We were at a wedding before Christmas and while waiting for dinner the waiter asked if anyone had any dietary restrictions. Since we had returned the RSVP card several weeks prior with the vegetarian option marked, we both thought that he must have been asking for further dietary issues like a nut or other allergy and we replied no.
A few minutes later when the waiter set our plates down in front of us, I looked at my husband and asked "is that chicken??" I may have had a bit of a horrified tone in my voice. We looked at each other and then flagged down the waiter. We were quickly given the vegetarian option, which was awesome by the way, and proceeded to dig in. Had we not had to exchange our plates, our table mates probably wouldn't have paid any attention to our meals, but after the meal exchange we heard "you guys don't eat meat?" and wait for it...wait for it....."where do you get your protein?" and then "I can understand being a vegetarian, but a vegan, now that's just plain weird!" Needless to say we didn't get into the fact that we are vegan about 90% of the time, and no longer buy eggs and dairy for our home.
Funny, much like adoption and homeschooling, the typical questions are the same. Instead of the socialization question, or the "are they all yours?" question, all of a sudden everyone is very interested in how much protein we get each day. In all fairness, I had the same question!
We have gradually been tweaking our diet for the last several years. It all started back when we were drinking green smoothies daily {we have since shifted to Shakeology on a daily basis} but what really changed our thinking was doing the Ultimate Reset last spring. We realized how good we felt and just never added meat back into our diet. My mom had a book called Veganist that I borrowed, and my sister told me about a book called The Engine 2 Diet. The China Study is an interesting read, and we watched Forks Over Knives on Netflix. The Engine 2 Diet, The China Study, and Forks Over Knives are all from the same schools of thought, so the information is very similar, but interesting.
Our eating transformation has been from a nutrition standpoint not from an animal rights agenda. Personally, I have a real problem with people who are concerned about the treatment of animals, yet ignore the treatment of millions of unborn babies. I'm not sure why it's so, but let's just say I haven't come across too many conservative vegans!
It's been an interesting and challenging journey. Eating at home is fairly easy now, eating out is a bit more of an adjustment, but there's always salad. I have found it quite simple to find vegan baked goods recipes, thanks to the internet of course. Not too long ago I shared some breakfast ideas, and today I made blueberry muffins for breakfast tomorrow.
There are so many different types of food readily available now, I don't miss my old way of eating. My kids do a little bit though. We recently ate dinner at Grandma's house and when she asked them what they wanted for dinner they replied "meat!". Whatever, they would also love to eat Pop-Tarts and Fruity Pebbles for breakfast every morning too.
Have you made in dietary changes in your family lately?
Linking up Lifestyle Habits that Stick
17 comments:
It's really interesting that this popped into my e-mail this morning as just last night my husband and I began talking seriously about transitioning our home & diets vegan. Right now were, let's say 90% vegetarian and over this last year made intentional efforts to go "processed sugar" free for our daughter who has, let's call it "undesirable physical reactions" to sugar. No "substitutes", only the natural.
What we're finding though is that with each dietary elimination we continue to feel better, spiritually, emotionally, physically. Because we love our cheese and eggs we're contemplating giving it a testing period to try it out. So thank you for your post & reading suggestions (We are big China Study fans in this house as well!).
Also, please share with your kids that I too could totally eat pop-tarts every morning for breakfast if I let myself. I just love them.
Jessica, thanks for reading! I never would have thought we would stop eating eggs & cheese. I used to eat an egg almost everyday and my husband was a big fan of cheese, but once we tried it we realized that we didn't miss them that much at all. Give yourself a couple of weeks and see how you feel, you can always go back to eating them :) Unfortunately, I like sugar too! Have a great day.
I like to live my life as much as possible with consistency. I love that you compared the passion and eloquence many people have for animal rights against the lack of concern many people have for human rights. There is so much to think about in that statement. The more I think, the more I agree that I do not know too many conservative vegans either!
We have had to cut out dairy, egg, and wheat from our family diet and because of that I find that I am cooking MORE meat than I used to and I don't like it. Breakfasts are harder because I have not been able to make many of my favorite items like banana bread and pumpkin muffins without egg. I am going to go back and see if you posted the recipes you use. I sure would like a muffin this morning!
I have your pumpkin cranberry muffins in the oven now! I made them with Gluten Free flour. They smell yummy!
We are moving our family to a more self-reliant way of eating. I believe more along the lines of GAPS and Nourishing Traditions way of eating, so we won't be giving up meat or dairy, but we want to upgrade the quality of what we do eat.
I really wonder why there aren't more conservative vegans??!! Maybe we need to start a group! :) In our area in the summer we have a large and very popular art fair. There is an area where non-profits can have booths etc. Once there was a save the greyhound booth right next to a "pro-choice" booth. I just don't get it!
It's a slow, slow process at times, lol. Thanks for linking up with Healthy Habits! :)
I just wrote about the same thing! People get so concerned about our protein intake since we are a dairy free family. We are eating much less animal protein than we did even a year ago. Not sure if I'll ever give it up entirely, but I'm enjoying learning the vegan approach Thank you for the resources you listed. I'll definitely check them out.
The changes we are making to our right now are small and manageable The thing is that once you get used to doing without something, it is amazing that you ever thought you "needed" it in the first place. I can see us getting more "extreme" in our dietary changes as we acclimate to th
Oops! Hit enter too soon- anyways, as we acclimate to the changes we have already made. I am most astounded by how bad our diet really was. And this from a family that eats mostly at home and always had a generous supply of fruits and veggies around. A lot of it is just learning- there is so much misinformation or misleading information out there!
Thanks for your thoughts- and the recipes!! I will check out those resources.
I have been vegan for 14 years, it was a gradual transition for me. A friend loaned me some books by Dr. McDougal and I saw weight come off and energy multiply and never looked back. Lent was when I gave meat up for good (and it stuck!), the next Lent was dairy. We eat primarily whole foods, and I have eggs in the fridge for my husband and kids but there is no dairy or meat in the house. We don't eat out much, but when we do the teens usually opt for meat/dairy and my husband eats fish. Iris is actually lactose intolerant, so she has to avoid dairy so she doesn't get bad tummy troubles... I think that, no matter what dietary lifestyle you lean toward, whole foods in as pure a form as possible with lots of veggies and fruit are the key. There are so many more book and resources now for recipes!
I don't have a problem with people eating meat, but boy do people sometimes have a problem with me not eating it... Many the awkward conversation when all I wanted to do was eat my dinner. (You aren't going to force that on your KIDS, are you? Protein? What do you EAT? I could NEVER do that.)
Oh, and I know many conservative (Catholic) vegans (and many not so conservative ones!), but that's California for ya.;)
Yes, the questions and comments are interesting! Anything out of the norm can certainly ruffle some feathers. You were a true vegan pioneer! I'm glad you know some conservative vegans and that they are out there somewhere :)
Yeah, it's not unlike the homeschooling, attachment parenting or adoption question. :) If you even come out this way we can have a Catholic vegan potluck!
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Our neighbours are vegan and we occasionally have potlucks with them, so I've tried various vegan recipes. I could personally cut back on the amount of meat I eat (I can take it or leave it), but my husband likes his meat - and I like my dairy. :) My father-in-law was reading the China Study (or a similar book) recommending a vegetarian diet. I find it interesting... and interesting how people react to you about it, because we've simply accepted our neighbours for their eating habits without asking questions.
My husband and I didn't think we could go without meat either, then we tried it and has been much easier than we thought. The China Study is a good book and very informative. Thanks for your comment!
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