* note: this is copied from a Facebook note, where I actually do "know" people. :)
My disclaimer:
Much of my rambling is a result of my personal experience, and my own
thoughts and ideas. I was going to add a few links to back some things
up but now I can see that that isn't an option on Facebook notes, but
there is a lot of speculating going on in my head that I may not be
100% accurate on…if you want to contradict me in a polite fashion..I’m
fine with that. If you want to slam me…really, I guess I’m fine with
that too, but don’t be surprised if I don’t really care what you have
to say today or any day in the future. Delivery of information is
key…if you want to be heard, do it in a mature fashion. We’re not in
High School anymore. (okay, some of you might be in High School
still…but those of you I know are better than that!)
I
kind of wanted to put down into words why I felt it was best for ME to
continue on the vegetarian path. I am not going to tell you why you
should do it, because this – like many other life decisions – is a
personal choice. I find it amazing how much kickback this particular
choice brings, and how many people want to tell you how wrong you are.
So
first, let me just address a few questions. YES, I’m getting plenty
of protein. Anyhow, it’s not the protein that our bodies need; it’s
the amino acids, 13 of which that can be broken down from a single
protein, that our body uses. So while I may not be getting as much
actual protein as I have in the past, I can tell you without a doubt
that I am getting many more amino acids than I was in the past. And
doesn’t it just makes sense that it is easier for our bodies to give it
what it needs straight out rather than making it “work for it?”
Outside of that, I eat many other protein sources that are not meats,
in fact all of the foods that we eat include small bits of protein.
I’m also going to point out, that unless I decide to become some kind
of big-time body builder, I don’t need an unusual amount of protein.
The
second most frequently asked question; do I ever crave a big fat juicy
steak? No. I don’t. I was never a “cow” person to begin with.
Hamburger was always a struggle for me to eat in any form. I could
somewhat tolerate sirloin hamburger meat in my spaghetti, but most days
I just wish I would have left it out. What I did crave was a turkey
and cheddar with chipotle sauce on pretzel bread sandwich. YUM YUM!
When I first started attempting this diet and I did fall to temptation,
this was always my go-to. And then, recently, my father-in-law
stopped in for a visit and he bought a big bag of Taco Bell tacos.
Nothing special, just plain and simple tacos, but they did smell
divine. I wanted to eat one…and this was just a week or so ago. But
then I thought about the effects of the red grease of death (taco meat)
when I WAS eating meat and how bad it could possibly be when I hadn’t
had meat in months, and figured that was one negative reaction that
wasn’t worth the “fall in to temptation.”
We were created
to eat fruits and vegetables. I know many of you, my friends, are not
Christian – but surely you can respect the fact that prior to becoming
privy to the scrumptious meats that can be found by killing a mammal,
bird, or sea dwelling creature, we had to survive somehow. Now I’m not
going to go into the politics or the “but’s” – I’m just saying that
fruits and vegetables are the easiest foods for our bodies to process,
we gain the most nutrition from them simply because our bodies easily
break them down into the nutritional pockets our bodies need
(vitamins, fiber, minerals, amino acids, etc…). It is food in its
purest form; rather than being manipulated, shaped, pushed, and
magic-ed (by use of eggs, flour, milk and an oven) into a different
shape and form.
And to all my friends who are Christian –
YES, God did give us permission to eat meat. I’ve used this argument
over and over and over. But what God did not tell us to do is to pump
said animals with hormones to make them bigger and fatter and more
meatier (is that really a word, because spell check is letting it go
through…?). We [humans] do some really stupid crap to get the “biggest
bang for our buck” [$] when it comes to our food. And we have had
some really awesome results – need I remind you of Mad Cow
Disease?! Not to mention the conditions in which these animals are
forced to live in. It is my conviction that this is NOT what God meant
when he said to “have dominion” over the animals, fish and birds. So
we know that steroids have negative effects on us mere humans. Yes,
big muscles do result in some cases, but there are so many negative
side effects that we are not allowed to use steroids in this fashion.
I suppose the thought is that the hormones we put into these animals
is putting out results into our meat products that are so small in
amount that it’s not really effecting our health. I beg to differ…
Wait,
pause! Okay, here is my mind cutting in and tossing around another
truth that at this point is necessary to address. YES! We do these
same crazy stupid things to our fruits and vegetables. We grow them so
that they come out bigger and prettier; we add pesticide, herbicide,
insecticides, suicides, homicides, and whatever else we can use to make
our fruits and vegetables bigger and badder than ever. So now I’m
walking in circles. And unfortunately, it is EXTREMELY difficult to
get away from all of this “we add everything to our products” scenario –
unless you happen to be a wealthy and are able to buy the most organic
of the organic of products 100% of the time, or you’re a farmer with a
very large fertile land, and are able to grow everything under the
sun. I guess the same can be said about meat, assuming you can hunt,
skin and…do all that fun stuff to get your own meat, that would be most
ideal. But unfortunately, my inner Katniss has yet to make an
appearance, so I don’t see any version of this happening in my family.
Additionally, once again I go back to our bodies breaking down
nutrition; it can take up to a week for our body to fully digest some
meats, while fruits and vegetables are digested in a much quicker
fashion – it’s a much easier process for our bodies. So, basically, I’m
saying that it’s impossible to get away from all the bad stuff in our
foods – but I’m also saying that by cutting the meat I believe I have
chosen to lessen the evils.
