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aren’t I supposed to eat my veggies?

March 7, 2011 /

Veggiesseattle
I promised recently that I'd write about my month long vegan experiment. After being *blasted by my Mom for my veggie-eating ways, I thought that now is as good a time as any to explain –

I decided to become pescetarian in January. Why? Well – b/c I was tired of eating meat. It's that simple, really. I originally gave up red meat after my car accident in 1999. I wasn't moving much in those days, and I found that heavy food, namely meat, made me very sick. After hearing words like bowel impaction, trust me, it's rather easy to give up a steak. I went back to eating red meat a couple of years ago after a few months of instense cheeseburger cravings. Wanna know what happened? My cholesterol went high, and my butt went wide. I realized that red meat just wasn't worth it. I added green smoothies to my diet, and started reading about what to eat. I was intrigued with vegetarianism, but didn't think that I could embrace enough variety in my diet to adopt the lifestyle (case in point – I hate tomatoes, and eggplant makes me squirm). I ate chicken, ham, and sausage – usually with a salad – and didn't think much of it. 

Fast forward to January of this year. The company that I work for is doing a major wellness push, including free gym memberships & bio-metric screenings. I picked up a copy of Crazy Sexy Diet after watching Kris Carr's inspiring documentary. I began to mentally add up the health challenges that I may have to face – my family history includes obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. No thank you to all of those. So, I stood firm in my decision to be pescetarian (veggies + fish). Why try veganism? Well…

I figured out quickly that I could be a lazy vegetarian in a hurry. Weekend lunch involved a few slices of sourdough and a large hunk of gouda or brie. Homemade mac & cheese? It's veg! Turns out, being a vegetarian/pescetarian doesn't require you to eat very many veggies. In order to force myself into some discipline, I decide to eat vegan for the month of Feb. I thought that if it was fantastic, I'd stick with it. If it was just alright, I'd scale back to pescetarian. Turns out, I really missed eggs. And I'm quite attached to traditional baking (y'know, with eggs). And I like making homemade pasta (with eggs). Oh, I'm also intrigued by obversations such as – we're the only species to drink milk past the age of weaning, and the only species that drinks ANOTHER species' milk. Uhm, eeewww a little. I ate in some fabulous vegan restaurants during the month, and expanded both my own eating habits, and those of my friends & family. It was a great learning experience. I applaud those who are able to maintain a vegan lifestyle, and admit that it's a little too much work for me. 

Where does that leave me? I'm a fish-eating vegetarian who orders a venti soy chai at Starbucks instead of a skim latte. I juice veggies & fruits nearly every day, and organized a green smoothie club at work. I've fallen in love with roasted parsnips & rainbow carrots. I do shots of wheatgrass and add algae to my smoothies b/c they make me feel good. I'm proud of myself for stretching my picky eater comfort zone and improving my health in the process. 

To address a few apparent misconceptions - 

*I have chosen to dive into this lifestyle b/c I think that sometimes leaping is better than tiptoeing. That means wheatgrass, E3Live, and some raw meals. For a girl who shudders at the site of ranch dressing, eating a plant burger made with beets, lentils, cashews, & bulgur is walking on the wild side. It's pretty fun. 

*I don't regularly eat at chain restaurants. It has nothing to do with being pescetarian, and everything to do with supporting smaller businesses and local farming. It's also a Vermont thing. We're a little food-snobby. 

*I won't be in someone's face about eating choices, but I will certainly share my opinion. After all, the sight of me holding a glass of green juice seems to be carte blanche (or carte verde) for people to comment on my choices. If you're holding a diet Pepsi? Be warned that I'm going to tell you that it's bad for you. I'll do the same if you're smoking a cigarette, or running with scissors.

*Last I checked, a guidebook was called a cookbook. My current fave is Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook.  It was a gift from a sweet co-worker. I made the Lentils Tacos tonight for dinner… to rave reviews. 

*Which brings me to the most common question/criticism – what about Rob & Austin??? What about them? I plan the meals & the grocery shopping, and do 95% of the cooking. When I'm at the stove, I'll be cooking pescetarian meals. BYOM (bring your own meat). I'll be happy to loan you a pan. (Funny aside – when I was out of town last week, the boys went out for steak as a "treat." They both promptly got sick.) (Another aside – Hope became a vegetarian at university b/c she said the meat was gross. Sounds like a good reason to me.)

The bottom line for me? I ENJOY eating this way. I ENJOY the research & recipes. I ENJOY using "weird" things like seitan, maca powder, and spirulina. I'm eating more fruits & veggies than I ever have. I'll have my cholesterol tested at the end of the month. If it's still high? Maybe I'll head to the Olive Garden for some fettucine alfredo. 

*As a parent, I realize that it's hard to see your kids do "radical" things like marry a frat boy, get a tattoo, or become a vegetarian. The only thing that I regret is the frat boy. Big mistake. HUGE.

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