Vegewhaaat?

Okay, okay. I confess. I watch "Oprah" sometimes. And I watch "The Talk" sometimes, too. All that to say, Kathy Freston (the author of "The Veganist") keeps coming on all of these television shows and telling the world the benefits of being vegan. A Vegan lifestyle sounds like an impossibility to me, because not only are you deleting meat from your diet, but you are deleting ALL animal products! So, no eggs, no dairy....you get the picture. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I am just saying it sounds very difficult to do.

All of this has really made me start to think about what I eat. I know that my husband enjoys meat (okay, so do I). So, when I cook dinner, it is rare that there is no meat involved in the meal. Whether it be chicken, ground beef, or pork....there is usually MEAT. But now this lady comes on TV and tells me all these health benefits of taking out this yumminess. But, instead of just taking this vegan lady's word on how healthy being vegan is, I googled some "benefits of being vegetarian"...no, not vegan...because seriously...taking out meat in itself would be a miracle for me, much less eggs and dairy, too. (Let me make a side note of saying that I know googling isn't true research. It is more like "research on the fly." And I definitely have learned not to believe everything you read online.) Anyways, as you may know, there really are some good benefits. So, then to be fair, I googled "benefits of eating meat" and found some interesting information there as well. I'm not going to list it out for you, but you can see that there is a dilemma here...mainly the issue with the protein differences.

Then there is the issue of "food costs." To be honest with you, I would love to shop for organic foods, getting lovely items from the "Fresh Market" all the time, and enjoying my crunchy granola on my organic soy yogurt. But the truth of the matter is, we can't afford that right now. (I can say this because pre-child, and during the 2 full time jobs part of life, we did try eating mostly organic, and it was expensive.) So, if I cut out meat and want to purchase the "fake meat", won't that cost me some serious cash? I don't know. I am really asking. :o)

All that to say, I want to eat healthier, and cut out some meat in our weekly menu. This should actually save me money, and be healthier...right? Heart disease and cancer run in both of our family lines, and that concerns me.

Are any of my blog readers vegetarian or vegan? I would LOVE to hear from you. And all my fellow meat-eating friends....fill me in on your thoughts, too. Just lots on my mind today, so I thought I would blog about it. Now, go eat your tofu burger! :o)