Vegetarian Anniversary
I have now been as close to meat-free as possible for the span of one year. Time flies when you're having fun and I truly am having fun. Eating meat is the best thing that I have ever not done.
I have eaten some of the coolest food of my life. I don't work downtown anymore, so there was kind of a cool food cut-off that occurred, but I still seek out the items on the menu that are vegetarian. This includes tofu, tempeh, and tahini and other words that start with letters other than T.
Seriously, I actually feel like I have eaten more new, and good, things since focusing on vegetarianism. I don't feel like I have taken things out of my diet, I feel like more has been added in to my diet!
I have lost 33 pounds. This is without even trying and before incorporating exercise. A year ago today I weighed 238 pounds. I now weigh 205 pounds.
My cholesterol has dropped 90 points. My cholesterol in January of 06 was 237. My cholesterol in September of 07 is 147. The only change was dietary. Remember, cholesterol comes mostly, if not all-ly, from animal products.
My overall health is better and my energy has increased. This is more subjective because there are no numbers that I can share. I know for certain that my diet has changed my ability to enjoy life.
Even with all the above, I don't have a good answer to the question of 'Why are you a vegetarian?'
This is partly because most people that I talk to don't associate a dietary choice with a healthy choice. It's as though they are resigned to only being as healthy as they can be while still having cheeseburgers. People seem to think that although they are miserable, maybe 'the worst I have ever felt in my life', the idea of taking cheeseburgers away would only make life more miserable despite the immediate health advantages.
But my vegetarianism isn't about other people. It's about me being totally selfish. I choose for myself not to eat meat. This has nothing to do with my wife or children, regardless of their beneficiary status in having me around longer (which I think is a benefit!). This is purely me.
The hardest part of my change is not wanting other people to change for me. I feel best when other people, friends and family, do NOT try to accommodate my dietary restrictions. I am not missing meals. If I am at a gathering of friends and family, it is their presence that is my enjoyment, not the food that they make, whether edible for me or not.
I know for certain that my family receives less dinner invites because of my choice and that makes me sad. There is absolutely nothing special that has to be made for me as a guest in someone's home. The only thing I ask is the ability to accept my decision to not eat something because of its ingredients.
I live in a country where food is plentiful. If I don't have a main dish, or I don't eat the salad because of the bacon bits, you can rest easy that sometime in the next 24 hours there will be food in front of me that I can eat. I will not think any lesser of you for not feeding me.
So, for me, Happy Anniversary! My wish for me is the ability to stick to a 'Nothing-with-a-Face' diet for as long as I live.
Submitted by - David Johnson