It's possible I am the most gullible person alive. When I first heard that the world was ending in 2012, I start stocking up on food, water, cash, batteries, and zombie weapons. Whenever I see an infomercial about the latest and greatest miracle crap product, I've already got my phone out, credit card in hand. This impulse behavior has definitely gotten me burned in the past: I officially do not endorse The Magic Bullet, Winsor Pilates, or the Nads world famous extremely painful hair removal system. Let's go ahead and file those items under "Sarah, what were you thinking?" Oh, along with the "free" trip to Vegas I got us sucked into back in 2008. Indeed... if something seems to good to be true, then it probably is. But sometimes (okay, most times, for me) things can just seem so amazing.
But I digress.
Last week I attended a presentation by Vegetarians of Washington as part of my company's Wellness program. It was not intended to convert anyone to vegetarianism, but simply outline the health benefits of a vegetarian, or mostly vegetarian, diet. It was sort of a slow Thursday for me (and hey, lunch was provided!) so I decided to attend even though I was thoroughly convinced that there was no possible way that a vegetarian diet could be well-rounded and healthy.
I won't go into any details and I'm not looking for a debate, but I just wanted to share with everyone that this is something I've really started to ponder as a lifestyle choice. I'm going to start with some baby steps and hopefully take Stew to a presentation to get his thoughts, and then we'll see. I'm finding that as we get closer and closer to starting a family of our own, my health has become a bigger priority each day, and this may be my next step toward being the healthiest parent I can be.
In the meantime, you can probably look forward to seeing some recipes from my new complimentary copy of Vegetarian Times. And if you have any feedback or thoughts I would love to hear it!
Growing up, there was never a shortage of vegetables and other healthy food in our house. But we also ate meat with pretty much every meal. It took me a long time to get away from that mentality, but now I only eat meat about once a week. And since we don't eat meat as often, we can afford to buy local, grass fed, organic, free range, healthy meat instead of processed meat that comes from a factory thousands of miles away.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I'll ever be a full on vegetarian (I love me a juicy steak or a big burger!), but I do feel good about eating much less meat in general.
I can never imagine going full-on vegetarian, but for the past couple of weeks (without my husband to cook the meat properly), I have been eating less meat and it has been fine.
ReplyDeleteIt was really an easy change for me to make, since I was never a huge meat lover. So for some people it would be really hard to do. If it were bread, I'd never be able to give it up!
ReplyDeleteWe've been vegetarians for 5 years! If you do it, you should read "Skinny Bitch, Bun in the oven" when you are preggo, i love that book, although I am not vegan, I try to limit my dairy... I don't stick to the whole book but it's a good vegan pregnancy book, lol.. also "Forks over Knives" is on hulu.com for free, it's a great film about eating a plant based diet!
ReplyDeleteI tried to go vegetarian cold turkey a few years back, and lasted about three weeks. I couldn't say no to a company-sponsored steak dinner! I do feel much better when I eat less meat though. Too much makes me so lethargic.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I should mostly just listen to my body... For example, no more choking down chicken and fish with every meal just because I should, but if I'm craving a steak or really want to have a burger at a BBQ, then I'll indulge. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes! I'm really interested to see how my body will look/feel if I keep this up!
ReplyDeleteThis year, I crossed over the timeline of being a vegetarian longer than i was a meat eater. I cannot imagine eating meat again, and although I am not a vegan, I try not to eat cheese with rennet, gelatine or tallow.
ReplyDeleteBUT ... being a vege is not necessarily healthy - there's no meat in chocolate! :)
Good luck!
hey - do i remember reading about you giving a meat free diet a go a few years ago?
Bek - yes! I can't believe you remembered but back in 2009 I did stop eating meat for about a year. However, at that time it was to prove a point to my mother... so I think this time I have much better intentions. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI definitely think cheese is going to be the hardest part for me...