Please Keep Trying!

It should be apparent by now the recipes on the site contain no meat from land critters, the reason being I’m a pescetarian. Pesce- is Latin for fish, as pescetarians don’t eat any other meat except seafood and fish. Another term for my dietary lifestyle is pescevore, derived from a combination of pesce- and carnivore. I don’t like the latter term as it sounds almost violent.

I have many reasons why I changed my lifestyle from a ravening carnivore diet to what I have now. Initially, I used to be quite the meat eater, tucking away three pork chops at a meal and then some. I would go back for seconds and thirds at family barbecues, sampling every meat offered. Going to a store when there was a meat sale was hazardous. I’d buy bags and bags of pork, beef, chicken and whatever else was proffered and stockpile them in the freezer. Ironically, although I loved to fish I hated to eat fish, unless it was deep fried. I loved beef jerky and Slim Jims. In short: I loved meat.

I couldn’t understand what the hell vegetarians saw in a Boca burger or a block of tofu. Yark. Meat was all, there was no other alternative. Then I met my vegan neighbors in Murphysboro. I had offered them hot cocoa and was about to add some milk when I was stopped short by, “We’re vegan.” Come again? Vegan? Like vegetarian? Why don’t you drink milk then? Vegan, as in no meat, no eggs, no dairy. WTF do you eat then? How do you live? Yeah, that was my stellar answer to their veganism: How do you live.

It was through my neighbors I was introduced to meat and dairy alternatives and actually began to like them. My neighbors didn’t lack for food or variety and my eyes were opened. Although I still ate meat, I wasn’t as averse to the concept of vegetarianism as I first was. That changed when I topped the scale at 350, my blood pressure was 149/90 and my cholesterol was 214. Oh, lookie, Boca burgers are on sale!

It wasn’t until we moved to St. Louis in 2005 I weaned off of meat along with David. After moving, I no longer bought meat or cooked it. We would “meat out“, that is to say, we’d only eat meat when we were dining out. In July 2005, we no longer ate any meat, except seafood. It had taken us almost three years to get to that point. It didn’t happen overnight but we were happy with the change.

The top reasons I no longer eat meat are my decisions and affect me personally. I won’t force my views on anyone and don’t talk about my decisions unless asked or provoked. But for those who are curios:

My Top Reasons I Don’t Eat Meat

• Meat is expensive. Damn straight it’s pricey! I can buy a bag of smeat (soy meat) for $2.59 and have it last four hearty meals.
• Meat can be dangerous. With tainted meat recalls, antibiotic and hormone injections, and diseased animals making it into the food stream more and more often, yes, I feel smug about my lifestyle. Sue me.
• Meat is high maintenance to prepare and cook. When cooking with TVP, it’s perfectly OK to sit it on a counter top for two hours to reconstitute and TVP can be eaten “raw”. Not just that but TVP and meat analogies don’t take long to defrost if frozen. Can’t really do that with chicken. Who ever heard of getting salmonella from TVP?
• Meat, even the healthy cuts, has more cholesterol, fat and calories than its analogies. I don’t need anymore cholesterol, fat or calories .
• Meat hurts my digestion. Badly. It wasn’t till after my second intestinal cleanse I realized meat made my guts hurt. It takes the human body a long time to digest meat, compared to digesting vegetable matter. Stopping my meat intake alleviated many, many gut problems for me and gave me renewed energy.

Yep, I’m glad I don’t meat anymore. I feel better than I ever have, but that’s me. And if I ever feel the hankering for a chicken leg or for some sausage, Taiwanese manufactures like VegeUSA have me covered completely. To those who scoff at meatless or pescetarian lifestyles as lacking in variety, protein, and substance, all I have to say is: I can eat hot wings, curl 12 pounds each arm and am satisfied after every meal. Plus, I’m no longer a plus size.