The first big change came when I read Marilyn and Harvey Diamond’s book “Fit for Life.” I started eating only fruit until noon and then had a salad for lunch and dinner. The salads were made up mostly of vegetables with a tiny bit of protein thrown in. That was also the time when I quit eating beef altogether.
I was a senior in college back in 1986. I was working full time to pay for my education. Studying long hours after work and school was exhausting enough. I found that eating beef made me even more tired. The digestion process just sapped my energy. I couldn’t afford to be groggy with all that was going on in my life, so the beef had to go.
I can’t remember the exact time line of when I quit eating other animal proteins. However, I distinctly remember being disappointed when I tried to eat a deliciously greasy sausage sandwich one day and just couldn’t swallow it. I felt completely nauseated with the taste and the feel of it in my stomach. So, out went all pork.
I gave up dairy somewhere along the way when I discovered that when I did not consume dairy I did not have sinus problems. Poultry never was a huge favorite of mine. That was the meat that I had to add the most sauce to so it would taste good to me. That left the seafood category as the final ingredient of my omnivorous lifestyle. I was eating seafood about once a week and decided to stick with that plan.
The final turning point came when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer just one year after I was married. My husband and I were making plans to have a baby. Those plans changed with the necessity for a hysterectomy. That huge change in my life was also the impetus to become vegetarian.
I decided from then on that I would make the healthiest food choices that were available to me so I would know that I was doing everything I thought was possible to enjoy a long and healthy life.
So, at the age of 32, I became vegetarian; vegan, to be exact. Now, at the age of 52, I have been a raw vegan for over a year; meaning I do not eat foods heated above about 115 degrees. My husband, however, has never made the choice to become vegetarian. He is not fond of many vegetables or fruits and deeply enjoys his animal proteins. Over time he has learned that he likes salads as long as they do not contain lettuce. His favorite is cucumber, red onion and avocado with Caesar salad dressing. He also knows which foods will make him sleepy and which ones will give him energy and will choose according to his schedule for the day. We eat very differently, Dan and me, but we still eat together…most of the time.
We have been coexisting, very happily I might add, for over 20 years now; and I am honored to have the opportunity to share our experiences, ideas, knowledge and recipes with those of you who have a vegetarian in your household of meat-eaters or maybe even a meat-eater among the vegetarians.
MARY'S STORY
I wasn’t born vegetarian. While growing up with meat-eating parents I did not leave the table until I ate everything on my plate. That was the rule. At 52 years of age, I still eat everything on my plate. What is on the plate has, however, changed a great deal.
