You're a WHAT?

I’ve officially become vegetarian. Oh my gosh…What?

Uh yes, I said vegetarian.

I have lived my life without a thought about what food is and where it comes from. I’m a junk food junkie…well, I guess not anymore. I’ve felt icky about eating meat off and on for a few years now…just basically get grossed out…but have put it behind the ol’ thinking cap and ignored it. Plus, now is the time in my life when I have to be responsible to myself and my son…and why not, let’s throw the husband in the mix too.

It scares me to think about what yuckiness I have put into my body from eating fast food over the years, mostly McDonald’s. What goes into my body makes me who I am…lethargic and fat.

Maybe it would make a difference if it was all organic and came from good farms, but some stuff I’ve read even talks about how humans are really herbivores and shouldn’t even eat the meat of other animals period. It all really makes sense. And, I’ve known this…it just finally hit me and became real in the last couple of weeks. I’m contemplating fish…but we’ll see. Trying to avoid milk and eggs…that’s another story I suppose, cause I don’t really want to be hard-core vegan. Anywhoo…

I’ve been doing a lot of research and reading up and after having to eat at Eischen’s Chicken this past weekend, not by my choice…no more….I’m done….ewww!

It is my commitment from here on out to not eat meat.

I read Fast Food Nation a couple of years ago and was grossed out by the meat manufacturing and mistreatment of animals as well as human workers for that matter. But, somehow…call it laziness and lack of motivation…I got pulled back in by the fast food giants down the street without thinking about the details.

When I was at Target recently, I picked up a comical little book called Skinny Bitch…which I thought would be just a fun diet book to give me a little motivation…no, it’s on the same lines as Fast Food Nation, giving you the “skinny” about what we put into our bodies and why we shouldn’t, ie: meats, dairy, etc. That book is hysterical by-the-way and tells it like it is, which is what I needed to hear. I highly recommend it! I just got the sequel, which is a little vegan cook-book, Bitch in the Kitch.

Other motivations for making the move are:
1) Need to eat my veggies anyway and get healthy and loose weight
2) Need to learn to cook and like/love to cook
a) to save money
b) to slow down on the consumerism and purchasing/eating out
c) to be a good momma and wife and provide healthy meals for my fam
3) Doing the “Biggest Loser” competition at work and I can win some much needed dough.
4) A good excuse to do my Bento Box again

I’ve never been a hard-core committer on diets, so I’m going to take it slow adding this into my life so as not to be overwhelmed. I’ve never enjoyed cooking, never had to cook and really don’t understand it if that makes any sense. I just walk into the grocery store dumbfounded sometimes.

So, over the weekend, I put together some yummy recipes and went to the store for this week’s meals:
- tonight: butternut squash soup
- veggie sandwiches with hummus and tapenade
- Mexican lasagna…yum!
- lentil burgers
- lentil soup

I want to start going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday’s because it was really depressing all the non-organic or vegetarian items at the grocery store. And, we don’t have a Whole Foods, just a tiny little health food store that’s really expensive.

I’ve also been inspired by my knitting friend Aimee and her friend Riana in their commitment to being SLOW. You must follow what they are up to. They are both American’s in France…which is cool in itself to experience that. Riana has made a year long commitment to not buying anything and making and growing her own everything…unbelievable. And, Aimee’s trying it out for a month. These women are so interesting and amazing mothers!

Consumption is a problem for me. I spend way too much and therefore have way too much crap in my house and it’s bogging me down. Slowly but surely I’m getting rid of stuff, but not fast enough. I still feel overwhelmed. So, I’m making a commitment right now to work on this…

- Don’t spend
- Sell what we have that we don’t need. Or give it away.
- Make gifts…don’t buy. Knit… therefore I’m working on a baby gift for a shower coming up in a couple of weeks. Lots of other knitting posts to come. I swear I've been knitting!

This is certainly not a political statement or pro-anything. I’m not a granola that’s for sure. And, I’m not an activist. But, I do want to make a difference to myself and for my happy little family. Who knows, maybe I’ll rub off on somebody else.