The Reluctant Vegetarian—still going strong 12 weeks later

While the majority of these Charles River Running blog posts will be highly factual and full of crucial “need to know” running info, some will not. Some will be posts like this one, where a blogger dives in to the personal and lets the blogosphere peer through a narrow window of real, non-running related issues.  For anyone who knows me well, they can attest to my absolute love of food and eating, food shopping and food growing (animal and vegetable), cookbooks, food magazines and eating out!  That is what makes this food chronicle of my last 12 weeks interesting.  You see—I’ve become a reluctant vegetarian.  I have not gone willingly to this strange dietary place, but I’m still here in veggie land and quite happy.  How on earth did I get here and why do I stay?   

It was several days after the Boston Marathon that my 14 year old daughter came home from school proclaiming herself at vegetarian.  Citing health reasons (I have a sneaking suspicion that this really means that she wants to look more like a supermodel) she pronounced a total strike on meat.  Just veggies she tells me.  NO more meat, Mom.  OK, I say to myself, we will try this one for a week but then I’m pretty sure we will happily go back to juicy steaks and chops, plump sausages, and steamed seafood in just 7 days’ time—you get the picture.  In the short term, I’m thinking that I can totally swing this---veggie burritos Monday, cheese pizza on Tuesday, pesto and ravioli Wednesday, scrambled eggs Thursday and  big salads for a couple of more nights.  I got this, I think to myself.  No need to give that just purchased bag of Kingsford charcoal to the neighbor.  No need to change things that much—this is so temporary!  

So here’s the confession:  Fast forward 12 weeks and we are still eating vegetarian for the most part.  Have I fallen off the wagon?  Sure, but it was worth it (a perfectly grilled Hebrew National brand hotdog-no bun, consumed in the kitchen while cleaning up post cookout).  Do I love the way I feel—yes.  Do I love finding new and interesting recipes—yes.  Has my backyard garden and flock of laying hens become some much more important to me-yes.  The positives just keep coming and I can’t think of a good reason to go back to the old ways.  It’s just so much easier to eat vegetarian than I thought it would be and that pleasantly surprises me.

Let me share with you what I’ve learned so far in just this short amount of time as a veggie:

• Cooking new vegetarian things is fun!  The internet makes finding yummy and interesting meat-free dishes so easy.
•  There’s some delicious, already prepared vegetarian food out there if you don’t want to cook. Wholefoods prepared meals—awesome!  Trader Joe’s frozen veggie entrees—also very good. Vegetarian meals in restaurants—more choices than ever!
• Meat was making me feel bloated and gassy.  Not fun for me or those around me L  Digestion has become a non-event—who knew?
• My summertime appetite is not as ravenous and the fall “feed bag” hunger pangs. For me, it’s just easier to eat lighter in the warmer temps.
• I just don’t miss eating meat that much—really.

While I cannot say that this type of eating is for everyone, I can say that it’s working out pretty well for my daughter and me.  I don’t miss lamenting over the crappy, over-priced meat selection at the grocery store that I can afford to shop in.  I don’t spend a single minute investigating what package of meat was feed hormones, grass, or antibiotics.  We try new things to cook and eat.  We look to see where our plant or seafood based protein will come from.  In essence, I view this journey as an interesting, seasonal and delicious new hobby.  Check back in 2 months and I will let you know if we’ve gone back to the land of meat eaters.