 10% used to be. Put another way, they found that only 1 in 5 vegetarians and vegans maintains their diet; a full 84% eventually revert back to eating meat or other animal products. 
 
 The study also shows how and why many people lapse. Most former vegetarians and vegans (65%) said they first transitioned to their veg diet in just a few days or weeks, while fewer current vegetarians (53%) transitioned that quickly, suggesting that perhaps a slower approach leads to longer-lasting results. They also found that the "window of opportunity is limited," when it comes to getting people to stick to their diets: A third-of people abandoned their animal-free diets in three months or less, and more than half abandoned it within the first year. 
 
 Reasons for quitting varied, but perhaps intuitively, a lot comes down to relationships. A third of all former vegetarians lived with a non-vegetarians or non-vegan partner when they went back to eating meat. The study also found that current vegetarians were more likely to cite multiple reasons for being vegetarian—such as animal welfare, environmentalism, and personal health—while many former vegetarians (58%) cited health as the main motivator. In other words, from the advocacy group’s perspective, health can be an effective "foot in the door" approach to increasing the number of vegetarians and vegans, but often not enough to keep people animal-free for the long-term. 
 
 The Humane Research Council also says advocates need to change the culture around being vegetarian or vegan and acknowledge its challenges. More than 60% of former vegetarians/vegans disliked sticking out from the crowd because of their diet, and 58% did not see their diet as part of their identity. Nearly 50% said they found it too difficult to maintain a "pure diet." 
 
 "The latest findings once again show that a message focused on reduction instead of elimination of animal products may be more effective to create an overall decline in animal product consumption," the report says. "Advocates would be well advised to soften their appeals to avoid suggesting the choice is all or nothing." ||||| In 1995 I decided to stop eating meat. I could never really quite explain why, I think it was something to do with watching a documentary where they cooked a cat and partly because I had a really crap job working for Wolves Poly and felt my life was slipping away. It definitely wasn't anything to do with any 'vegetarian month'. 
 
 I did a number of weird things. I experimented with stopping washing my hair (it got greasy), I stopped watching TV after catching Newsnight really stoned and deciding that Jeremy Paxman was fundamentally a comedian so there was little difference between the news and Beadle's About. I also stopped eating meat. 
 
 First it was just red meat. I said goodbye in a Birmingham Burger King; the sandwich was greasy and unpleasant and I thought 'good riddance'. 
 
 I found eating only white meat was hard. People didn't know what to cook for me - they'd tell me I was just being awkward. They were right, so there was only one thing for it, cutting out all meat altogether. 
 
 So I simply stopped putting it in my mouth. It was that simple. I didn't feel any different and what I cooked didn't really change as I was a complete povvo and didn't bother buying much meat anyway. 
 
 To be honest, I was the world's worst vegetarian. You see - I didn't really like vegetables very much. I'd spent most of my childhood terrified of them - horrid bland mushy things. It's only as an adult I realise that part of the problem is my mother's cooking - she hates using salt and has a tendency to over boil things. Thanks, Mum. 
 
 So there we are. A vegetarian who hates vegetables and mostly lives on pasta and cheese. Healthy. 
 
 Fast-forward nearly 15 years and I'm a father of two and increasingly aware of my diet. My wife stopped her vegetarian ways when pregnancy brought cravings for meat. 
 
 With her help (this makes her sound like my sponsor in Fussy Eaters Anonymous) I'd managed to eat more vegetables - by the time our second child was in the womb she was having spinach cravings and I didn't complain once about having to eat boiled green leaves every day. For six months. So I was doing better with a wider diet but still no drinking from the meaty cup. 
 
 My four-year-old son has the restricted palate that children often have. He mostly refuses to eat anything that isn't sausages or fruit, so dining out was becoming difficult. There was the small circle of cheesy carbs I'd eat, and the intersection with the circle of sausages that my son wants to eat was - well, if you understand your Venn diagrams you'll know there wasn't much in the middle. 
 
 It was a trip to Hastings that finally did it. At a fish 'n' chip shop pretty much the only thing on the menu I could eat was a microwaved cheese pasty. I simply couldn't face it and ordered fish. 
 
 Can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I found the portion of thick white flesh alarmingly large and I didn't want to think about the skin at all. However it did leave me feeling satisfied in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. Every cell in my body screaming "protein - that's what you need." 
 
 My wife was very impressed with me. She asked me what I wanted to try next and the thing that had been filling my thoughts since deciding to allow meat back into my life was pepperoni pizza. Those little toasted cups of fat that make for a party in the mouth everyone can afford. Although to ponce it up a bit we ate it in Hampstead. Lardy dah. 
 
