I am not a vegetarian. Yet. When I read Savor, I started eating mindfully and - as Thich Nhat Hanh warns - I found myself being a little bit of a reluctant vegetarian. In the book he cautions that when you start eating mindfully you may find yourself less willing to eat meat because you are taking the time to consider where it comes from and you find it's hard to keep eating it.
So it was with me. I haven't successfully stopped eating chicken yet, but I have not really had beef since July. I have had a couple of cups of chili with a tiny bit of ground beef, but that's it. Otherwise, I have been eating mostly vegetarian and veggie with a little chicken.
Last night, my wonderful mother-in-law (who always makes awesome meals when she's in town) made a pot roast with pot roast stewed veggies. I took two small chunks of the ridiculously tender roast (small being normal mortal size chunks, instead of giant slabs like I used to eat). I had a couple of spoonfuls of carrots and celery, etc that stewed with the roast, and the roast itself. It tasted like…well…beef! It was GREAT! But, having not eaten it in months, I was doubled up with stomach pain an hour later and feeling heavy as a lead balloon. It was murder. I'm fine now, and it only lasted a while, but MAN if an experience like that doesn't convince you that our bodies aren't meant for meat, then what will? I LOVE steak...but I had not problem giving it up. Chicken? Well...I'm still not ready to give up chicken. But I'm getting there.
MondoSamu
I know what you mean. If you read my early blog posts you'll see me talk about my reluctance to become a vegetarian. I too didn't want to give up meat but it's become easier for me to do. I may have meat twice a week and on the rare occasions it is beef, I also have the same feelings in my gut. Being up here in Maine, it's lobster that I really didn't want to give up. I love the stuff. However, the last time I made it, having to look them in the eye, tell them I'm sorry for what I was about to do to them and then chucking them into a pot of steaming water was a bit too much. That was the last time I had lobster (this was back in July). If you think just eating it can be bad, try killing it beforehand. That's an experience even more intense than ones I've had with eating flesh. Fortunately, there are a lot of really good ways to cook vegetarian food and I've been learning all about how to do it. It will get easier (I hope). Maybe we should have a race to see who givs up meat altogether first? Loser has to buy the winner a case of Omaha Steaks. Deal? Just kidding!
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