We are moving across town to a more centralized spot, and also going from our massive 4 bedroom house (that we don't even use all of!) to a 3 bedroom home. We are excited and looking forward to the move, but I'm going to be so sad leaving this house.
I was recently updating some of my website (http://clearyhealthandwellness.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/) and while filling out the "About Me" section, I realized just how far I've come in the last 3 years!
I used to be marginally shy. Once someone got to know me, I never shut up, but up until that point I was pretty quiet (I think a lot of people will have a hard time believing that!). Things changed after I had Gage, and I became a bit more outspoken and especially more opinionated. A lot of that had to do with our decision to raise him as a vegetarian. We were met with a lot of skepticism and that made my back go up and I was constantly on the "defense mode" with other's, even if they were supportive. From there on out, up until more recently, I came across as a negative and angry person. That also talked a lot.
I thought I would share a little bit about why I decided to become a "veggie" and why I continue to raise my family as "little veggies" as well.
Since childhood I've not liked eating meat. I was picky about the texture, what it looked like, the temperature, everything! My parents used to make me sit at the table until all my steak/chicken/pork was done. I'd eat all my veggies, but never did I eat all my meat. As I became older and moved out, I decided that eating animals was not for me. I have always been a huge animal lover, and knowing that one suffered such a miserable beginning, middle and end just so I could have a burger didn't sit well with me. So I stopped eating meat. I was still pretty young, and did very little research to make sure I was still eating healthy. Over the years, I slowly got my hands onto some amazing books and documentaries and I learned more about vegetarianism. I began to slowly discover the health benefits to not eating animal products (or at least less animal products, I consumed eggs and dairy for a while). I began to share my findings with friends and family. No one seemed to care, and I was always angry that people chose to live in, what I called, ignorance. How can someone claim to love animals so much but still enjoy a steak?
The phrase "I love animals, I don't really eat meat. Just chicken and turkey" used to make me so angry!
When Gage was born and I all of a sudden had this adorable little person to care for, I knew in my heart I couldn't possibly give him meat when I didn't eat it. I knew nothing about raising a vegetarian child. So I read some more. I visited health care professionals. I'm lucky that my family doctor, while skeptical at first, gave me resources and trusted my judgement. He is now one of our largest supporters. We had so many people, both friends and family, try to talk us out of raising Gage a veggie. People assumed he wouldn't grow at the same rate as other kids, he'd be behind mentally, would get sick all the time, etc etc etc. We were even in some cases laughed at! All of this made me mad. I knew I was doing what was best for my family and people dared question so much of what I was doing. I was so lucky to have such a supportive husband, who did just as much reading as I did and decided on his own terms to also become a veggie. I was so proud of him! I still consider myself the luckiest girl alive.
Over the years, people have noticed that Gage is very rarely sick, has grown rapidly and is advanced in every way for his age. He eats a ton of veggies and fruits. He has this incredible thirst for life and makes so many people laugh and smile everyday. Then people just started curiously asking questions about our diet. Or they just started respecting the fact that we don't consume meat, and they became okay with that. My parents started planning dinners that were meatless whenever we came over for dinner.
Then I became pregnant with Finn, and started down a different path of my journey. I learned so much about myself during my pregnancy, labor and delivery. Shortly after, I became a student at Integrative Nutrition and realized that I really shouldn't be so negative and angry! People eat how they know, and people like me were meant to inspire people to live the best life they can, the healthiest way possible!
Not everyone was mean to be a veggie. Some people feel better physically and mentally while eating small amounts of animal protein. Do I think we, as a whole, need to consume less animal protein and animal products? Absolutely, hands down, without-a-freaking-doubt. With the obesity rate, chronic heart disease rate, cancer rate, diabetes rate, and a myriad of other diseases, we could all use a change. Food can heal anything.
So now, when someone says something like "Where do you get your protein?", "Your children are vegetarian/vegan? Do they grow the same rate that other children do?", "What do you eat/feed your children?" and the million other questions I get, instead of becoming angry and my back going up, I explain with a smile that yes, we are vegetarians, and yes, we are transitioning to veganism. We eat a ton of fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains, my children are both above average for weight and height, are happy and healthy and very rarely (if ever) sick, protein is in vegetables and other natural sources and we LOVE knowing that nothing has to die or suffer in order for us to eat.
The moment I realized I needed to stop being so negative and angry, so many positive changes started happening for us. Now my family backs us in our decision and my parents have become vegetarian as well. My sister, completely on her own, decided to become a vegetarian (with very limited eggs and dairy) and I couldn't be more proud of them all!
No comments:
Post a Comment