--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was vegetarian, trying to eat from…" description: "\"I was vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants without meat. I didn't know how to eat properly and I was starving. I was adrenalized to the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/michael-stipe-6714_abstinence_i-was-vegetarian-trying-to-eat-from-fast_1601174.jpg" --- # I was vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants… ![“I was vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants without meat. I didn't know how to eat properly and I was starving. I was adrenalized to the eyeballs from performing. I was afraid that I was sick with AIDS. We were playing five shows a week. I even went through a period of abstinence…” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/michael-stipe-6714_abstinence_i-was-vegetarian-trying-to-eat-from-fast_1601174.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/michael-stipe-6714_abstinence_i-was-vegetarian-trying-to-eat-from-fast_1601174.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/michael-stipe-6714_abstinence_i-was-vegetarian-trying-to-eat-from-fast_1601174.jpg) > “I was vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants without meat. I didn't know how to eat properly and I was starving. I was adrenalized to the eyeballs from performing. I was afraid that I was sick with AIDS. We were playing five shows a week. I even went through a period of abstinence where I didn't drink and stopped having sex. Which is crazy. Maybe I'm answering too many questions at once here, but this is where my mind was at the age of 25.” [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Struggling with health anxieties and lifestyle choices, the speaker describes chaotic coping mechanisms and fear of illness. **In simple terms:** Fear and confusion about health and habits. Key Takeaway Seek stable support and professional guidance. Themes health anxiety identity crisis coping mechanisms substance use sexual health Mood anxious conflicted reflective Type personal narrative confessional When to use this quote - college years - mental health crisis - sexual health - substance use - career pressure Key Concepts psychology addiction risk perception self‑care Questions to Reflect On - How did fear shape your choices? - What support could have helped? A Different Perspective Fear can distort perception and lead to harmful habits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstinence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Fast food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast-food/) [Fast food restaurants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast-food-restaurants/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Vegetarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetarian/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) ## Related quotes > [I’d always been afraid of sick people, and so had my mother. It wasn’t that we feared catching their brain aneurysm or accidentally ripping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-d-always-been-afraid-of-sick-people-and-so-had-my-mother-it-wasn-t/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [“People looked at me, shocked. I gave them a nice big smile. That's right, look what big teeth I have. I knew I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/people-looked-at-me-shocked-i-gave-them-a-nice-big-smile-that-s-right/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [The WHO took care to explicitly say that processed meat didn’t rank alongside smoking when it comes to cancer risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-drum/the-who-took-care-to-explicitly-say-that-processed-meat-didn-t-rank/) [Kevin Drum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-drum/) > [If I stopped having passion, I'd be done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/if-i-stopped-having-passion-i-d-be-done/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [I hate having my picture taken. Ten years ago, I stopped having a good side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-ricard/i-hate-having-my-picture-taken-ten-years-ago-i-stopped-having-a-good/) [Rene Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-ricard/) > [But after a certain point in a marriage, you stopped having a certain kind of fight, Olive thought, because when the years behind you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/but-after-a-certain-point-in-a-marriage-you-stopped-having-a-certain/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [As soon as I became a mom, my birthday stopped having any meaning whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisol-nichols/as-soon-as-i-became-a-mom-my-birthday-stopped-having-any-meaning/) [Marisol Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisol-nichols/) > [pulled into my convenient neighborhood fast food restaurant. I ordered shrimp salad, onion rings, and a beer. The shrimp were straight out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/pulled-into-my-convenient-neighborhood-fast-food-restaurant-i-ordered/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [When you go into a fast food restaurant, you may just think about how good your meal tastes while you're eating it. But you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/when-you-go-into-a-fast-food-restaurant-you-may-just-think-about-how/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) > [I could never be in a situation with a job where I was not allowed to listen to music all day. I would rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-could-never-be-in-a-situation-with-a-job-where-i-was-not-allowed-to/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [I think participating in "Gishwhes" is a crash course in facing our fears: people go to crowded shopping malls wearing scuba gear, order from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/i-think-participating-in-gishwhes-is-a-crash-course-in-facing-our/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [Eric Schlosser's book on the economy and strategies of the fast-food business should be read by anyone who likes to take their children to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-nicolson/eric-schlosser-s-book-on-the-economy-and-strategies-of-the-fast-food/) [Adam Nicolson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-nicolson/) > [The minimum wage isn't earned only by people working at fast food restaurants and in service industry work - the average income for positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rolf/the-minimum-wage-isn-t-earned-only-by-people-working-at-fast-food/) [David Rolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rolf/) > [If we can have a fast food restaurant on almost every corner, then we can certainly have a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-de-blasio/if-we-can-have-a-fast-food-restaurant-on-almost-every-corner-then-we/) [Bill de Blasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-de-blasio/) > [A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/a-generation-ago-three-quarters-of-the-money-used-to-buy-food-in-the/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) ## More by Michael Stipe > [We don't get groupies.We get teenagers who want to read us their poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/we-don-t-get-groupies-we-get-teenagers-who-want-to-read-us-their/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [ At the \[teenage\] time, I did have an inkling of my sexuality. And I had an inkling that I was different from other people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/at-the-teenage-time-i-did-have-an-inkling-of-my-sexuality-and-i-had/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [I