Good Morning, my Angel,
I saw the Fursy post. So you went vegetarian? I had thought you might already be, but wasn't sure. Anyhow, good for you, that is awesome. Wow.......you know, in my twenties, when me and my buddies were hanging out all the time, it was meat, meat, meat, all the time. Cheeseburgers every night. Also, because of the nice weather here, it is outdoor barbeque country, and back then we were grilling something at somebody's house every single night. It's interesting, too, because back in my teens, I had heard about a guy named Paul Bragg, an early nutritional expert (he inspired Jack LaLanne) who espoused an all-natural, basically raw, diet. Grimsley was into his books and philosophy, and I heard about it from him. I was raised with the typical American diet, although back then, in the 60s, fast food and junk food weren't as prevalent. Your parents would take you to McDonald's once in a while for a treat, but most meals were home-cooked. And of course, one of the first things your parents tell you is to eat your veggies.
So I always had a basic knowledge of nutrition, and in my early twenties I really became aware of it. But when you are younger, you can get away with eating anything, and still maintain an even flow of energy, at least to some extent. So in your teens and twenties, you still eat what your folks put on the table, but it's also no big deal to come home from school and eat a whole bag of chips, or a bunch of cookies, half a jar of peanut butter. And in that way, I did develop a bit of a junk food habit. Not extreme, but steady. I never thought anything of it because I had such a fast metabolism.
But by your late twenties, early 30s, your metabolism starts to slow. At least mine did. You keep eating the same way, and pretty soon you've got 20 extra pounds. In high school, I was always 165. By the time I was 29, I was 180 to 185. In my early 30s, my weight went up and down because of drugs, and when I came out of that period of my life, I ate like crazy for about a year. And I think I've told you that when I was 39, I got on the scale one day and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I knew I was heavy, because at that point just tying my shoes caused me to breathe hard. But the scale read 227 that day, in December 1999, and I knew I had to do something about it. That was when I got serious about watching what I eat, and changing my diet, and beginning an every day excercise program. Within a year, I had lost 75 pounds, and my weight has stayed the same ever since, give or take 5 pounds. Right now I probably weigh 155, so that's ten pounds less than in high school.
But getting back to vegetarianism, what you said about taking it one day at a time was always my philosophy. I am very strong with mind over matter. I found that out when I quit taking drugs. I just stopped. No rehab center, no meetings, no counseling, nothing. No relapses, either. But what I did was substitute food for a while, which was why I got so heavy. But then I used the same mind over matter to get the food under control. Excercise was never a problem, because I have always been active. Anyway, here I am today, and my body has evened out for the last 14 years. No weight loss or gain, except a pound here or there.
And I have done it the same way you are talking about, day by day, little by little. I am not vegetarian, but I have been tending in that direction for a long time. Of course there are several reasons people become vegetarian, two basic ones, really : to lessen animal suffering and/or for their own personal benefit, because it is a healthier diet overall. I remember reading a quote from Ozzy Osbourne many years ago. He worked in a slaughterhouse when he was a kid, and he said, "If people had to kill their own animals, most of them would stop eating meat". He had personally seen how horrible and gross it was. Still, he himself had always been a meat eater. I don't know if he still is. But, that's kind of the dilemma of what I was talking about in an earlier blog. We were all (or almost all) raised with the American (or whole world, really) diet, which includes meat, or even makes it the main course. The dillemma is that, as adults, most of us know about the factory farms, and even in the "cruelty-free" farms, the animals still end up on the dinner table. So it's a dillemma, because food is so basic to our existence, and we were all raised to eat this way since birth. Some people can go vegetarian or even vegan, and never look back. My sister Vickie has been vegetarian I think since she was in her early 20s. She is 62 now. She is 99% strict about it, but say at Thanksgiving a week ago, if the gravy has some meat product in it, she will eat it anyway. Maybe even a little bit of Turkey.
Grimsley, on the other hand, went totally vegan back in the late 90s, after seeing a film about animal factory farming. He was the guy who was originally into Paul Bragg, so he also knew about the nutritional reasons for eating healthy. Grimsley is so vegan - 100% vegan - that he won't wear shoes if they have any animal material. We are talking everything. Anything and everything he buys, soap, food, clothes, whatever, cannot have animal products. But even Grim says, "yes, meat is delicious", because he was raised the way we all were.
One thing about going vegetarian, which of course you already know but I mention it anyway : make sure you get enough protein intake every day. I don't know what the recommendation is for women, but for men it's at least 50 grams, more if you are active. Even I, who does eat salmon, tuna, and a little chicken, has to make sure I get adequate protein. When I was getting all tired in the afternoons, after I started my seven day a week schedule in 2010.........that was the reason. Not keeping my protein up. That, and I wasn't drinking nearly enough water. You are 21, so you can get away with more, but on the other hand, you want to control your blood sugar, too. Make sure you get enough protein, and you can get it from all kinds of alternative sources other than meat. I am always reminding my sister to get enough protein, and calories, too, cause sometimes I don't think she gets enough. Grimsley, on the other hand, is overweight! Yep, an overweight vegan. That's because he pounds carbs all day, chips and bread, lots of pasta (all vegan, of course). I am not sure he replaces all his protein. It's really important to do so, that's why I mention it.
I am not vegetarian, but what I have done is to cut my red meat almost down to zero. I have maybe two hamburgers a year, if that. No steaks, ribs, nothing. And it's funny, because Ozzy is right : if I had to personally kill any of the cows or chickens, I would go hungry because I just couldn't do it. With the fish, I am not sure. I only fished once or twice, and that was when I was a kid. And when you are a kid, you don't think about it. Seeing the fish flop around in the bucket may bother a kid somewhat, but he soon forgets about it. Now, I don't know if I could fish. I have tried to get philosophical about it, and I say, "well, what if I lived several centuries ago, in the age of hunter/gatherers"? I likely would not have had a choice then. To survive, I most likely would have eventually had to kill something.
Now, with mass farming all over America and much of the civilized world, it has been shown again and again that a person can live a normal life by being entirely vegetarian or vegan. Can the whole world be sustained that way? Probably. Then you run into another problem : can it all be done without pesticides or gmos? Can the whole world be fed entirely on organically grown plant foods and naturally-produced non-meat animal products? I think so. Population control certainly has to be addressed, and then you get into issues like abortion, birth control, all kinds of things. Sorry to go off on such a tangent! :)
In the end, I think it is each person's decision for him or herself. I have probably cut 80% of the meat from my former diet, and it took me many years to do so. Could I go all the way and become completely vegetarian or even vegan? I think so. Especially if I was living with someone who was already a vegetarian or vegan. :):)
But it's like you say, just take it one day at a time, don't make absolutes, tell yourself you can still eat meat if you really want to, and let your mind-over-matter take over. And like you say, any suffering that is lessened in the process, for animals and for your own body, is a good thing.
Well, this is a subject I am really interested in, so I had to write a lot. I hope your day is going well. I have to pick Pearl up from crafts at 1pm, then I will be back here for most of the afternoon. I Love You!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
6:50pm : My Angel, it occured to me while driving home just now, that the field you are twirling in, in the picture, is a Field Of Gold. Perhaps you meant it that way, in which case I am a bigger dummy than I already appear to be. Slow on the uptake am I, but I finally got it. So I just wanted to say I Love You, because I Do. You are The Best. xoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am gonna relax for an hour or so, then go for my walk. My Baby...........
11:10pm : It was just a typical night for me. My walk, reading and music. Listening to the Lipatti just now, he plays from the heart, that recording was probably made while he was ill. It's a phenomenal sound. Not too much else to report. I hope your day was a good one. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxo :):)
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