After I graduated from college, 11 long years ago, I decided to try vegetarianism for a month. One month, no meat, no problem. I did it because I thought I would lose weight and I didn't. I piled up the carbs to compensate for what wasn't on my plate. I did continue to eat fish and dairy.
I've always been interested in it because I don't really like meat. I eat it because its there and we've all been taught to have that perfectly well-rounded plate. Technically, if you cut out all meat including fish as well as dairy and eggs, you are a VEGAN.
So, last September I glanced at Alicia Silverstone's controversial naked ad for veganism and of course got the link to HERE. I secretly got the starter kit, not to freak out my meat loving husband. Now Ingrid Newkirk (PETA founder) is sending me freakish e-mails every week about animal cruelty and asking me for my support. I even got some really cute PETA address labels for filling out a survey. I am concerned with ethical animal treatment. Am I a fanatic? Absolutely not, I don't march for animal rights or throw red paint on the women with fur, but I am an animal lover (YES, I love OZZY....sometimes) and I don't believe any animal should die in a cruel and inhumane manner either.
Now, to me its more of a health concern. I once read a book called "Eat Right For Your Type" in which the premise states that our bodies function more efficiently based on how we eat and exercise for our specific blood type. I am an "A+" and according to the author, I should be eating all fruits and veggies, and very little dairy. Even more so, I've started to pay attention to the way my body feels after I eat. Lately, I have been noticing that when I eat meat and cheese and even milk, I get stomachaches - - bad ones. I've also noticed headaches after too much processed/refined sugar. Am I on to something?
It just seems really hard and inconvenient to go VEGAN. Last week I decided to start looking at labels and more specifically, the "ingredients" list. It seems like dairy is in EVERYTHING. One of my best and dearest friends has been dairy-free for a few years now. She is allergic to it. Her 18-month old is dairy-free too (in order to be on the safe side of the genetic pool). She does really well now and she really sticks to it. She misses ice cream, but she eats the soy stuff. I bet its not as delicious though.
Which leads me to price. All food prices are soaring right now and the vegan section of the grocery store is sparse and expensive. We are all trying to save money, enough said.
Then, there is my Italian, meat-loving husband, who will technically eat anything you put on his plate (I adore him for that), but I just can't see him joining me. Even though, and I plan to argue with him on this, he gets terrible stomachaches from too much dairy AND he suffers from gout, AND his blood pressure is borderline high. He would no doubt benefit from becoming vegan, but its hard to change what you've known your whole life.
I'm still on the fence, but I heard if you plan to do this at all, you have to start slow, meaning slowly start replacing regular milk with soy milk, substitute red meat for white, READ the labels, and try new things like tofu (which I love anyway). The slower you phase it out of your diet, the easier it is to stick with it.
Yesterday I made a skillet with eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, eggs, and these Morningstar meatless meal starters (which is seasoned and tastes JUST LIKE crumbled Italian sausage).
"Where'd you get the sausage?" Dominic asked.
"At the store," I replied as I watched him eat heartily.
I turn to the kids and whisper deviously, "its not meat."
Lizzy gives me a look. DJ gives me a look.
"What is it?....don't tell me until I'm done. I don't want to know," Lizzy comments.
DJ continues to eat without saying a word.
I proudly announce what it is and that its got 87% less fat than sausage. Their plates are clean. Maybe this isn't too hard after all.