 Bacon. Let's talk about bacon. There's no meat more glorious than bacon. You can add it to pasta instead of cheese. You can stick it in a sandwich, er ... instead of cheese. Or even rub it on to attract men (a top tip there ladies). 
 
 On telling my friends I was eating meat, one looked proud and said, "Welcome back to Man Club." Although my new macho credentials were severely dented by the admission that largely I'd been eating chicken - "Chicken? Why, us men class chicken as a vegetable." 
 
 I still haven't tried real meat. I can do a spag bog or even a burger but no steaks. I'm still a bit frightened of them. All too fleshy. 
 
 Many people must have had a similar experience. If you're a lapsed vegetarian (or a resurgent meat eater), what was it that made you fall off the vegetarian wagon? ||||| Two years after going vegan, Beyonce wows May 4 at the Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Beyonce describes how her trainer Marco Borges weaned her from fried chicken and fajitas in his new book, The 22-Day Revolution. (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Variety) 
 
 I lost 16 pounds in 22 days following the new vegan cookbook by Beyonce and Jay-Z's trainer. 
 
 The strict diet meant no sugar, flour, milk, meat, gluten, eggs, cheese, alcohol, coffee or soy products for at least three weeks, the time prescribed in The 22-Day Revolution by Marco Borges. 
 
 Instead, I sipped green smoothies, noshed on salads, learned how to make a mashed chickpea and smoked almond sandwich and spent hours in the kitchen preparing foods so I would not fail. 
 
 And the weight fell off. 
 
 As the Courier-Journal's food writer, I study eats for a living. And I care passionately about nutrition and exercise, with two marathon runs under my belt, two triathlons, a few 100-mile bike rides and a rabid cycling habit for Kroger, errands and to work downtown from Old Louisville. 
 
 But a recent marriage added three boys to my 14-year-old son and has left little time for exercise. The approach of 50 and menopause in recent years has resulted in a maddening weight creep. 
 
 By January 2013, I was so intent on dropping 16 pounds that I made it my workplace password "16poundsbyApril." I typed those words everyday into my computer and tried to monitor my eats and exercise via smartphone apps such as MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun. 
 
 For two years, nothing happened. 
 
 I used to run off excess weight and eat whatever I wanted. After a 20-mile run, there was no better reward — or faster way to fall asleep — than a greasy Smashburger with fries. The food coma was my friend. Packing my stomach with heavy foods was the way I grew up and an unhealthy habit to block out fatigue or emotional overwhelm. 
 
 As I have aged and my metabolism slows, I find exercise no longer takes off weight so quickly. 
 
 And there was the matter of time I no longer have. A serious endurance athlete schedule can consume 20 to 30 hours a week. Hours-long afternoon runs or Sundays cycling with friends was a great substitute for a social life when I was a lonely single mom. 
 
 So I started paying attention to the flood of healthy diet books that pour over the transom at the Courier-Journal. Author Marco Borges caught my eye with his story of exercise and diet in his new vegan book, The 22-Day Revolution. 
 
 When his Miami spinning clients ate vegan and worked out with him, Borges discovered they dropped weight fast instead of dropping out of class. That combination powered Borges' fame to spread among musicians, which led to a job as the personal trainer for Beyonce and Jay-Z 10 years ago. In late 2013, "B" was looking to shed weight after the birth of her daughter, Blue Ivy. Borges started with vegan breakfasts he prepared at their New York City home, beginning with hearty oatmeal for Jay with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and vanilla almond milk. Beyonce's breakfast was "avocado cherry tomato salad with a really cool seeded bread that was vegan and gluten free." 
 
 Both "B and Jay," as Borges calls them, eat vegan and are business partners with Borges in the 22 Days Nutrition Vegan Challenge Kit, a meal plan launched this year with the book. 
 
 As Beyonce said in the forward to the book, she reluctantly gave up her hometown Houston favorites of fried chicken, fajita tacos, BBQ ribs, fried shrimp and po'boy sandwiches. 
 
 "I thought I would feel deprived... that I would get headaches and be irritable. I was wrong about all that," Beyonce said. "What I discovered was increased energy, better sleep, weight loss, improved digestion... that I could still love food but this time it would love me back." 
 
 After completing The 22-Day Revolution last week, I don't have Beyonce's body but I agree with her on the other perks. Profound sleep is deep and uninterrupted. My eyes pop open at 6 a.m. Colleagues and my family report that my skin glows. Most important, I was able to pull those size 14 Lucky jeans from my closet last week for the first time since 2013 and they fit. 
 
