Back in September after a trip to MN for my sister-in-laws wedding, I ate meat for the last time. It was a Juicy Lucy (2 hamburger patties stuffed with scalding cheddar cheese) from Matt's Bar and Grilled. Now don't get me wrong, it was uh-mazing but something had changed. I realized my stomach hurt and and I felt, well... gross. From that moment, I decided to quit meat. Cold Turkey.
Now my friends know me. They know how ridiculous I am with things. I quit smoking years ago and to this day, I won't even take so much as a puff. I feel like that one puff will erase all the years I've stacked up without smoking. It's kind of like an addict staying sober in my eyes. So, when I decided to "quit" meat, I took the same mentality. Wanna know something weird? I have dreams that I eat meat or smoke and I wake up in a panic. It's safe to say that I'm nuts.
My road towards vegetarianism has been a long one. I'm a huge animal lover and break down and sob if I see a dead animal on the side of the road. I can't watch any Sarah McLachlan commericals, and my husband is really great at quickly changing the channel as soon as that song comes on. As a child, I took care of and rehabilitated wild animals (my father was our city's Animal Control Officer). So, when it came to eating meat, I basically just ignored the fact of where it came from. I tried to tell myself that they animals led a great life until they were slaughtered and I even glorified the slaughtering process by telling myself that it happened quickly and with little pain. I knew that what I was telling myself was a complete lie, but how could a little Ohio girl live without meat??
Well she can, and she does. I began to educate myself on a vegetarian lifestyle. I bought the book The Kind Life by Alicia Silverstone and began reading. I learned things about the manufacturing process that made me sick. I learned what the raising of livestock was doing to our world. I learned that I could live a long and healthy life. I learned that I could take control of my health issues. And so it began...
Cooking had always been my hobby. To me, there's nothing better then coming home from a long day of work, pouring a glass of wine, putting Pandora on, and chopping, and sauteing, and smelling, and eating. I LOVE it! So this new way of eating was going to be easy for me. All I needed was some ideas to get me started. I started reading blogs and looking on Amazon for good cookbooks. I came across a blog called The Happy Herbivore and was enticed. The author of the website, Lindsay Nixon, also has 2 cookbooks out and I ordered them both. Now this website and the cookbooks are all Vegan but I was up for the challenge. Cheese however, ugh. I do LOVE my cheese. Disclaimer: I am not completely Vegan. Although many of the things I eat are. More on this topic later...
I have been going strong for over 5 months now. I was seriously annoyed when my veggie pizza I ordered during the beginning of the journey contained many pieces of ham, but I spit them out. And I was not happy when my veggie breakfast burrito was hiding chewy pieces of bacon. But I persevered :) I'm just glad I'm not allergic to it!
At the end of the day, many GREAT things have happened:
I have kept off the weight I lost for my wedding- WITHOUT working out 5 days a week for 2 hours at a time! HOLLA! C'mon- I lost 16 lbs. and have only gained back about 3lbs. #Winning!
I have more energy than I ever have before. This is good considering that I am teaching Kindergarten this year and those little munchkins are exhausting!
My tummy troubles are almost non-existent, and I now use the restroom regularly if you catch my drift...
My skin shines, my hair and nails are strong.
My seriously meat loving husband enjoys the food I make. He's dropped some weight too!
Oh, and my clothes fit :)
I think that's enough background to get me started. Oh, and I hope that I didn't bore you too much and that you're still awake :)
Goodnight Friends!
Go Lindsay! great start. I've been your fan through all of the facebook photos...and you and nicole have me thinking seriously about all this. You rock. Love, Nicki- van dailey
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