VEGETARIAN

That's right, I said it...VEGETARIAN. People act like it is a bad word and get all uppity once you talk about excluding meat. Not cool. How about focusing on all the yummy, nutritious fruits, vegetables, fruit and whole grains. (And dairy if you so wish). Yes, I drank the proverbial Kool-Aid...but I also think I should cut down on my sugar content too. ;)

Confession Time: I am sure I balked when people said vegetarian to me and I thought...wha?!?!? No meaty goodness?!?? Tsk, tsk I was uneducated (I give myself a shame ribbon). Met a vegan friend and he made me want to be a better person...and more realistically showed me it was a feasible option. He challenged himself to go "raw" for 30 days and documented how hard that was for him to eat that diet. ...Hell, I didn't think there would be anything harder than vegan! In this blog he gave his honest view...

Then I have my dear, dear friend who I infinitely trust who went vegetarian and now vegan in stages. And she deserves full credit for the diet epiphany because she loved me enough and sent me the book: The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II.

I recommend just reading it, I can't describe it because you should make your own conclusions and that is what the research allows you to do. Now this is no Alice in Wonderland story, but a full-on case study full of scientific knowledge and real life application. The general premise is he was raised a farm boy who grew up on the great American diet of meat, dairy and the general assortment. His breadth and depth of knowledge led him to the choice of eating a plant-based diet. He doesn't push his views, nor will I because you have to come to your own conclusions. I went into this book not knowing the premise, but it was recommended, I trusted that, was open-minded and know I have my own decisions to make and work through. For tonight, I will leave it at that...but I will have more to reveal in my "behind the scenes" 2-year journey that up until now I haven't given a formal voice.