 Borges' plan looks nothing like the pasta, bagels, pork roast or tacos I love. Light in calories but loaded with volumes of fruit and vegetables, menu plans from The 22-Day Revolution also pack protein-rich quinoa, almonds and cashews. Abundant fats come later in the day via avocados, almond butter, tahini, or coconut milk. 
 
 A typical day began with a tart vegetable smoothie of spinach, kale, cucumber, peeled lemon, ginger root, turmeric, carrots and Granny Smith apple. Some breakfasts took resolve. One half cup of chia seeds soaked overnight in two cups almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon real maple syrup looked like grey seafoam jelly but tasted amazing and held my body steadfast until lunch. My favorite breakfast was almond butter smeared on two pieces of gluten-free toast with a side of blueberries and banana. 
 
 Borges allows no snacks, coffee, or alcoholic beverages. My only cheat everyday was Earl Grey tea with some Stevia sweetener and nonfat half-and-half — a soothing hot drink that saw me through doughnuts and Hershey's kisses left around the newsroom. Bicycle treks around Louisville or long walks with our two golden retrievers were my only daily exercise. 
 
 Lunches might be a baked sweet potato with tossed kale, cranberries, sunflower seeds, balsamic vinegar and mustard or a salsa of tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and jalapeno peppers loaded onto slices of grilled eggplant. I learned how to make gluten free pizza crust topped with "cheese" made of cooked ground cashews and topped with tomatoes, fresh basil and other vegetables. Dinner could be peppers stuffed with quinoa and beans, a lentil soup, or hearty salads. 
 
 Norton Cancer Institute clinical nutritionist Anita McLaughlin, who has lived a vegan lifestyle she now supplements with cheese, analyzed the 22 Day Revolution menu and remarked that the regimen is light in calories but packed with plentiful proteins and vitamins. 
 
 "It did seem a little light. I can see where you would drop fast," McLaughlin said. 
 
 For those trying to eat healthier, but are not ready to go vegetarian or vegan, McLaughlin suggested loading half a plate at mealtime with fruits or vegetables, one quarter starch like brown rice or quinoa and one quarter protein. 
 
 Putting down the spoon or fork remains challenging. And Borges cautions that without portion control, little weight will come off. As a result, I ate just four slices of vegan pizza one night and left the table. Sure enough, I felt full after 20 minutes had passed and my stomach had time to register that it was indeed satisfied. 
 
 On day 23, I cycled to Comfy Cow with my husband and four sons to celebrate victory with a scoop of bourbon pecan caramel ice cream. The creamy mouth feel of ice cream felt comforting but I paid dearly for the excess by nearly falling asleep at my desk for two days. A grilled ham and cheese sandwich over the weekend also left with me bloat and sluggish digestion. 
 
 Among my Facebook acquaintances, Kentucky Rep. Joni Jenkins (D-Shively), was inspired. Jenkins claims to be the only vegetarian in the state legislature and started The 22-Day Revolution after seeing my posts. In her second week, Jenkins reports she is down 8 pounds and "could eat this way 90 percent of the time." 
 
 When my family ate pizza with pepperoni for Sunday dinner, I knew that cheesy load of refined carbohydrates could result in a sleepy week. For dinner instead, I blended a smoothie of spinach, almond milk, avocado, hemp seeds, mango and strawberry. I woke up rested Monday and those Lucky jeans still sag off my hips. 
 
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– It seems becoming a vegetarian and staying a vegetarian are two very different things. A whopping 84% of vegetarians end up eating meat again, and most people shift back within a single year, according to a new study. Specifically, 53% of vegetarians are meat-eaters again within 12 months, while more than 30% go back to meat within three months, the Huffington Post reports. Of the 11,000 people studied, 2% were vegetarians, 10% former vegetarians, and 88% lifelong meat-eaters. A major reason for lapsing, it seems, was social: Those who returned to being omnivorous didn't have enough support among friends for their vegetarian lifestyles. Earlier research points to health issues from staying meat-free, the Smithsonian reports. Some 35% of respondents to a separate survey of lapsed vegetarians said their own poorer health drove them back to animal flesh, Skeptoid reports. "I will take a dead cow over anemia anytime," says one respondent. And in the Guardian, a lapsed vegetarian writes about the inconvenience of avoiding meat, as well as the feeling of "every cell in my body screaming 'protein—that's what you need.'" Perhaps the writer would agree with the conclusions of the new study, as Co.Exist reports them: "A message focused on reduction instead of elimination of animal products may be more effective to create an overall decline in animal product consumption." (Read about a veggie burger that "bleeds" like meat.)