vegan-ish

I have been a vegetarian for about 18 years. People always ask me why. Well, I guess it started right before I graduated from college. I found out I had high cholesterol, so I gave up red meat. It seemed to compliment my love for animals, so I just did it. As years passed, I became more and more strict about my vegetarianism and gave up chicken and turkey years later. The more I knew, the more I felt I was doing the right thing for me, my health and my values. I am past eating meat and never feel the desire to consume it again.

This brings us to today. As I've stated before, I'm on a quest to become healthier. I think overall I'm pretty good. I generally don't eat white bread, pasta, or rice. My problems stem from my love of sugar (chocolate or cake to be exact) and cheese. I am reading Skinny Bitch about being healthier. The authors are vegan, which is something I've mentally thought about many many times. I am going to try to adopt a more vegan lifestyle. I don't know if I can do it totally, but it's worth exploring. They also say to give up refined sugar, coffee and alcohol (except red wine). Sorry, but my coffee will remain part of my diet, as will alcohol, and as far as sugar is concerned, I can sure try some sugar alternatives and can most definitely cut down. At least with those vices, I know no animals were harmed in the making of these delicious products. I had to skip the chapter where people who work in slaughterhouses were interviewed. I already know too much and it literally haunts me, keeps me up at night. Like Linda McCartney said "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarian."

So that's where I stand today. Step #1 is to give up cheese and take it from there. Off to Whole Foods to find some substitutes and re-confirm my decision. When I think about how we exploit animals, I get completely overwhelmed. I think there are some people who just don't care, and some who just don't know. I'm not judging, I'm just saying... My family eats meat, hell-I cook it for them! Part of this quest will involve choosing better meats for them and incorporating more vegetarian dishes. I think about how can one little person make a difference and I am frequently discouraged. But then I remember this: I have a favorite saying that I saw on the lid of an instant soup container years ago. It was a story about a little boy walking down the beach when hundreds of sea horses were washed ashore and lay in the sand, dying. He started to pick them up one by one and throw them back in. A man walks by and says "Son, that's not going to make a difference" to which the boy replied "To that seahorse it will". So, there you have it. Wish me luck.