So after my birthday last year, I made the decision to give up pork. The decision was based on seeing images of slabs of pork flesh oozing a very strange looking green substance. I looked into it and it turned out it was an abscess in the pork and the green stuff (for lack of a better word at the moment) was pus. Now even though I have my degree for surgical technology and I can deal with looking inside a living body, the idea of my food oozing pus disturbed me.
Another factor that played into my decision was a lot of my friends in the spiritual/conscious community. They urged me to quit eating pork to help clean up/detoxify and eventual begin to decalcify my pineal gland. Now my spiritual journey was changing very rapidly at this point. I had gone from a crystal toting self-professed Tamera-wiccan to just a spiritual person in general (I don't know how many times I have typed the word spurt instead of spirit). I went from my practice revolving around Greek and Norse deities to discovering deities from my own culture. But this is a topic for another day.
The last thing that helped me make my decision did not come until about a quarter of the way into 2014. I picked up a second job at an assisted living facility. I stay up all night (11p-7a) checking in on some of these elderly people, washing their clothes, helping them to the toilet, taking out their trash, even occasionally wiping their behind for them. And after a few weeks of doing this job, it hit me. I don't want to be like them when I hit my 70s or 80s or 90s. I don't want to have someone following me around all night. I don't want to have someone helping me take a shower, or push my wheelchair down the hall to and from every meal. I want to be able to function on my own. I've taken the time to sit down and talk to some of my favorite residents (I am trained on all three shifts so I have seen them at various times of the day), and it turns out that they were all heavy meat eaters in their earlier year and some of them still are. I hear stories of steak, and stews, and pork chops at Sunday dinner. Burgers and fries (nothing against fries, I love fries!), chicken fried steak, you get the idea. I don't want to live like these residents. I want to spend my golden years with the one that loves me through thick and thin and enriching the lives of my family.
So at this point, I've given up eating pork and beef. Pork was tricky because I like Chipotle. My grandparents have a tradition where they go to Chipotle every Wednesday. And while to the average person this may not be a big deal, Chipotle used to make their pinto beans with bacon (not that you could even taste the bacon). So for my first few weeks, I would be pork free except for Wednesdays. Then I switched to black beans, just to feel like I was actually sticking to my word. I honestly hate the taste (or lack thereof) of black beans. Black beans and mushrooms are just bland. Eventually Chipotle tried to become more vegetarian and vegan friendly so they stopped using bacon in their pinto beans and added Sofritos (tofu) to their menu. I jumped for joy about getting my pinto beans back. I even went ahead and decided I was going to give up my chicken burrito bowl and just get the Sofritos instead. Until that night as I felt my throat beginning to hurt, burn and generally tighten up like someone was choking me. Then I remembered one very important fact. I am allergic to soy. I honestly forgot that tofu and soy are the same thing.
Beef I gave up without even realizing it. My nana came home from the doctors one day and said she needed to cut back on her sugars and starches and her cholesterol and blood pressure were a bit too high. So I stopped cooking stew and pot roast without even really thinking about it. Almost as if overnight, they were no longer in our home. A month and a half passed and I did not even realize it. I got off of work one night and picked my nana up to go to Olive Garden (its my favorite restaurant in the world, I go every year for my birthday) for dinner. What I wanted to eat had chorizo in it (I googled it from my phone and found out it was a type of pork sausage), so I went to the next item on my list of things to try. I ordered steak medallion fettuccine Alfredo. I ate about half of it because I had filled up on breadsticks and salad. Within about 45 minutes I was in the bathroom with an upset stomach. I stayed in my room for the rest of the night. I went to work the next morning, came home and ate my leftovers for dinner, and the same thing happened. It didn't click with me until a two weeks later when I had a steak for dinner at Applebee's and my stomach was messed up within 20 minutes that it was the beef that was messing my stomach up.
So now I just eat poultry and seafood. I guess I fall into the category of pescatarian/pollotarian. And for now I'm okay with this. I do want to give up chicken and turkey and seafood (bye salmon) by the end of August. At least the school I go to has veggie and black bean burgers, so I can spend the $6 once or twice a week there or go home and make my version of sesame noodles. So for all my vegetarians and vegans out there, I want your tips and tricks and recipes (as long as they don't involve soy or mushrooms). I want to know what helped you make the choice, how long it took you, etc. And if you're in the same situation I am in, where you live with someone that does not want to become vegetarian (but you do all of the cooking) how do you feed yourself and keep them happy?
Until the next post,
Hotel Kings and Queens
Have you seen the documentary 'Earthlings'? I gave it all up after watching that...and did research into meat in general, especially the spiritual ramifications concerning meat. Meat arouses the animal nature when you consume it, and when an animal is maltreated, abused, malnourished, and finally senselessly butchered, all of that negative energy stays with the flesh; also consider the growth hormones and various other additive chemicals in the meat. Some markets and restaurants will claim that their meats are locally raised or "free-range", but you avoid the risk simply by avoiding the meat. I've been an official vegetarian since mid 2012, and although I've slipped a few times, I try my best to steer clear of meat. Once in a while I'll eat fish, but even that may have to go soon. Eating as a vegetarian, vegan or raw foodist is a lifestyle requiring discipline, and often there may be people around you who are still on that pork and beef and often influence you to eat it as well; I would have you ask them to respect your lifestyle decision in any way possible. I'm not telling you to stay away from them completely, but it is always best to surround yourself with people who want and do what you want and do. It's tough especially when in the area you live doesn't have many vegetarian/vegan options, but a decision is a decision--and you may have to spend the extra money or drive the extra miles or do the extra research to uphold that decision. Always remember that you chose to do what's right for your health and well-being, especially if you plan on having children. Hotep! I hope this helps.
ReplyDelete