I have been vegetarian since eight, it was for me a moral choice being aware what I was eating but I never preach about it. I still eat some free range eggs though I hope to have my own hens in the future. I think key is moderation, let's not forget not only animal welfare but how contaminating meat industry is. I think a healthy vegetarian diet can be done but most vegetarian/vegan people I know don't really bother to research, not saying that was your case, some bodies are different and and have different requirements. I tend to have anemy and be low on iron, and turned out that though a carnivore diet would have been a fix it was not the underlying reason it was happening, nor my vegetarian diet to blame. Every body is different.