sandeyeDietary Alterations & Adaptions: vegetarianism
April 18th 2008 18:51
At no point in my current life have I been a 100% vegetarian. In my childhood, I did not even know it existed. The fact that my mother did not eat meat was just my mother, not a wider domain, at that time. During my teenage years, I learned what vegetarianism was, due to a friend I made at school being vegetarian, and also to my cousin turning vegan. Once again, it did not affect me, myself.
Once pregnant, I investigated healthy diets, but did not opt for a vegetarian choice so much as increasing my raw vegetables and fruits, canceling orange juice and coffee consumption, and indulging in vast quantities of ice cream for calcium and corn chips for fancy. Once breast-feeding and then transferring my young son to solids, I slid my way into what I considered a healthy diet. I would eat three meals per day. One oatmeal and honey with coffee breakfast, and two meat or seafood with 2-5 vegetable platters for lunch and dinner, with a dessert.
This progressed over the years, due to fads and fancies. meanwhile, my father had become vegetarian, along with an aunt and another cousin. My son's meat-eating habits did not allow for us to take that road, even if I would have been more likely to drop meat but retain seafood, or to eat only organic meats.
Recently, I have been working on various lentil, barley and rice dishes, and no longer 'always' add some form of meat or seafood to my dinner. My son complains, but now that he is 17, he can always buy a meaty snack if he feels he is missing something. I have also cut back to usually only partaking only a single meal with a dessert per day, and fasting occasionally. These changes have been from how my body feels, reading of Yogic diets, and also my interest in Buddhism. All these matters combine into the creation of my own personal diet.
My current aim is to cut back considerably on meat and seafood, until I am at a stage where I only consume such once weekly. If I still feel fit and healthy, I may cut it out completely, or turn to fish only for my weekly indulgence. Whereas I am not a strict 100% Yogic eater, I do hope to progress closer to such ideal, if not actually attain a pure diet. For this purpose, I am investigating various vegetarian options to be included in my recipe repertoire.
I still have a problem with eating less spices though - for some reason, my body and mind both delight in the consumption of dishes prepared with freshly crushed black peppercorns or freshly chopped chili. Whether I will eventually learn not to eat such delights, or whether I shall only half-do a Yogic diet, I still intend to work towards healthier consumption and less meat.
Once pregnant, I investigated healthy diets, but did not opt for a vegetarian choice so much as increasing my raw vegetables and fruits, canceling orange juice and coffee consumption, and indulging in vast quantities of ice cream for calcium and corn chips for fancy. Once breast-feeding and then transferring my young son to solids, I slid my way into what I considered a healthy diet. I would eat three meals per day. One oatmeal and honey with coffee breakfast, and two meat or seafood with 2-5 vegetable platters for lunch and dinner, with a dessert.
This progressed over the years, due to fads and fancies. meanwhile, my father had become vegetarian, along with an aunt and another cousin. My son's meat-eating habits did not allow for us to take that road, even if I would have been more likely to drop meat but retain seafood, or to eat only organic meats.
Recently, I have been working on various lentil, barley and rice dishes, and no longer 'always' add some form of meat or seafood to my dinner. My son complains, but now that he is 17, he can always buy a meaty snack if he feels he is missing something. I have also cut back to usually only partaking only a single meal with a dessert per day, and fasting occasionally. These changes have been from how my body feels, reading of Yogic diets, and also my interest in Buddhism. All these matters combine into the creation of my own personal diet.
My current aim is to cut back considerably on meat and seafood, until I am at a stage where I only consume such once weekly. If I still feel fit and healthy, I may cut it out completely, or turn to fish only for my weekly indulgence. Whereas I am not a strict 100% Yogic eater, I do hope to progress closer to such ideal, if not actually attain a pure diet. For this purpose, I am investigating various vegetarian options to be included in my recipe repertoire.
I still have a problem with eating less spices though - for some reason, my body and mind both delight in the consumption of dishes prepared with freshly crushed black peppercorns or freshly chopped chili. Whether I will eventually learn not to eat such delights, or whether I shall only half-do a Yogic diet, I still intend to work towards healthier consumption and less meat.
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