Results: 3 months of vegetarianism (Already!)

I made ​​a post there, three months ago, on my reasons to become a vegetarian. I will not repeat them except to say that whatever your reasons, over time, they will surely change. While ethical and environmental reasons were mostly carried out in that time, my researches had gradually turned to scientific studies determining how certain breeds feel, think, and live in community. So I sometimes find myself explaining my love for animals, whereas before my choices were purely at the level of the human race. However, the discrimination of certain breeds rather than others (which is called speciesism), makes me shudder. Why not eat our dog? Because it's like that? Personally, this answer is not enough. Because the dog is the best friend of man? Some men, perhaps, but some countries consider dogs as animals like any others, such as fresh meat. While some others may have close “relationships” with a cow or a pig. So how is it that some animals are privileged and others are born to devote their lives to land on our plates? In short, these questions haunt me now.

But now, it'll make three months I'm in a veggie transition, and so, I could not eat meat (yes, the "meat" includes bacon). I rarely eat dairy products (since I am intolerant, and besides, I often regret it when I choose to ingest some), and I rarely eat eggs (because my boyfriend has them in horror).

So I'll go back over these three months and talk to you about the ups and downs of such a change.

First, it is necessary to state that I could never have made this change happen if I have stayed with my parents. It's a personal choice, of course, but it is also a family choice. People around you must support you, or at least respect you. My boyfriend quickly accepted this change, even if it has sometimes happened that he mocks me (gently), and others, flipping out because he did not want to eat what there was to eat. In short, the situation was clear from the beginning: "You, woman who does not cook, you will: these are the consequences of your choice !" And miracle happened! I learned to cook. I have not just learned, I also loved it, and loved to be in the kitchen. I did not know it was possible to enjoy being there, a dreary dangerous place (this is not a joke). Cooking, before, was a long task, but also disgusting. This included touching, slicing, dissecting raw meat (YUCK!). And I could not. Now, everything I touch turns to mouth goodness... or almost. But anyway, back to my boyfriend, he was quite right to let me experiment by myself: being assertive in our choices, it is not imposing them, but acting accordingly to them.

I want to come back to the family matters because I hinted that my parents would not have accepted my choice, but it’s rather because they don’t want to be a part of it. And since the kitchen is a holy place for my father where everything you touch should be cleaned at once (he has a phobia of anything that is "dirty": microbes, mold), it would have been difficult to learn to cook with his aura staring anxiously at me. HOWEVER, my mother still had a surprising attitude to this change: she even cooked me a spaghetti sauce with soy! Both of my parents still think I'm entering a new religion.... This is somewhat the case, but then it should be considered that the consumption of meat is a religion too (and I prefer to be in a religion that does not benefit anyone than one that enrich the food industry as well as destroying my health).

So quick, the ups of a vegetarian diet:

•          I do not eat sweets trade anymore (sweets are often being made with beef carcass). For cons, I just learned that the Maynards are vegan (I have to check that);
•           I have no more "rush" of sugar. At first it was difficult, but after a month without sweets trade, I did not even have an appetite to eat them when they were offered to me ...;
•           I have not lost weight (which is good, in if it had been, my family would have freaked out!);
•           I feel good with myself because I act according to what I think. I do not tell me more "yes but". I just changed how I eat. Honestly, it was not that hard;
•           My digestion is amazing! (Seriously.) I have less bloating than before. My digestive problems are no longer problems as they occur only when I ingest dairy products;
•           Menstrual pain has almost disappeared. In a future post, I'll explain why I think this is due to my new diet, but also that it is the work of a total change of lifestyle.
•           I get "boosts" of confidence in me.... What I have never had in years. I still have "downs" but they are shorter than before. It's been awhile since I had not gone to the end of any project. So the fact that I achieve what I said, changed my diet, learned to cook, it makes me happy and proud of me. It is a unique feeling.
•       I learned to cook for ideological reasons and I found amazing recipes (I will also make one or two blogposts on the recipes that have kept me alive by now).
•           I discovered a side of my family and my friends that I did not know: the majority are willing to try what you have cooked them if you assured that you like it and that they will not get sick.
•           Also, apart from during the famous first dinner, there was no longer any ideological debate on the table.

Downs now (because I will not lie, there was!)

•            There are fewer choices when I go to the restaurant, which is mainly due to the fact that I live in the suburbs of Montreal. For cons, I discovered that the small cafes often concealed veggie treasures.
•            My boyfriend does not like eggs or lentils and beans, and as I do not eat meat or dairy products, life gets a little complicated when we want to spend a full day together. The only two possible solutions: soy and nuts.
•            I have flashbacks of Earthlings or "La face cachée de la viande" whenever someone eats meat in front of me or talk to me about a "delicious" dish I could cook  (without realizing that my diet is not the same as theirs).

So here I am already thinking about becoming vegan.... But I'm pretty busy and I do not have time to do researches on this subject. So, I decided to reduce as much as possible foods of animal origins, step by step, slowly but surely. And it will be, I hope, something I’ll proud of when I get to destination.

Finally, I declare this blog a... 

PS: This post was inspired by that blog.