Okay, this is the point when I
tell you about my personal experience. If you are of the male gender
and are still reading my lovely musing – I just want to warn you. I am
going to talk about my female monthly cycle….feel free to continue to
read, but I’m giving you a heads up out of politeness.
So
for the past two years I’ve been dealing with monthly…issues. It’s
not been pleasant or pretty or fun. I am very sensitive to hormone
changes. This first became evident when I was between 18 and 19 and
taking birth control pills. I didn’t know what was going on at the
time, and it took a few trips to the Dr before we figured out the root
of the problem, but every month in the first week of taking the pills I
would react by vomiting until there was absolutely nothing left in my
stomach, and then dry heaving for at least an hour afterward. This
would happen for at least days 1-3, if not for 5 days. Once we figured
out the association between the pill and the vomiting, I got a sort of
placating “well, sometimes this medication has this sort of side
effect.” (really, violent vomiting?) So, because I was on the lowest
hormone enhanced pill, I was given another medication to counteract the
vomiting. I don’t know what it was. At the time I didn’t care, it
worked so I was fine with this.
My second (third, and
fourth) indication that I’m a tad bit sensitive to hormone changes was
when I had my kids – the shift from being pregnant, and all of the
hormones that build up over 40 weeks time, to suddenly not being
pregnant and having practically none of those hormones made for an
EXTREME shift in my emotional well being. I could explain this to you,
but it was not a fun time and to me is kind of personal. So no.
Let’s just say it was pretty bad.
Back to the now, or the
last few years anyway. I’ve been having increasingly bad monthly
cycles. Bad as in I have NO CLUE when I’m going to start, I would spot
for one, two, three weeks before having a fully fledged flood on my
hands. I was emotionally a wreck during these times. Some months were
pretty good, some were bad, some were really bad. It seemed like
there was no rhyme or reason to the entire cycle ever. I go see my
Midwife, who refers me to a Gynecologist. Both of which have said that
I seem to be in a pre-menopausal state, and that I wasn’t ovulating
every month. (And this is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear at 30 years
old!) So the prescribed solution was to put me on a medication that
would boost my hormone levels and tell my body to ovulate, and then
regulate my cycle further by taking birth control (which I hadn’t taken
since before having kids). I tell the doctor of my birth control
issues, and they said that if I have problems with the one prescribed
to come back and they would try something different. Seemed logical at
the time, so I decide to give the solution a try. I took ONE
PILL…ONE! I was up all night, and I had not adequately remembered my
body “on” birth control pills, but it is NOT pretty. Violent is too
delicate a word for it. And all the time in my head I’m thinking,
“there is something just not right about all of this.”
So
from here I decide I am NOT taking this advice, no medication for me. I
start tracking my cycles on a calendar, including every ache and pain,
every spot and flood. I determine, on my own, that the Dr and Midwife
were partially correct. I was likely ovulating every other cycle. I
would have a semi normal month, 28 day cycle everything was okay, and a
horrible month (or 40 days rather) of hormones, craziness,
non-predictable stuff. I’m guessing this was a month of non-ovulation,
but I’m not a doctor. I decide I can live with this. We aren’t having
any more kids, and at least I have a better idea of what’s going on.
And
then we started making changes to our diet. Justin is head first, ALL
IN! Vegan, mostly raw food if he can. I am WAYY too attached to
milk, cheese, and eggs to go vegan, despite the fact that I know many
of the same hormone issues exist there as well. But I decide to give
being a vegetarian a try. At first I struggled. I was like a kid
that you told they couldn’t have something, they become more desperate
for that one thing. I never did like meat all THAT much prior to
making this move, but suddenly I wanted it much more. That first month
I experienced the motherload of hormonal breakdowns. It was very
reminiscent of the type of emotional shifts that took place after
giving birth. I do not know for sure, I have no information to back up
my hypothesis, but I suspect that I was going through a
withdraw – a “meat hormone withdraw” if you will. Because after a month
of wishy-washiness I stuck to my guns and went full on vegetarian and
have yet to look back.
I noticed a difference right away.
That first month (after the crazy month mentioned above) instead of
being somewhat hateful when my period came around, I didn’t even notice
a shift in my temperament. Usually I have to be very deliberate about
what I’m thinking; make myself realize that I’m getting mad over
something extremely stupid, (WHY WOULD YOU COLOR THAT CAT GREEN…CATS
CAN’T BE GREEN!!! – okay, that was a completely made up scenario, but it
was a bit like that). This was 2 months into the diet change and I
couldn’t even tell I was moving into my monthly cycle. The cramps,
while still there, were not nearly as painful. So, I’m thinking…”okay,
this is my ‘good’ side” and I wait for the next month. 28 days later,
another perfectly smooth cycle. Now I’m thinking…hallelujah, I’m
healed!
The truth is, I believe I am. It’s been several
months now and I have had perfectly timed 28 day normal cycles ever
since I changed my diet. This is just one change. Between more energy
and generally less doomsville and more happy feelings from my end, I
can’t help but think that cutting meat has been the reason why. It has
honestly been the only real major change that I have made in my life
that could have such a drastic effect, and it makes me wonder, what
other things have changed that I just don't know about? By getting rid
of all the unnecessary hormones, and I think it’s possible we are
getting much more than we realize, has affected my body in such a way
that I can’t see myself going back to eating meat…no matter how tempted
I might be by a taco bell red grease of death taco!
