Rethinking the Food We Eat
The transformation is slow and multifaceted, but we’re leaning more towards vegetarianism.
In January, we realized how much calorie-dense crap we were eating. We stopped eating take-out so many times a week, doubling our grocery budget, but evening out in the end.
Around the time of my surgery in April, we loosened the reins on our wellness plan. I couldn’t work out, I was feeling sorry for myself a lot, and we ate a lot of comfort food and avoided the gym. We’ve maintained our weight loss, but we haven’t dipped down again since then. I suppose if I would eliminate the recent scourge of ice cream cones, the many-mile walks I take every day would actually show up on the scale.
A month ago, my husband mentioned the new diet that his friend and his wife are on. As a way to control her severe diabetes, she’s on the food pyramid diet with the exception of meat. They are able to eat fish once a week. They feel incredible and energized, and Chris was filled with envy.
So starting from this middle ground, we bought a couple vegetarian cookbooks. We studied them in detail, marveling at how yummy everything sounded. And then we shopped. There’s so much out there in the produce world, in the cheese world, in the legume world, that we hadn’t tried much. Asiago cheese? Feta? Asparagus? Come on. We’re from Wisconsin. We eat meat and potatoes and cheddar.
That’s the whole point. We really want to branch out. There’s so many foods out there that aren’t part of our Wisconsin-standard diet. Our dependency on ground beef as a staple is crazy, not to mention not very good for us.
So far we’ve had the following: Three-Cheese Tortellini with summer squash and zucchini, Pasta Rosa Verde with fresh spinach and grape tomatoes, and Asparagus Stir Fry served over rice.
It’s been fabulous and oh-so delicious. We aren’t planning on abandoning our carnivore status anytime soon; we just want to add some variety to our diet. Having a really good reason to visit the local Farmer’s Market is also a definite plus. We’ll be there bright and early on Saturday to be inspired for another week’s menu.
Jim Carlson said:
When I started paying attention to food labels, I was shocked. It is incredibly difficult to avoid highly processed wheat, high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils. It seams that the more processed food is, the worse it is for you.
When dining out, life is more difficult. Most places have highly processed, often fried food which is incredibly convenient, yet has little quality nutritional value.
Taking control of ones eating in our society is difficult, but worth while. What scares me is that our kids are growing up in a world where a ‘crispy chicken salad with flavor burst croûtons and bacon bits’ is considered healthy….
June 8th, 2008 at 9:23 am #
erik said:
Bravo on the step up in your diet. It took me a couple years to completely drain the meat out of my food habbits as well. I’ve been off of red meat for ages, since 2000, but everything else took a long time to finally get gone. I couldn’t pin point the exact date I went pretty much entirely vegetarian, but it was some time in 2005. Once you get off it you’ll be amazed how easy is to stay that way. Like kicking any habit, there’s a hump to get over, and once you’re there, everything is a-ok.
And I know what you mean about eating in Wisconsin on a vegetarian diet, it’s not easy. As you mentioned, we’re a meat and potatoes type of culture. So I guess just pile up on the potatoes, they are the best vegetable ever :D Seriously though, check out Downtown Grocery over on 3rd Street not far from Janke Bookstore and across the street from the Back When Cafe. They have a lot of great choices for those of us looking to cut the meat out of our diets regardless of the reason.
And Jim is dead right about how avoiding processed food, the bad oils and corn syrup is so damn hard these days. Just take a look at the food around your house, it’s amazing how much of it has partially hydrogenated oil in it.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:10 am #
kelley said:
Good for you. Eating lower on the food chain is a critical step for your own health and the health of those around you.
I am vegetarian, having kicked the habit in 2001 after reading about the benefits of a diet free of animal products - both for myself, my family and the planet.
I agree with Erik, that once you get over the hump, it’s all good. However, I went from omnivore to herbivore in a single day, so my hump was pretty big. But I made it and lived to tell the tale. In hindsight, it might have been a little rash but after my body detoxed I felt (and continue to feel) great. Honestly, it’s one of the better decisions I have ever made - and stuck to.
I currently live in Milwaukee, so it’s really not that difficult to find quality food options. But I began my veggie journey in Wausau, pre-Downtown Grocery. It was a bit tedious at times, having to stop at County Market, Pick-N-Save and the former 29 just to find ingredients for a single meal. But now, everything is much more accessible as most stores offer all the necessities - and then some. Not to mention the wide availability of vegetarian recipes. Hello, Oprah!
Keep up the effort, it really is a worthwhile cause. I believe it really shows an awareness of pressing issues and a tangible commitment to the health of yourself and everyone around you.
Here’s a decent article about other issues surrounding vegetarianism as well.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:57 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
As a vegetarian, I can say honestly I have never ever ever ever ever ever, pull off tofu.
sigh
For me, giving up Mountain Dew was much harder.
June 8th, 2008 at 4:37 pm #
kelley said:
You know, Jason and I were just talking about how sad it is that tofu is so frequently viewed as a meat substitute, suitable only for vegetarians. Done well, it is one of the most wonderful food items out there. It’s my favorite food.
One of these days, Dino, we have to get get together and I’ll show you how it’s done.
Ps. Here’s a cook book that is really great. Each recipe consists of five ingredients or less, so it’s all whole foods, all simple and delicious.
June 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm #
erik said:
That book looks really cool, Kelly. I may have to head down to Barnes and Noble and read it a bit, see if it’s worth the purchase.
And I can’t do tofu either. I love eating it in a restaurant with someone that knows what they’re doing with it. But I am the suck at cooking tofu.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:45 am #
visualizeit said:
I recently started paying attention to food labels–I mean, REAL attention–and realized how terribly unhealthy most of it is, even the stuff that claims to be healthy on the larger labels! People mentioned high fructuse corn syrup and hydrogenated oils–this stuff is like instant fat, don’t eat it. No reason to, fresh natural food without this crap tastes better anyway.
I stayed off of these “products” (they can hardly be called “food”) and started exercising more, and voila, I lost 35 pounds in the course of about 3 months.
No “diet” just smart eating and more exercise. By exercise, I mean once per day of about 25 minutes. Not much really, you get into the exercise habit and after about a few weeks it’s so engrained in you that you can’t STOP exercising, it’s just part of your routine.
I do still eat meat, although mostly chicken, turkey and fish. The biggest challenge here is to find birds and fish that aren’t chock full of chemicals–antibiotics, PCBs, mercury, and so on. I
Someone else mentioned Mountain Dew…I drink the Diet so at least it’s no calorie, but it’s a hard habit to kick. There is something very addictive in that stuff!
Well that’s my story. Good luck to you all.
And P.S.: If God hadn’t intended us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?
June 9th, 2008 at 8:34 pm #