Veggisaurus

This post was written in response to a writer's block question posed: Have you ever changed your eating habits for a relationship? What lasted longer, the relationship or the habits?

Today's writer's block is actually prompting me to write something. I had tried being a vegetarian of my own choice my first year in college. I was away from home and could make my own choices about what I ate. I, however, didn't change my diet so much as just leave meat out of it. I ate a lot of bread and cheese and gained a bunch of weight (the freshman 15 if you will) When I got home that summer, I stayed vegetarian and also joined weight watchers. I still hadn't done the research on a healthy vegetarian diet, and I only had what was available in my parent's house to eat. I lost weight, but my mom hounded me constantly. When I ended up in the hospital after getting my wisdom teeth taken out (a slew of reasons added up to that visit) my mom basically told the doctor to tell me to start eating meat again. (This doctor was on the Adkins diet himself, mind you).

Fast forward about 5 years later. I am in a relationship with my best friend. He's been a vegetarian since he was 11 for moral/ethical reasons. He never seemed bothered by my meat eating. We were in a relationship for over a year (partly long distance while I was back living with my parents after college) when he was talking about his vegetarianism and what it means to him. We never brought up the subject of my own meat-eating...but it was like seeing it in a whole new light. He felt so strongly about not eating animals. How could he be in a relationship-in love, with a person who did that every day? I decided to secretly stop eating meat. I say secretly because I didn't want to make a big announcement of it - I just wanted to try it out. See how I felt, see if I wanted to do it. (I had, in fact, thought about returning to that way of eating after I moved out of my parent's house, when I had more control over what was in my own home, food-wise). Three weeks had gone by and I felt great about it. I made the committment to that lifestyle and never looked back. I did more reading this time. My boyfriend and I moved in together and we had a completely vegetarian kitchen. I loved being in charge of what groceries I bought and what was available for me to eat. I made up dishes for us. I love to cook. About a year and a half to two years later, my boyfriend decided to go vegan. I was familiar and though I knew it was probably right in my heart - the old me could not fathom giving up cheese. But, I had vegan cookbooks to learn new things to make us, and to give vegan baking a try. To my surprise, I prefer vegan baked goods! (not to mention, you can eat the batter guilt-free because it doesn't have raw eggs!)

I rarely drank milk anyway. We had only had it in the house for recipes. We switched to soy milk and then almond milk. I started buying cage-free eggs for me. (Which I usually only made when I was alone in the house for an occasional breakfast sandwich). I would eat vegan (mostly) at home but would eat dairy & eggs elsewhere. I had a slew of new cookbooks that I loved and more knowlege on how to eat a plant based diet healthily.

That boyfriend and I didn't make it. We broke up. And I think my family expected me to embrace hamburgers again. But, this wasn't just for him. It had been for me, and what I wanted/felt was right. Right after the break-up I think I *did* rebel a little and had an awful lot of pizza. Of course, it made me feel gross and gain a lot of weight. I decided to turn my life around. Started exercising regularly, eating better. I started losing weight. I read a book called "Fit for Life" when I got to the chapter that discussed dairy, it really hit home to me just how gross a concept it is. Where it comes from, the scientific breakdown of what it consists of. I realised that in my heart, I knew if I was in this for the animals, I had to let go of their by-products as well. I had been holding on because I knew it would be an inconvenience and "burden" on my family and friends. I decided right then and there, that I could no longer eat animal by-products. I cared too much about my own health and the well being of animals to let OTHER people's opinions make my choice for me.

That was well over a year ago. I haven't looked back. (Except the occasional drunken episode where I really miss pizza or cheese fries. But, I remind myself of how gross I believe it is, and it gets me over it.) These days, there are so many decent substitutions out there, there is no excuse to still perpetuate a lifestyle that is not only abusing animals, but the environment and our own bodies as well. Interestingly enough...I find myself having an issue being in a relationship with someone who still consumes meat. Even though I was a meat eater dating a vegetarian in my first relationship. I'm just not as interested in someone who eats meat. I wouldn't want to share a home with someone - the grocery bills, the cooking responsibilities, etc. But I also wouldn't want to be with someone and force my way upon them, or have them change "just for me". They'd have to come to it on their own terms.