Vegetarianism is not AA

I started out 2013 with the intention of doing a week long vegan cleanse. The gluttony that is November and December was catching up with me, and I wanted to hit the reset button.  The vegan thing lasted about 3 days. There is no way I can live without cheese. That soy-almond crap does not do the trick.  However, I found some pretty tasty alternatives to diary.  For example, there is a cream cheese substitute called Tofutti that tastes EXACTLY like cream cheese.  I felt like I was doing a good thing by choosing tofutti over cream cheese, until I compared the ingredients labels.

     Organic cream cheese: Organic pasteurized milk and cream, cheese culture, salt

     Tofutti vegan cream cheese substitute:  Water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, isolated soy protein, maltodextrin, tofu, nondairy lactic acid, sugar, locust bean, guar and carrageenan gums, sugar, salt, veg. mono and diglycerides, potassium sorbate (added as a preservative).

REALLY? You vegans are telling me that partially hydrogenated soybean oil (read: trans fat) is better for me than organic milk and cream? Go home, you’re drunk. It's hypocritical to push a vegan "healthy" lifestyle when half of vegan alternatives to dairy are full of chemical additives. Oh, and vegans can go ahead and eat all the sugar and white flour they want since it's not made of animals? Enjoy your diabetes.

So, I was caught in a dilemma: do I eat based on what’s better for the environment, or what’s better for my body? The answer for me has been a little bit of both.  I’ve not eaten meat, save for two lapses of willpower, since January first. I do still eat fish though, because, hello, sushi. Yum.

I’ve come to a conclusion about not eating meat- It’s not all or nothing.  This isn’t AA, just because I had a lapse of willpower and ate meat in February doesn’t mean I can’t say “My name is Andrea, and I’ve been vegetarian for 98 days.” There are no vegetarian police who are going to come after me with “WAIT, SHE’S LYING- SHE ATE HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE ON FEBRUARY 15^TH!!!” Depriving yourself can lead to an all-or-nothing attitude, and that’s dangerous.

I’m not saying I won’t have a giant bloody rare steak ever again.  I’m not saying I’m going to starve if a friend had me over for dinner and used chicken broth in her soup. I’m not going to be rude about it.  In fact, I'll definitely eat meat on Sunday for Zeph's birthday (this was literally a birthday request of his). Meat doesn’t gross me out, it is delicious and if I didn’t have a moral dilemma over eating it, I would.  I challenge you this- eat LESS meat and LESS diary.  If you’re going to eat meat, eat REAL meat. Eat wild game, or grass-fed organic beef, or vegetarian-fed free range chicken. Almond milk is a perfectly suitable alternative to dairy milk, and it's damn delicious, too. As for cheese, I would never suggest you start eating a cheese alternative, #SorryImNotSorry

Like I said, I’m not perfect and never will be.  I love barbacoa Chipotle burritos as much as the next gal (ok I lied, I love them much, much more than that).  I just need to learn how to love me some Chipotle less.