My First week as a Vegetarian

Vegetarianism is something I have always though about. In my mind, it is a healthier, more ethical way to live. But it seemed so daunting. I am (or was) an unapologetic consumer of meat, eggs, cheese, and anything else that derived from animals – as a matter of fact my favorite foods were red meats. I’ve always thought that vegetarians (especially vegans) had to be incredibly brave to give all that up – BBQ Ribs, Pork Chops, Bacon, Roast beef – to eat Vegetables.

However, my position on vegetarians changed dramatically after 2 things.

The first was the alarming rate of hypertension & obesity growing within my family. Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers & Grandfathers were diagnosed with the disease, as well as my mother in law.

The second was an HBO special called Death on a Factory Farm. This 2006 Documentary took a harrowing look into animal cruelty on an Ohio Hog farm as chronicled through six weeks of undercover footage. The six investigation revealed horrific scenes of baby piglets being tossed into crates from across the room, pregnant sows in pens so small that they had no room to move about, and a downed (lame, sick or injured) sow hung by chains and strangled to death as a form of euthanasia… Fr the first time ever I was ashamed of my meat eating lifestyle.

So...after some research I decided to give vegetarianism a try… This decision was five days ago. The decision -which I thought would be terribly difficult- was actually an easy transition. I googled vegetarianism and learned that there were so many options out there. Soy milk, soy based meatless products, beans, salsa and others…

So it has been a week and I’ve replaced the butter with margarine, 2%milk has been replaced with Soy milk, pork breakfast sausages are now soy & protein based links, and the list goes on and on…

Is it a bit drastic?? If you ask Kyle he’ll say yes, and Zoë would agree - They think I’m crazy when I ask what kind of fat is this (referring to butter) or when I pass the BBQ Spare ribs to eat portabella burgers, and spinach - but I think that drastic was the only way for me to do it. I knew that if I put it off it would neverget done.

For me this week has awakened my taste buds. I’ve lost ½ pound, and I don’t have that weighted down feeling. I’m more energetic and more alert, and less bloated. I enjoy my vegetarian meals and quite honestly I don’t feel deprived at all…Of course the real challenge comes tonight when we go out to dinner at 99. Will I be able to eat pasta and veggies at a steak house?? Stay posted….