The 95% Vegan

I always wanted to be vegetarian, but a juicy steak always seemed to put an end to that. I loved a medium rare ribeye, complete with baked potato oozing with real, full-fat sour cream and laden with real butter. Bacon was one of my great temptations, too...crispy, smoky and oh, so good on my breakfast plate. How could I leave these delicacies behind? After all, meat and potatoes are the American way!

After struggling with gestational diabetes with nearly each pregnancy and struggling afterward with lingering extra weight, I finally realized that my annual Christmas wish of, "World Peace and liposuction" was most likely lost amongst the undeliverable letters to Santa and I needed to take things into my own hands. Loving really delicious gourmet food didn't help matters, but I DO so love to cook and create in the kitchen.

The more that I researched optimal eating for health, especially in regard to diabetes, the more that I kept coming back to the idea of a plant-based diet. Well, I knew that in order for me to kick my beef habit, I had to be totally grossed out by the idea. I do love animals and, like most folks I know, would never eat my own dog, but I didn't have a great problem with beef, pork, chicken or seafood. Enter in Netflix and Amazon, watch a few important streamed movies ("Food, Inc.", "Forks Over Knives", "Fast Food Nation" to name just a few) read some books (The China Study, Mad Cowboy, Skinny Bitch and anything by John Robbins) and well, goal achieved!

Alright, you say...give up meat but don't take away dairy! After all, we need it to build strong bones and teeth, right? If we are one of the largest consuming countries of dairy, why is our rate of osteoporosis one of the highest in the world? Why do my children with asthma start wheezing and coughing after only a bowl of ice cream? I have come to believe that cow's milk is meant for baby cows. Makes sense. I didn't feed my breast milk to my pets (or to a calf, for that matter) because it was meant for MY baby. Why do I want to take a calf's milk away from him just for me to drink, when there are so many other (healthier) options out there? Something to think about.

So after this you ask, "why 95% vegan?" Because I still struggle. Giving up chicken? No problem. Giving up beef and pork and not contributing to the ills of factory farming? No problem. Giving up plain, tangy, tart, tasty plain Greek yogurt? MUCH harder. I struggle with obscure addictions like plain yogurt, freshly grated parmesan cheese and Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Hopefully I can find acceptable substitutes for these and close in that 5% gap. We can only hope.