For three and a half years I was a vegetarian. After getting off the anti-Candida diet using the Yeast Buster Kit I could not bare to eat meat. The diet was all meat and low starch vegetables. I wanted to die. I was done with meat. I had always wanted to go vegetarian and I was determined to do it. It would be the next step on my health odyssey in British Columbia.
All that time I tried to like legumes. I did everything to tofu to make it delicious and nothing worked. No matter what I did to brown rice, I hated it! I did not become that thin yogi I wanted to be. I had no natural glow emanating from my skin. I was not infused with vast amounts of energy. I worked really hard at getting as much protein into my diet as I could. After almost four years of all that effort I really examined just how much protein I was getting and found out it was less than half what a woman my age should get.
Being a huge animal lover, I did not know if I could go back. Back to being a meat eater. I had gotten so used to being scared when I ate out, what if there is animal product in my food? So I never ate out and controlled everything out of fear. Instead of a choice based on health, I was now dictating my diet around terror. Well no thanks!
Five years ago I went hiking in the woods of British Columbia and cried. I told Nature I was sorry, that I would have to go back to eating meat for my health. That is when a pileated woodpecker tried to crap on me! I laughed. Touche! No, Nature may not have been happy with me at first but once I went back to meat I felt better. My muscles grew a little stronger. I had more energy and felt more grounded. Recently I have started to appreciate that to get energy out of life, it takes energy from life. I do not like that reality but it is my reality, whether I approve of it or not.
I will never regret trying to be a vegetarian. It was a personal food quest I was completely committed to that came to an end. For me, food is not a religion. I do not believe in food rules. What is good for me today, may not be good for me tomorrow. There is nothing wrong with trying new things or having flexible eating practices. It is all about moderation and intuition. I try and live meatless one day a week if I can. If not, no sin has been committed.
I have no time or energy for rules anymore. My body is much wiser than I am. I listen to it. Today it is telling me a snowstorm is coming. It is time for food of comfort. Perhaps a hot chicken sandwich with mushroom gravy for dinner? And maybe if I can swing it, Baked Potato Soup on the side.
I think my body has good taste!
i had almost the same food journey as you~i became a vegetarian overnight at 15 and remained that way for over ten years. at that time in the early 80’s there was very little ready made vegetarian options and so everything was made from scratch…oh those lentil curries i made! i am amazed i survived. for the last 15 years i have been on and off the vegetarian wagon and now eat more vegetarian than meat. i have noticed that if i dont eat a decent amount of raw vegetable/fruit each day i become very lethargic and ‘lumpy’ feeling
i had almost the same food journey as you~i became a vegetarian overnight at 15 and remained that way for over ten years. at that time in the early 80’s there was very little ready made vegetarian options and so everything was made from scratch…oh those lentil curries i made! i am amazed i survived. for the last 15 years i have been on and off the vegetarian wagon and now eat more vegetarian than meat. i have noticed that if i dont eat a decent amount of raw vegetable/fruit each day i become very lethargic and ‘lumpy’ feeling
I agree, Suzie! We would ALL be much better if we just listened to our bodies. And respected them and what they tell us, instead of trying to meet some completely unrealistic, artificial standard of size and beauty . . . . Sorry, didn’t mean to go on a rant there. I guess your post touched a nerve with me today!
i complete agree with your approach. i don’t eat a tonne of meat, and am a pretty bird-like eater as it is. I find I eat what my body tells me it feels like, and i go with it. I stick to the rule “everything is good in moderation” in life in general, and i think it applies well to healthy eating too.
one thing that has changed for me over the last month is the meat thing. we decided to purchase local organic meat, and placed an order. we received a freezer plus a years’ worth of every cut of meat we wanted. i can say, easily, that I have eaten more meat in the last month than in the previous year. Honestly. The meat is individually flash frozen so it thaws fast and is perfect for cooking for 2. It has made a world of difference just having it in the basement. I call it my little butcher shop.
great post suzie – thanks for sharing the journey, as always!
keeley
I understand exactly where you’re coming from, except mine stemmed from running across a video of live animal skinning (that’s another story…) and from that nanosecond forward I was committed to being vegan, I mean I violently raided my fridge and pantry of any animal related product ever… after a few months of that I was tired, bored and exhausted from the extravagant meal planning it took… nowadays I just eat as healthy and as friendly as possible, I do buy the cage free chicken eggs and I do buy meats from farms that treat their stock well and I still eat a LOT of vegetable based foods as some are quite good and a much better alternative… I dont go to fast food places, etc.. All in all the real lesson I learned was being smart and making well educated choices is what really makes the difference, for me, and for the animals…
Just my 2$ ;]
I tried to be vegetarian for a short while but my stomach just does not tolerate tofu or soy product, It blows up like a balloon.
I am really enjoying what Michael Pollan is saying about food, it is not so much what you eat but that you know where it comes from and that it is the healthies form of it that it can be. That goes for beef, chicke, veggies and so on.
Here is a link to his website.
http://www.michaelpollan.com/
Great post Suzie, I hope everyone can learn from your experience. I’ve always been a meat eater and will always be a meat eater unless my body tells otherwise. Most of the vegetarians that I know of are tired and sick all the time. That must say something.
I love steak 🙂
-Christine
Thank you all so much for the support! Just as I am OK with being a meat eater now, I totally envy people who are healthy vegetarians and can do it. I admire them very much. I just sucked at it!
Hurrah! Great to hear such an honest piece on your vegetarian experiences. I’ve never wanted to be a vegetarian although I love to eat meatless dishes.
I’ve tried going vegetarian so many times. But I’m such a red meat fan. I’m at the point now that I eat mainly meatless but do have some meat once a week or so. I’m lucky that I love tofu and have found a few ways to really enjoy it. I think you do have to listen to your body. It knows when you need to add some meat. I don’t beat myself up anymore if I can’t stick to strictly meatless.
People should be able to eat the way they wish without input from others. Down with Food Rules!!!
very interesting post Suzie…as you know for some years i only eat sea food and lately i’ve been trying macrobiotic diet and i love it, i feel better 🙂
my opinion is that people eat too much sugar, white flour and animal products in general. we should think about harmony and nature in everything 🙂