I'LL NEVER BE A VEGAN, BUT...

During the three years that I lived here fulltime, and John came only on weekends and holidays, I lost about ten pounds without even trying. I attributed it to the fact that I never ate much meat when I was alone, though it was more from laziness than virtuousness, I'm afraid. Whatever the reason, I was extremely grateful, for it kept me below my magic cut-off weight -- the one where my arthritis seems to disappear, acid reflux is no longer an issue, I sleep better, I feel better, and my good cholesterol is high enough that they don't bother me too much about my bad, which is always borderline.

Then my hubby retired, joined me here fulltime and, within a year, I was right back where I started. I still did my best to cook healthy for him, including lots of good, fresh veggies from local farmers, eschewing packaged, processed stuff, never frying anything, etc. The only difference, as far as I could see, was that I went back to including meat most nights. I guess my upbringing kicked in, and I feared being thought lazy if I didn't put a "proper" meal on the table each night. It probably didn't help that his spontaneous suggestions for fun outings kept luring me away from my exercise routine, but I wouldn't trade that for the world!

Recently our daughter said we really needed to watch a film called Forks Over Knives. She knows how much I love "foodie" movies, so I was expecting something about locavores or gourmands.  Instead it was about a couple of cardiologists who, despite having grown up on farms eating beef they had raised and drinking lots of good fresh milk, eventually came to the conclusion that all our heart, blood pressure, diabetes, and a multitude of other issues, could be solved by eating a plant based, whole foods diet. Now, I have no way of checking their research data. I am sure there are plenty of people out there with research to dispute their findings. However, one thing did impress me, for I have seen it over and over again. That was the graph that showed how the numbers of people with heart disease had been steadily increasing until WWII broke out and meat, flour, and sugar were rationed, and everyone was forced to plant veggie gardens just to get enough to eat. The line on that graph almost dropped off the page. Soon as the war ended, people went back to gorging on all the things they had missed, and the line went straight back up, through the ceiling! The thing that will probably impress most men watching the film is that, by the end of the study, all the men in the doctors' test group had not only got off most their meds, but also claimed their "flags" to be flying. Anyhoo, like I said, I don't know if there is science to back them up or not. But, when my hubby turned to me at the end of the film and said "You know, we don't have to eat meat every night. It could be more of a week-end/special occasion thing", well, I wasn't about to argue with him!

According to the doctors in the movie, we should be giving up all animal products, including dairy and eggs, all processed foods, and all oils, even olive. Not gonna happen in this house. But, we have been cutting way back on the amount of meat we eat for several weeks now (I made some salmon patties one night, put some turkey pepperoni on a pizza another time, and we get it occasionally at restaurants). To tell you the truth, I haven't missed it at all. My only fear is that we are going to grow weary of the few truly delicious meat free recipes I have in my arsenal. I've been thinking a lot about one of my favorite bloggers, Heather, over at Beauty That Moves. From the saliva-inducing pictures that she posts on a regular basis, I've always assumed she must be a fabulous cook. She just happens to cook mostly vegetarian, and I was always surprised by how delicious everything looked. I've been wishing I had a bunch of her recipes. So, imagine my surprise when I saw this on her blog recently:

I signed up right away, and as a bonus, got the 2-for-1 special, and was able to sign my daughter up for free. Now, let me repeat this, so you don't freak out when you catch me eating meat in a restaurant somewhere. No, we are not turning vegan, or even vegetarian, but hey, knowledge is power, and a little moderation never hurt anyone! Too bad the workshop doesn't start for more than a month.