Changes

I posted the other day about getting food poisoning from salmon. It's not the first time it's happened - well, it is with salmon - but I've experienced food poisoning on a few occasions, and each time has been meat or fish related.

Since I've been tuning into my body's wants and needs more, I've been thinking about becoming vegetarian. It's something I've always said since I was a teenager, only to tuck into a bacon sandwich less than an hour after telling my parents not to serve meat on my plate anymore. Yeah...

My desire to be a vegetarian as a teenager was because I love animals. Adore them. Prefer them to people in fact, so I hated knowing where 'meat came from' and the suffering these animals endured. Now, as an adult, I still find that disturbing, but more disturbing is the information I'm reading about what exactly is in the meat produce I eat. It's easy to see why I've been so poorly from it. I won't go into specifics here but a quick Google seach will give you the information you need. This latest bout of food poisoning has put paid to me, and since I've been thinking about it for a while, it gave me the nudge I needed to make my mind.

I no longer eat meat.

Wowwee, big deal. Now I'm by no means preaching, or judging people who do eat meat. I mean, I was raised a meat-eater, but it's only now at age 27 that I realise I don't need meat, and honestly, the only meat I enjoy anyway is chicken. That said, I wouldn't want it for every meal, every day. No thanks.

The hardest part of my decision to try vegetarianism was the attitude of people around me, except the wonderfully-supportive-in-every-single-thing-I-do Mr Lollipop. I don't know if you know, but Mr L and I live here with my parents. We share tenancy, so it's equally our house as it is theirs. We're quite spoilt in that we have our evening meals cooked for us by my Dad. Every. Single. Night. And let me tell you something about my Daddy - he is a bloody carnivore. My father doesn't believe that you can have a meat-free meal, and looks upon such a dish as a snack. He doesn't feel full unless he has meat. My mother has similar opinions, but will eat vegetarian meals and feel satisfied. So, our evening meals are based around meat. Meat, meat and more meat. Lots of meat and big portions.

I can understand why he would be a bit peeved at my sudden reluctance to eat meat, but I don't expect anybody to cook for me. I'm a grown woman and lived away from my parents for nearly 8 years - I know how to use the oven. It took me a few days but I finally got the encouragement I needed from my parents. They even went and bought me some vegetarian things to try, like Quorn meatballs (yuck) and a Linda McCartney tofu lasagne (yum).

My brother? He's still anti-vegetarianism, and everyday I'm faced with comments like "You will only last a week until you succumb to chicken" (Ha! Already proved you wrong) and "Urgh that smells disgusting!" (Erm, it smells exactly like your chilli...). Sigh. 

It doesn't end there though. My friend rolls her eyes and tuts everytime I whip out my meat-free lunch. "You're not still doing that are you?" she'd ask. "It's not healthy for you to not eat meat." Well, A) she doesn't give a damn shit about health when she is slathering a fourth thick layer of butter onto her toast, and B) it's quite the opposite, actually. I'm not doing it to lose weight (though that is one of the perks), I'm doing it because my body doesn't react well to eating meat. It doesn't digest it properly - I either get bloated or have (TMI) bowel issues. And there's that little nugget of information again - I don't particularly enjoy it. 

So... Why should I keep eating it? To please other people? NO. Definitely not.

She will get bored of obsessing over my food before I will, and deep down I don't care what she thinks, but I am so angry at my reaction to her comments on Monday. I was so sick and tired of her little snide remarks and digs that I stuffed myself stupid with chocolate, crisps and biscuits. Not because I was hungry, not because I wanted them, and certainly not because my body craved or needed them. I did it purely to shut her up. And ten I got rid of it when I got home. I am not proud to admit that, nor is it easy to admit that, but it's something I need to deal with. I am so ashamed of myself for letting somebody else's opinions dictate what I eat. I learned a lesson the hard way when I was 15 and I vowed then never to let anyone else's opinions of me jeopardise my relationship with food.

I'm trying so hard not to dwell on it but I am more upset about the way I dealt with her judgemental attitude, and ultimately I can't blame her for that. It was all me. Why can't people accept that I want to make changes? Why don't they think that being healthy, or trying to live a healthy life makes me happy? Why does it matter to anybody if I eat a chicken sandwich for my lunch or a bowl of salad? Why is it any concern? WHY?

Screw you. 

Not you reading this. Her. And anyone small-minded like her.

I am going to continue avoiding meat in my diet. I will continue listening to my body's wants and needs. I will continue a healthy lifestyle to the best of my ability. For myself and not for anybody else. 

In the words of Jennifer : You are what you eat, so eat pretty!

Have you been met with resistance on your quest to be healthy?

xoxo