Why me? Why vegetarian?

* Let me just go ahead and start this off by sounding completely cliche and corny- there's really no better way to do it! *

Why? It’s such a simple word, and yet so deeply profound. Why is it exactly that we choose to ask "why" rather than "why not"? But that is a rant I will save for another day, another post! For now I will give the simply “why” answer, but I believe as you travel on your journey as a vegan or vegetarian, you too will quickly began to ask “why not?” as there simply is no good reason to eat animals. (You can exhale now. The cheesy intro is over.)

Back to the point- Why choose to be vegan or vegetarian? For me it’s simple. My family! Growing up as the middle of three sisters there was a lot of estrogen in the house, and we didn't particularly care for icky things- meat being one of them. My mother was never a fan of red meat and considering she did all the cooking, neither did the rest of us. My poor daddy. So I guess, in a sense, I've always sorta been grossed out by meat- just not to the extent that I am now that I am somewhat knowledgeable on the subject. 

One journey leads to another. . . 

It came as no big surprise when my brilliant little sis, Callie, announced her vegetarianism, and subsequently her veganism to the family. Actually, being naturally skinny and admittedly anti-gym, I suppose the focus on health was a bit of a shock, but her being the first to know about a hot new trend to save the world wasn't anything new. I don't how she does it. Seeing how I've always thought my younger sister was cooler than me and I already wasn't a big fan of meat I started testing the waters. Luckily so did my mom and my older sister, which made it super awesome! Callie is our little trailblazer! 

So I started eating. . . and shopping. . . 

I was introduced to a little something called Leek Crostinis with Pesto. O M G. Straight from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. Do it. These little bites of heaven will make you wonder why you ever needed meat. They are deeeelish.  From my first bite my love of healthy, fresh, vegetarian food grew. It became a lot of fun trying out new recipes and shopping at awesome stores like Whole Foods and Greenwise. I wasn't really sure about my commitment to an entire life of this, but it was a pretty fun hobby for sure! I love food, I love shopping (even if it is for food) and I wasn't a big fan of meat so this whole thing was right up my alley.

Then I started reading. . . . 

It was over after that. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back to meat. The dairy is a bit more difficult (I <3 CHEESE), but I'm getting there. I eat vegan about 70% of the time, and vegetarian the other 30%. Once I read Eating Animals, my life was literally changed. (Corny comment count: 2) But it was. 

Then I started feeling and looking super rad . . . 

Ready for some grossness (I’m probably going to regret posting this on the web)- I used to have issues with weird flaky skin on my scalp, my back, my big toe- you get the picture. I'd gone to a couple of different dermatologists, and got a slew of neat-O meds to clear it up, but it always came back. Now it’s gone! TA-DA!! Anyone who has known me for more than the last year knows some pretty significant changes have taken place in my life- and therefore my lifestyle- which probably have had a great deal to do with my current state of health. But none of those changes caused such a rapid change in the way I feel. Whenever I do eat meat or dairy now- Im sick! That is not normal! (Did you know that we are the only mammal in the world who drinks milk past infancy? Not only that, but we’re the only animals to drink a different species milk- GROSS! If it’s not found anywhere else in the natural world- ITS NOT NATURAL! BAM- knowledge bomb!).

In summary:

Meat has always been a little creepy to me, but now thanks to my lil sis, the rest of my family and a good deal of research I stopped eating diseased flesh and now look and feel better than I ever have! Hooray! So why not stop eating meat?