Today is a really important day in my life. I have been in what you could call a love/hate relationship the past three years of my life. We have had good times and bad, but when it all boils down, it really ended up bettering me both physically and sometimes emotionally.
It was three years ago today that I made a life-changing decision. On May 1, 2005, I became a vegetarian.
Growing up with a family that are big meat eaters made the transition a bit more difficult. I started off slow by eliminating seafood then red meat. For the longest time I just ate chicken, but came to the conclusion after writing a paper for my Bio Ethics Philosophy class on animal rights, that I needed to do what was right for me and stop eating meat all together. It wasn’t hard at first, the grocery store was my oyster. Along with no longer eating meat and seafood, I decided to try and eliminate dairy products as well. In a matter of three months, I had lost 30 lbs. and felt fantastic. My skin was so clear and glowy, I felt really great physically and a lot of my stomach problems had seemed to have disappeared.
However, not everyone in my life liked my new and “drastic” decision. My boyfriend at the time wasn’t too impressed with my decision and often reminded me that, “you don’t win friends with salad.” At the first big family gathering when my mother announced to everyone that I was now a vegetarian, I was bombarded with, “why?”, “when,” and a very sarcastic good lucks.
I spent a lot of time online on PETA’s website reading up on recipes and getting educated on the treatment of animals, only later to realize that their point of view was very extreme. One of my bosses even told me that I shouldn’t tell people that I was associated with them because a lot of people view them as a kind of terrorist group and probably wouldn’t hire me. My affiliation with PETA ended that day.
Over the past three years however, I have been finding it extremely difficult to keep up with a vegetarian diet. Financially, it is draining my bank account. Buying fake meat is terribly expensive, more expensive than buying the real stuff. The fake stuff is also hard to find in smaller chain grocery stores, leaving the option of having to drive to major chains and spending that extra money more evident. I have also found it difficult to find decent and filling meals in restaurants. A lot of restaurants only offer salads pastas or starters as vegetarian options, with the odd one offering a veggie burger or roasted vegetables in a wrap. Eating the same things over and over and over again has really become tiresome for someone who likes a lot of variety in her life.
Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of thinking and I came to this conclusion; maybe I should go back to eating meat. I have talked to a couple of people about it, one is all for it and the other said that the decision is purely up to me.
Last night I had a dream that I was going behind my mother’s back and making a chicken salad sandwich and when she questioned where the two pieces of chicken went, I told her I had fed them to my cat. I looked up the dream online, but the answer didn’t give me much insight as to what it really meant. It also doesn’t help that my friend Shaan posted 50 Ways to use Bacon on his blog. Is this a sign? Should I be listening attentively?
I never thought that I would ever say this, but most of the time, I miss eating meat. I see friends and family enjoying themselves while eating as I pick away at my salad. I have a lot of thinking to do.
Congrats on making it this far…I know I wouldn’t be able to do it.
I also understand how difficult it must be to maintain….and to be healthy. A friend of mine turned vegan and basically ate Ketchup chips for a year. That was until she learned to search out this info and find networks of people that were in the same position.
You have a ton of resources at your fingertips (literally). Are there any vegetarian blogs you read? Maybe they can help you in finding more options that aren’t so costly.
I would also recommend checking out Sparkpeople.com it is a wonderful resource that focus on healthy lifestyles. It has customizable diet plans and even question/answer forums. I bet you could get help in a seconds.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to convince you to not eat meat but it seems that this has had such benefits on your life that would suck to give up.
But…if you do…I recommend starting with Free Hamburger Day at Harvey’s. here is a link to the facebook event ;)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15691206420
z
If you decide to go back… do it right: Jack Astors :P
Whatever decision you make is ultimately up to you. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
a) is eating meat morally wrong to me?
b) if I had endless amounts of money, would I be making this choice?
c) am I missing out on something? and if yes… do I really care?
My philosophy on food (and probably why I’ll never be thin) is: if I like it, I’m gonna eat it. I’ve never believed in depriving yourself. I don’t count calories. I don’t feel guilty about eating anything. You’ve also got to ask yourself, is it my body craving meat, or is it me? Could be a mental thing if its a financial situation thats making you doubt your choices… and it could just be that you weren’t born to be a vegetarian (if you believe in that sort of thing).
Anyway, best of luck and think with your head and your heart!
I have been a vegetarian for three years. It was always easy for me though, I never liked meat in the first place. If you truly miss eating meat, then by all means go back to it. Satisfy your craving, but you may find that after eating that juicy burger you realize you didnt really want it in the first place. If the reason you are going back to eating meat for convenience/cost issues, then you should do some serious research. Fake meat is not the only source of protein, tofu, seitan, beans and tempeh are all excellent, delicious and cheaper choices. As zoe said, search out vegetarian blogs, get some cookbooks(try the library!), experiment. Being a vegetarian can be an extremely satisfying and cheap diet. As you said you will have to do a lot of thinking to decide what is right for you, but before you decide give these ideas one more shot. PS. Free burger day at harveys also offers free veggie burgers!