Iāve been unable to eat beef for many years. The doctors never figured out why. It isnāt an allergy. Itās not a general digestive issue. Just beef. So the easiest way to deal with it was to stop eating it. Believe me, it caused me so much pain if I did eat it, you might as well just take me out back and put me out of misery. I literally passed out from the pain, it was so severe. Ended up being the easiest food item Iāve ever given up (although I do sometimes miss a good medium-rare steak or a juicy hamburger).
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was about to bite into a chicken drumstick and suddenly all I could think was, āIām about to take a bite out of someoneās leg.ā I set the drumstick down and havenāt eaten chicken since. Just the thought of it makes me ill.
I was talking with a friend of mine whoās a vegetarian (pescatarian, actually ⦠she eats fish) about my sudden aversion to chicken. I knew she could relate. She looked at me and said, āYou might as well become a vegetarian. Thereās really only one thing more youād need to give up. Pork. You already donāt eat beef. And now you donāt eat chicken.ā
Well, pork is one of those things I try to trick myself into eating. My friend, Kristina, has a lovely pet pig named Priscilla and if a slice of bacon actually looked like it had been cut from Priscillaās body, I wouldnāt eat it. But you know how denial works. Itās bacon. Itās not pig.
Yeah, right.
So here I am, realizing that I think Iāve always been a vegetarian at heart. But with a major case of denial. I know itās not for everyone and I would never try to convince someone else to live by my personal decisions, but I think itās time for me to live by my own personal feelings.
But I find that now I canāt even stand the smell of chicken (raw or cooked). It smells like something dead. It had been starting to taste that way to me, too.
I even asked my Facebook friends (many of whom are vegetarians), āHow long does a person have to go without eating meat before they can call themselves a vegetarian?ā Basically they all laughed at me. Nicely. One said I could call myself a flexitarian.
Anyway, technically I guess Iām now a ovo-lacto-pescetarian rather than a vegetarian. I eat eggs, dairy, and fish. Partly because I canāt eat some meat, partly because I donāt want to eat some meat, and partly to reduce my carbon footprint. Yeah, even my impact on the earth comes into my thinking. One thing Iāve discovered since giving upĀ meatĀ is that itās nice to not be in denial about eating anymore. I donāt have to have internal arguments with myself about whether I want to eat bacon or sausage with my eggs.Ā The decision’s already made for me.
Honestly,Ā I always sort of thought of vegetarians as being legalistic about their food choices, but Iāve found for myself itās not legalism so much as it is freedom. Which is sort of surprising to me.
And I want to gently repeat myself, just to make sure itās clear. This isnāt a message saying everyone should do as I do, foodwise. Itās more of a statement about being true to you, whoever and whatever that might entail. Youāll most likely find freedom in being true to yourself.
And also, it may be time to write another Frozen Assets cookbook since the other books were pretty heavy in meat recipes.Ā Do I see a project in my future?Ā š
Until next time!
~Debi
PS: Play niceĀ in the comment section. This is just my personal experience. Your mileage may (will) vary.