There are SO many food lifestyles out there. Your vegetarians and your vegans, your flexitarians, pescatarians, lacto-ovarians, (breath), your raw foodists, macrobiots, non-red-meat eaters. And, naturally, your organic grass-fed meat eaters.
Although I've always been a proponent of eating anything and everything, my interest in a different food lifestyle has been piqued by several friends' recent conversion to veganism. So I've decided to give at least semi-vegetarianism a go. Eric has proven to be (surprisingly, after always saying he wouldn't) a willing and cheerful partner in this.
This means we prepare meals with an exciting lineup of vegetables but no meat, eat meat on special occasions like dining with the parents, and continue to enjoy sushi. Yes, it's a very flexible lifestyle.
Some observations: I've been enjoying vegetables more and not missing meat much. A nicely seared piece of salmon with a little salt and lemon gets my mouth watering the way a grilled pork chop once did. I feel healthy too, with fewer of those episodes of heaviness that can follow a meal.
I've learned some things about how I want to go about eating. Without further ado, a manifesto on food:
1. Listen to your body, not just your tastebuds.
Don't eat stuff that makes you feel bad after you eat it. For me, that means eating less meat, by considering it more as an adornment to a dish and only once in a great while as a centerpiece of a meal.
2. Enjoy food and honor it.
Whether it be a simple tomato sauce or a juicy burger, think of it as something wonderful and to be savored. It can't be healthy to think of any food as bad for you, as the enemy.
3. Keep an open mind.
If you're a vegan, try to understand the appeal of a roasted bone marrow. If you're a red-meat lover, give the subtle taste of tofu a chance.
* Vegetarians with ethical or environmental imperatives, take heart. Even though I have different reasons for eating veggie and doubt that I'll ever eschew meat entirely, just think, if everybody were to cut down their meat consumption to 1/5th of what it is now, how great the world would be.
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3 comments:
I don't remember Eric saying he would do it... :)
whoa, bold step my friend :) That's encouraging though...if a foodie like you could go semi-vegetarian, maybe we'll give it a try.
It's actually a lot of fun, because it forces you to think of new foods to eat. As I type this, I am having my lunch: A rice ball with imitation crab inside, a hard-boiled egg, some celery sticks, and a lemon yogurt. And I'm relishing every bite!
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