About three months ago, the husband watched an undercover video about animal cruelty on a dairy farm. He got me to watch the same video, and I was forced to turn it off in less than a minute. I don't really have the stomach to watch cows getting poked in the eyes with a pitchfork, or hearing them CRY. It made me nauseous, and not that I didn't know this kind of behavior goes on in the world, but it's convenient to forget. People say, "Well, it doesn't happen on every farm," or "We're the superior race," or "Our bodies are designed to eat meat," or some other argument. In three short months, I have heard them all.
The result of us watching this video is that Jim decided to return to veganhood, a lifestyle he'd lived for eight years in his youth, and which he'd ended on a doctor's orders. It was on part desire-to-lose-weight, and 9 parts social consciousness, something I found incredibly endearing. Jim was poised to take this leap on his own, but coming from years of eating out ALL the time, junk food galore, and a generally bad diet, I knew that sticking to something so harsh and rigorous might be hard for him if I was still eating anything I chose.
So I got a few books about the vegan life, did lots of online research, and spent a few days thinking about things and talking to a nutritionist, who happens to be one of my best friends. Giving up meat would be no huge ordeal for me, and would probably cost us a good bit less too. I've never been a big red-meat eater, but chicken... well, it's three months later and I'm still missing chicken, if I'm being totally honest. Sometimes, those KFC commercials make me weak, hahaha. Regardless, I ultimately made the committment to become a vegetarian, albeit a modified one.
I've given up all meats, as I said. No more chicken cutlet-fresh mozzerella heroes. No more roast beef for Sunday dinner at Gram's. No more bacon-egg-cheese breakfast sandwiches from the deli. All of this, I can live with. Jim took it a step further -- no animal products whatsoever. He's drinking soy milk or rice milk or almond milk now, and no eggs at all. We both agree that the rice cheese tastes so much better than the soy cheese, and I find it melts better too.
Eggs, milk and cheese are confusing. None of it is anything we need to survive. From a purely health-oriented standpoint, all of it is actually almost bad for you, but because of things like the National Dairy Council, and the billions of dollars these industries produce, these items are marketed as vital items for a daily diet. Did you know that humans are the only animal on the planet that drink milk past weaning? We're also the only animal on the planet that drinks the milk of another animal, but breast-feeding is a touchy subject with me and I'll talk about it at another time.
I used to eat eggs probably two or three times a week. In the last three months, I've specifically had eggs as a meal only once. I don't see me cooking them for myself anymore either, because amazingly enough, I don't miss what they do to my stomach!
Milk is another animal entirely, no pun intended! I don't generally drink milk by the glass, but I like it in my cereal, my coffee, and my tea. Now, yes, I can substitue soy milk (or others) into my drinks, which are fine, but I'm food-weird, and I like white milk in my cereal. it's an aesthetic thing, and the other milks aren't white!! Beige, yellowish, brownish... but not white LOL. And cheese... I used to buy cheese by the brick, slice it all up, and eat it as a snack with crackers and pepperoni. Well, bye bye pepperoni, but giving up cheese and crackers? Can I really do it?
I've been buying "organic" milk and cheese since I've committed to vegetarianism. Not "USDA Organic", because their standards for "organic"are very, very lax, but specific organic brands which I've been able to research. My game plan is to wean myself off these things altogether over the next couple of months, but if I don't, I can live with it.
I wouldn't say I'm completely comfortable with the whole "alternative diet lifestyle" yet, but without any other difference besides what I'm eating, I'm down 15 pounds, my hair and nails are strong and healthy for the first time in longer than I can remember, my skin is clearing up for the most part... all positive things!
Only time will tell how faithful we'll remain to this major lifestyle change, and whether or not I will give up dairy and join jim as a full vegan... for now I say I'm almost-vegan... it works for me!
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