Why Being A
Vegetarian Is ..............
- Bad
- Good
- Healthy
- Unhealthy
- Good For The Environment
If you Google just those 5 words,
Why Being A Vegetarian Is ..... ,
you are sure to find loads of articles in
support of your position, whatever that
position may be.
Most meat eaters will scoff at vegetarians
and vegetarians will look at meat eaters
like they are looking at a mass murderer.
I learned very early on, when doing the
Gun Shows (no, I don't sell guns, I sell stun
guns) do not tell anyone I am a vegetarian.
They look at me funny as they back away
very slowly.
It was then that I realized, okay, I am
surrounded by people who like to hunt. So
I decided to just keep it to myself. Because
in the end, whether you eat meat or not, it
really is a very personal thing and you
don't need to go around preaching your
position, either way.
Now just to be clear, I am not a vegan. I
will eat eggs, cheese and drink milk. I just
don't eat anything with eyeballs. Or
anything that, prior to ending up on my
plate, could look me in the eye. Again, it's
just a personal thing.
I tell people that Adam and Eve and all of
the animals in the Garden Of Eden were
vegetarians (see Genesis 1:29-30) and we'll
all be vegetarians in Heaven, so I'm just
sticking with that plan while I'm here on
Earth.
I think that my aversion to killing animals
started at a very early age. Ever since
'Bambi' I became quite emotional at the
thought of killing deer. In fact, I am sure
that I ruined every deer hunting trip that
my father ever went on, until he finally
quite.
His hunting trips with his buddies was
always a big production. He'd get up
in the middle of the night to pack and I just
knew that he was off to kill Bambi's dad. I
was maybe 5 or 6 years old and I would cry
the whole time he was getting ready.
As I looked back on that experience, I
realized the odd thing was, every time he
got home he'd say, "Nope honey, I missed
every shot so no deer this time". Of course,
I would be thrilled.
He probably did his fair share of killing but
he knew there was no way he could bring
any kind of a dead animal home, so his
hunting buddies probably got it all.
I do have to laugh though, at some of the
articles that I have read and the position
the writers take. According to these
'experts' being a vegetarian is surely going
to put me into an early grave. I wonder if
they work for the beef industry? I have
learned from my many years on this earth
that just because somebody claims to be an
'expert', you can't always trust that what
they are telling you is the complete truth.
No matter what a person's position is, on
just about any subject really, they can find
enough data, be it skewed or not, to give
support to their argument. If somebody
wants to cite a study that was done as
proof, they can quite possibly find just the
right data, and maybe even tweak it a bit.
For instance, I read an article where an
'expert' was claiming that the vegetarians in
the study had much worse health than the
meat eaters. Really? Well, if you took a group
of vegetarians that ate nothing but Mac 'N
Cheese and sat in front of the TV every spare
minute, I suppose that they are not going to
be in the best of health. And a study claiming
the same about meat eaters, could have used
a group that ate nothing but fast food cheese
burgers and never touched a vegetable, ever!
I am sure the truth is, there are just as many
healthy meat eaters as there are healthy
vegetarians. I am also sure that the reverse is
true, there are unhealthy vegetarians as well
as unhealthy meat eaters. It is not the choice
to be a vegetarian or a meat eater, but rather
the overall food choices that you make. The
main thing is, whatever path you choose, eat
healthy.
Unfortunately, that is just not as easy as it
once was. Unless you are paying attention to
what you are buying at the grocery store and
reading labels, you could be putting all sorts
of dangerous ingredients into your body. Just
because something has 'Healthy' slapped on
the label, it ain't necessarily so. I read
somewhere that when at the grocery store, if
you stay just with the outer aisles, you'll have
a better chance of avoiding most of the
processed foods.
You know the ones, where you can't even
pronounce most of the ingredients.
The thing that we must all remember; food
manufacturers are in the business of
making money. They really don't give a
hoot about whether you stay healthy or
not. And I know that this may come as a
shock to you, but advertising, whether it's a
TV commercial or a magazine ad, is
probably not telling you the truth. I
personally do not believe there is truth in
advertising. And if you are in the
advertising industry, please don't be
offended. I know that you are just doing
your job.