don't find R.E.M. to be nihilistic. There is a constant undertone of joyous optimism. I'm not going to kill myself to Patti Smith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/i-don-t-find-r-e-m-to-be-nihilistic-there-is-a-constant-undertone-of/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [ I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt \[Cobain\] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/i-simply-constructed-a-project-to-try-to-snap-kurt-cobain-out-of-a/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [I was vulnerable every day. Every night that I stepped on stage I was laying myself open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/i-was-vulnerable-every-day-every-night-that-i-stepped-on-stage-i-was/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [We're absolutely American and distinctly so, I think. That's part of what people respond to outside of this country, part of the reason that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/we-re-absolutely-american-and-distinctly-so-i-think-that-s-part-of/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [ \[Columbia House\] magazines were how I found out about the punk world going on in New York. Because of what I read, at the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/columbia-house-magazines-were-how-i-found-out-about-the-punk-world/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [I'm tired of being this solemn poet of the masses, the enigma shrouded in a mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/i-m-tired-of-being-this-solemn-poet-of-the-masses-the-enigma-shrouded/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [Frankly I'm not great with heroin addicts. I tried heroin, but it was by accident. I'm not great with that level of substance abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/frankly-i-m-not-great-with-heroin-addicts-i-tried-heroin-but-it-was/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [The whole punk ethic was do-it-yourself, and I've always been very literal, especially as a kid. When they said that anybody can do this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/the-whole-punk-ethic-was-do-it-yourself-and-i-ve-always-been-very/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [They spoke truth and a lot of people listened… that voice, Kurt we miss you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/they-spoke-truth-and-a-lot-of-people-listened-that-voice-kurt-we-miss/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [A wise man once said-'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave,'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/a-wise-man-once-said-the-skill-in-attending-a-party-is-knowing-when/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [They always want me to play myself and that's a big snooze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/they-always-want-me-to-play-myself-and-that-s-a-big-snooze/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [Anything you do as a group is fraught with compromise... But everyone 's got to do that, right? It's part of being a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/anything-you-do-as-a-group-is-fraught-with-compromise-but-everyone-s/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [To be called an elder statesman is so unbelievably insulting. Brad Pitt is exactly three years younger than me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/to-be-called-an-elder-statesman-is-so-unbelievably-insulting-brad/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) [Explore all 98 Michael Stipe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) ## More Abstinence quotes > [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fitzjames-stephen/used-with-due-abstinence-hope-acts-as-a-healthful-tonic-intemperately/) [James Fitzjames Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fitzjames-stephen/) > [“Male masturbation is not a release, it is a squandering. Anyone who begins to no-fap will soon discover this. Like most things, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-freestone/male-masturbation-is-not-a-release-it-is-a-squandering-anyone-who/) [Jack Freestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-freestone/) > [Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/atheism-is-a-religion-like-abstinence-is-a-sex-position/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [When a married person uses pornography, or is unfaithful, it compromises not just his (or her) purity, but also compromises the spouse's purity. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-o-donnell/when-a-married-person-uses-pornography-or-is-unfaithful-it/) [Christine O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-o-donnell/) > [“Look, choosing to wait until marriage makes me feel empowered. But if the same choice cripples you, then it wasn't the right one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-allen/look-choosing-to-wait-until-marriage-makes-me-feel-empowered-but-if/) Rachael Allen > [Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/taking-the-pledge-will-not-make-bad-liquor-good-but-it-will-improve-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [There is a great deal of political pressure to only talk about abstinence, and to deny support for condoms and education on using them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-is-a-great-deal-of-political-pressure-to-only-talk-about/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Abstinence-only education - the best STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and pregnancy delivery system that politicians have ever devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/abstinence-only-education-the-best-std-sexually-transmitted-disease/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [While one may lose much because of avarice, nothing was ever accomplished by abstinence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isuna-hasekura/while-one-may-lose-much-because-of-avarice-nothing-was-ever/) [Isuna Hasekura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isuna-hasekura/) > [“The secular, for all its goodness, does not defend itself very well against mindless and perpetual consumption. It cries out to be offered by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/the-secular-for-all-its-goodness-does-not-defend-itself-very-well/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [I went to an all-girls Catholic school. And all the nuns just breathed down our necks "abstinence." And that's not the right thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/i-went-to-an-all-girls-catholic-school-and-all-the-nuns-just-breathed/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [How do we want our air? Pure. How do we want our water? Pure. How do we want sex on our wedding night? Pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-kelly/how-do-we-want-our-air-pure-how-do-we-want-our-water-pure-how-do-we/) Molly Kelly > [“There’s gratification in abstaining from the easy choice. Instant gratification can bring more suffering than pleasure. If I do the hard thing, the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-wang/there-s-gratification-in-abstaining-from-the-easy-choice-instant/) Cecily Wang [Browse all 233 Abstinence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was vegetarian, trying to eat from fast-food restaurants without meat. I didn't know how to eat properly and I was starving. I was adrenalized to the eyeballs from performing. I was afraid that I was sick with AIDS. We were playing five shows a week. I even went through a period of abstinence where I didn't drink and stopped having sex. Which is crazy. 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