I have always loved Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be or not to be." Today I was reminded again of a growing suspicion. . . perhaps meat is not for me. Alas, I am torn for I love Cafe Rio sweet pork burritos, and I love chicken, and I worry how I will ever obtain enough protein if I give it up?
The awareness dawned when walking my usual route. The polygamist colony recently acquired cows and I noticed them one morning. They are beautiful creatures. I felt so sad for their plight. I comforted my conscience by reminding myself that I rarely eat red meat--like not even once a year. However, I could not assuage my guilt as I considered chickens. I eat them and pigs. Are they not as cute?
I quickly removed the thought and decided I would not worry about the awakening now and would allow the awareness to grow till I could no longer ignore it.
Well today I had a conversation with a world renowned nutritionist who was giving me some tips about supplements and health conditions. She is a vegetarian and highly recommends the vegetarian diet. She abhors meat and insists if I insist on eating it, that I only eat organic meats and never red meat or shellfish. I never eat the latter and rarely the former. And I never purchase organic meats as I figure they are just a scam. Supposedly non-organic meats are laden with hormones that are harmful to our bodies and actually encourage cancer cell growth.
As this guru was teaching me, I was reminded of my earlier premonition that perhaps I should stop eating meat, but this time it was not out of love and concern for the animals, but motivated strictly by health. I feel the former was a nobler reason. I feel the latter to be less motivating for me.
Regardless, I'm not ready to make a definitive decision either way. I'm going to continue to eat meats sparingly and I'm going to experiment with plant based proteins. I am definitely cutting out deli meats--which I will miss as I do love deli ham and turkey. The nutritionist also thinks I should also give up dairy and this isn't the first time I've heard this, but truth be told, I love my greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Not sure I agree that they are bad for me.
I do want to live a long, healthy life, but truth be told, I feel pretty dang healthy already. I have no health complaints and I'm in the best shape of my life so why would I want to change one single thing?
So to meat or not to meat, that is the question!
The awareness dawned when walking my usual route. The polygamist colony recently acquired cows and I noticed them one morning. They are beautiful creatures. I felt so sad for their plight. I comforted my conscience by reminding myself that I rarely eat red meat--like not even once a year. However, I could not assuage my guilt as I considered chickens. I eat them and pigs. Are they not as cute?
I quickly removed the thought and decided I would not worry about the awakening now and would allow the awareness to grow till I could no longer ignore it.
Well today I had a conversation with a world renowned nutritionist who was giving me some tips about supplements and health conditions. She is a vegetarian and highly recommends the vegetarian diet. She abhors meat and insists if I insist on eating it, that I only eat organic meats and never red meat or shellfish. I never eat the latter and rarely the former. And I never purchase organic meats as I figure they are just a scam. Supposedly non-organic meats are laden with hormones that are harmful to our bodies and actually encourage cancer cell growth.
As this guru was teaching me, I was reminded of my earlier premonition that perhaps I should stop eating meat, but this time it was not out of love and concern for the animals, but motivated strictly by health. I feel the former was a nobler reason. I feel the latter to be less motivating for me.
Regardless, I'm not ready to make a definitive decision either way. I'm going to continue to eat meats sparingly and I'm going to experiment with plant based proteins. I am definitely cutting out deli meats--which I will miss as I do love deli ham and turkey. The nutritionist also thinks I should also give up dairy and this isn't the first time I've heard this, but truth be told, I love my greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Not sure I agree that they are bad for me.
I do want to live a long, healthy life, but truth be told, I feel pretty dang healthy already. I have no health complaints and I'm in the best shape of my life so why would I want to change one single thing?
So to meat or not to meat, that is the question!
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