Vegetarianism

Yep, you heard me correctly. Me, attempting vegetarianism? Who ever would have thought this was possible?

Many of you know that Anna works for Peta. Educating people about the effects of eating meat is one of the biggest components of her job and, out of respect for her, I said I would become an "conscious meat eater".

What does this mean? Simply put, I am more aware of the meat products I consume on a daily or weekly basis and try to avoid them when I can. It doesn't mean I'm completely going vegetarian but I am definitely more aware of how much meat is in our foods and it has brought me some interesting insight.

I've always respected vegetarians, knowing how difficult it must be to not only find foods without meat but to be around those who don't always respect their philosophy. It really takes conscious decision making and exploration of everything you want to consume, especially if you are not used to it. Finding meatless items wasn't necessary difficult for me; it was resisting the temptation to choose those with meat. This isn't a problem faced by most vegetarians since they actually don't want to eat meat but it was definitely interesting for me to experience.

I will continue to be mindful of what I'm eating and why. I feel that this is important and while I won't convert to strictly vegetarianism, I will be choosing meatless items more often. Besides helping the environment, food will often be cheaper and not as many calories will be consumed! Everyone wins