If you are thinking about becoming a
vegetarian, EatingWell has a great article
with a 7-Day Vegetarian Meal Plan. It
includes all of the recipes. So if you are a
vegetarian wannabe, this will give you
step-by-step eating directions. Be aware
though that you may have to modify it a
wee bit. It is 1,200 calories per day and
depending on your age, height and weight,
this may be more or less calories that you
want to consume.
Here is a quick and easy formula for
determining your BMR (basal metabolic
rate) or how many calories you can
consume each day to maintain your current
weight.
655 + (4.35 x weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age) =
the number of calories per day.
The Center For Young Women's Health
(young? I guess I don't qualify) has a very
interesting article titled
'How To Be A Healthy Vegetarian'
Apparently, there are now 5 different types
of vegetarians. 5?!!! That's just crazy! Back
in my hippie days (yes, I am very old) we
just called ourselves plain old vegetarians.
But in this age of specialization, there are
all kinds of different categories with some
really fancy-schmancy names.
Flexitarian - Flexitarians are also known as
semi-vegetarians. They occasionally eat fish
or meat, but generally avoid animal
products most of the time. My translation -
sometimes you is and sometimes you ain't.
I think this is the category I was in for a lot
of years. I never bought meat but if I was a
guest at someone's house and they were
serving meat, then that's what I ate.
The reason I never really acquired a taste
for meat is that my parents always bought
the cheapest meat there was and then
cooked it until it was tough as shoe leather
and I just couldn't chew it. So growing up,
I was just never a big fan.
Pesci-vegetarian- I didn't even think this was
a real word so I looked it up and discovered
that 'Pesci' is Italian for fish. I guess it sounds
better that 'Fish-atarian'. Pescatarians eat fish,
dairy and eggs. But don't eat poultry or any
other meats. Sounds like they just don't eat
critters with legs, 2 or 4.
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian - Lacto-Ovo
vegetarians don't eat meat, fish or poultry
but do eat dairy. I guess that's me. This is the
most common type of vegetarian. But what a
silly name.
Lacto-Vegetarian - Lacto vegetarians don't
eat meat, fish, poultry or eggs but do eat
dairy. This will put the poor chickens outta
work.
Ovo-Vegetarians - Ovo vegetarians don't
eat meat, fish, poultry or dairy. But they do
eat eggs. So the chickens will still have a job
but all those poor dairy cows will be outta
work.
Vegan - Vegans avoid eating animal
products of any kind or any animal derived
ingredients of any kind. Strictly plant
based. Not even honey! This will put all
those poor little bees outta work.
In addition to helping you figure out just
what kind of vegetarian you may be, The
Center For Young Women's Health also
provides some links to vegetarian recipes.
It really doesn't matter what category you
want to put yourself in, vegetarian or not,
the most important thing is to make sure
you're giving your body the nutrients that
it needs to function properly and be
healthy.
You've heard it a gazillion times - Eat right,
get plenty of sleep and exercise. Sounds
simple? Yes. But not so easy.
If you are looking to lose a little weight, or
maybe a lot, check out The 2 Week Diet. It
is not some special pill or potion. No, it's
just about food and nutrition. You will
learn so much about food and the right
nutrients that will keep your body running
properly, like the fabulous piece of
machinery that it is.
You can lose a lot of weight in just 2 weeks
and then take a break, eat what you want,
within reason of course, and then do The 2
Week Diet again, until you're at your goal
weight.
My recommendation is, wait until after the
holidays though. Who wants to go to a
party and not be able to eat any of the
goodies that will no doubt be available. I
mean, that's just cruel, right?
So if you are wanting to lose some pounds,
make it your goal to start The 2 Week Diet
after all the festivities are over with and
you'll be starting 2018 with a whole new
outlook on life. And since you'll be needing
some new clothes for that new body, you
can hit all of the January sales. Perfect
timing!
