Update: Latest Fad

I know, I know…it’s always something new with me. I hear something or read something and I jump on another new bandwagon. “So what is it this time” you ask…

I read in People magazine that Eva Longoria (my old childhood friend…no, we don’t still talk and I don’t think she would remember me from 5th & 6th grade anyways) had recently lost a lot of weight. I don’t know if you follow celeb gossip, but folks were beginning to think that she was pregnant because she was getting a pooch. Well, she has gotten back to her hottie figure and looks absolutely fabulous. People magazine stated that she started exercising again and put more veggies into her diet after her friend gave her a copy of Skinny Bitch. So of course I run off to Barnes & Noble to get myself a copy of this little miracle book.

Knowing this was primarily a vegan book, I wanted to see what it had to say anyways. As most of you know, I am a flexitarian. “What’s the heck is a flexitarian?” Basically, it means I am a vegetarian who eats meat occasionally. I never had any real moral issues with meat…I just don’t like chewing and chewing and chewing…it’s also a texture thing cuz I feel like I am gnawing at my food.

Anyhow, I didn’t think this book would change the way I would feel about meet because my diet primarily meatless. The book is hilarious…it’s kinda vulgar and “to the point”…but then as I begin to read further they start talking about meat and dairy products and it begins to blow me away.

The funny thing, is that last week when I started reading this book, I happened to pick up a free magazine in a restaurant that confirmed what I was reading in the book. I think it was called Natural Awakenings (http://www.naturalawakeningsmag.com/ ).

Back to the book… it didn’t start off with the morality standpoint (even though they went into it later). Instead they started talking about everything that is in meat and dairy products and I was disgusted. Factory-farmed animals are given:

• daily antibiotics (so they don’t get sick from their tight quarters...feces, sewage sludge, disease, etc). An important note also is that antibiotics are also given to boost the speed of food-to-muscle conversion.
• growth hormones (more meat means more money for the farmers)
• steroids (to stop the development and growth of sex organs) pesticides (in their grain, and given to them to ward off bugs)
• arsenic-based drugs (yes! Arsenic)
• animal byproducts in their feed (like pig and chicken) and are subject to living in sewage sludge and their own feces (let’s not even think about that!)

You know the old saying “You are what you eat!” Well, that kinda puts it into perspective for me when it comes to dairy now. They made this analogy: When you are pregnant they tell you not to do all this stuff because it affects the baby or your milk. Don’t take certain medicines, don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t eat lots of tuna, etc. because it can be passed through your body and to the baby or breast milk. Well, this is also true for dairy. When a cow produces milk you are getting everything that cow has been getting…same with eggs. These dairy producing animals are given antibiotics, pesticides and hormones too. These are substances that cannot be removed by pasteurization.

So after reading that, it has been hard for me to eat/drink any dairy or eat any meat. I have still eaten some meat, but every time I bite into meat or drink dairy…I get this image in my head that I am eating a mouthful of medicine and then it just leaves a funny taste in my mouth. It’s funny how the brain can do that to you. So it’s been hard.

I had started to make the decision that I was only going to buy organic dairy and free-range natural meats. I will still do that for my family, but after reading the morality portion of the book I am completely sickened by what goes on in those slaughterhouses and processing plants. I am not going into details about that because it’s just not for everyone to know…you have to have your own curiosity and can research it on your own. It’s going to take a while for me to be able to eat any meat or dairy.

The positive outcome from this book (I haven’t finished it yet) is that I am aware of what I am eating and need to fill my diet with more fruits and veggies anyway. They go onto explain how to mix and match foods for the best nutritional value. Also, I am going to start exercising too! There is a gym across the street from my work and I am thinking of signing up. It’s kinda pricey, but lunch time seems like the only time I have to myself to actually do something. Plus it will be more like a schedule and I am better at schedules than just “working out when I have time”. Plus the cost of the gym membership will keep my going so that I can guarantee that I get my money’s worth!