Recently my husband and I have been having an ongoing conversation. He thinks that vegans (people who aim to consume no animal-based products whatsoever, also called a pure or ethical vegetarians) are divisive and don't try to see opposing views to the argument of omnivores desire to eat and enjoy meat. He says the skin on the back of his neck prickle whenever I start a sentence with, "Did you know that ______ fill in the blank____ is a vegan?" Let me also explain that my husband is a fitness instructor and manages the health facility at our local community college. He is well-informed about eating healthy and exercising to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I also need to clarify, that the reaction is not the same when I mention vegetarians. He is total okay with vegetarianism... it's the vegan thing that puts him over the top. And, he claims he's not alone.

Statistically, many people are becoming more comfortable with a plant-based diet. "Vegetarianism in America" study, published by Vegetarian Times (vegetariantimes.com), shows that 3.2 percent of U.S. adults, or 7.3 million people, follow a vegetarian-based diet. Approximately 0.5 percent, or 1 million, of those are vegans, who consume no animal products at all. In addition, 10 percent of U.S., adults, or 22.8 million people, say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet. We are a growing trend.

Our numbers are increasing as more and more people are trying to improve their health. The 2008 study also indicated that over half (53 percent) of current vegetarians eat a vegetarian diet to improve their overall health. There are articles in the newspaper every single day, telling us how to improve our diets and our lifestyles and the scary results if we don't.

However, knowing all of this, the term "vegan" still conjures up visions of angry PETA members and a finger pointing mob for many people. Isn't it ironic that vegans, who care so much about kindness towards animals, have such a negative reputation? Why is that? Could there be a better way to get a message across and create unity instead of divisiveness?

What if we try to be willing to compromise? One of the most popular terms recently is flexitarian. A flexitarian is someone who is reducing the amount of meat and animal-based products they ingest. If you think about those 22.8 million people, who say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet - perhaps many of them would be considered flexitarians or something akin to that. And I believe, a positive step all around.

One way to become a flexitarian and to begin those small steps is to practice "Meatless Monday". Even doing without meat one day per week is a great start to improving your health, saving money on your grocery bill (up to $1500 per year according to meatlessmonday.com) and even helping to improve the environment, as one of the worst contributors to the destruction of our atmosphere happens to be cow flatulence (I kid you not).

Showing compassion and acceptance for each others choices, can be the first step, as compassion leads to compassion, acceptance leads to acceptance - and isn't that what many vegetarians and vegans are motivated by in the first place? I know in my case, I had to accept the fact that my mother died of heart disease at the age of 46 years old. The writing was on the wall. I had to accept that I needed to make changes in my dietary intake or possibly experience the same shortened lifespan. It was after I was motivated by this acceptance of my circumstances, that I became compassionate towards the sad reality and horrors of how we treat our food animals. I can no longer eat anything that has a face or a mother. I can't ingest the pain, fear, sadness and death that these animals experienced in order to be on my plate - but that's my choice.

Becoming a flexitarian can be the first steps in practicing what Mahatma Gandhi put so well, when he said, "become the change we wish to see in the world."

Ana Lewis, CEO of Co-Op Web, Inc.; Founder of Women on the Verge and Vegetarian