I just don't get it
You know, I am one to watch the food channel. Okay, I know they are all fixing flesh, but I frequently adapt stuff for tofu or beans or something. I just don't get the focus on all that flesh. I don't get it on the food channel...I don't get it about commercials. I don't get it at the grocery store, I don't get it anywhere!
I look at the fact that most of the programs dress up flesh in the extreme with flavorings, marinades, coatings and stuff. All I can figure is that this is to cover up the taste of it. It seems to me it takes less work to cover up the taste of tofu. If you marinade tofu, then like grill it, you can use the left over marinade to dip your cooked tofu into, no raw food worries.
I remember when I was married to a determined flesh eater who would down 16 ouces of flesh, eggs and cheese a day and cry that he didn't get enough protein!!!! I don't miss the bad odor in the trash and kitchen, especially the sink. I don't miss the grease that sticks to everything (funny how vegetable oils don't do that the same way). I don't miss the bleaching of the cutting boards to kill stuff that would make us sick. I don't miss any of it. HOW do people put up with these things????
There is this incredibly clean feeling in the body when you go vegan, isn't there? Am I alone in feeling like even my skin smells different? It is as though my skin chemistry has changed and my own personal "fragrance" is different...and it seems to come right out in the wash. Is this just me? I mean now, if I don't happen to shower for a day, I don't gross anyone out, not even me. Ohhh but one upon a time, I was a twice a day person because I felt so dirty and grungy, but that was when I was vegetarian or had had flesh.
I am not trying to be graphic, but I am asking for input from others.
It is amazing how central flesh is to Western life. I've been vegetarian for less than a year, but now that I am, I've finally noticed & find it extremely disturbing how much stuff has animal bits in it. (Reminds me of Soylent Green somehow...)
It just seems so unneccesary.
Not only do I smell better, but I don't sweat like I did when I was eating meat. I'm full of energy and not tired all the time. So I don't get all the hype about flesh, either.
It's wierd how non-vegs can be so grossed out by good stuff like tofu!!! Last night I was telling my dad about agave nectar, and he said, "sounds gross to me". I almost replied, "and bee vomit doesn't?" , but I didn't want to go there...... ;D
It's wierd how non-vegs can be so grossed out by good stuff like tofu!!!
A co-worker once turned down "hummus" because it sounded gross, but was quite impressed with my "bean dip."
I have also noticed a huge difference in oder. I haven't worn regular deodorant in years. I just use the crystal stuff now and it's great. I still sweat a lot, I'm just one of those people, but I don't feel like I need to take a shower every fifteen minutes like I used to.
Last night I was telling my dad about agave nectar, and he said, "sounds gross to me". I almost replied, "and bee vomit doesn't?" , but I didn't want to go there...... ;D
Does your dad drink tequila? It is the same plant.
I also don't get it why people who eat meat feel that they have to change your mind like you've been brainwashed into eating a veg*n diet. Part of the problem w/ meat in the western world is the old stereotype that meat is associated with wealth. People today don't think about the fact that eating a hamberger for instance is a wealthy thing to do but up until the last couple of generations only the wealthier family, or farm families had meat on a regular basis. Often meat was something served on sundays or holidays. I think a lot of that mentality has carried over in the generations. High dollar advertising budgets don't help either.
I don't get it either. I mean, I've only been a veg*n since November but I can't believe how much better I feel, both physically and mentally. I have been a runner for almost 6 years and I can't believe how much my endurance has gone up in such as short amount of time, I go faster now too! I lift weights and I find I have more strength there too. (Much to the surprise of others who lift weights and down crazy amounts of animal protein everyday) I think my skin looks better too. This may sound hookey, but I just feel more at peace with the world around me. And yes, I think I smell better and feel cleaner too! :)
I know what you mean Nutdragon, I recently made vegan chocolate chip cookies and my family loved them. Later when I said they were vegan, they didn't believe me! So now, I have become quite creative in renaming recipes that non-vegs might find weird. ;)
I also don't get it why people who eat meat feel that they have to change your mind like you've been brainwashed into eating a veg*n diet.
tanevab, the other day my boyfriend said, "just living on beans and tofu is plain unhealthy; you need meat". I calmly explained to him that I don't "live" on beans and tofu, and I get enough protien and iron from those very beans you think are so unhealthy". It's not like I'm trying to "convert" him, I fry up his porkchops with no complaints.
Excuse me for being a dork, but I can't figure out how to do that "quote" thingy properly....
I dunno..when my husband works out now I think he smells WORSE than he did when he was eating meat..when I walk by the gym/jam room after his work-outs I gag..then I spray air freshner.
Me personally..I can work out for hours and I smell like a rose ;D Perhaps it's all just body chemistry...
I think some of it definitely has to do with chemistry. I used to date a guy who a big meat eater and never wore deodorant. He never smelled at all, even if he didn't shower for a day or two. It was so unfair.
Excuse me for being a dork, but I can't figure out how to do that "quote" thingy properly....
I don't think your a dork at all. I have been a techniphobe for ages and only the last few weeks that I have been posting here have I learned to do a few things. I drive my BF nuts with tech ?s. I can even insert a link now :P The quote thing is easy when you are looking at a post that you want to quote click on the insert quote tab in the upper r hand corner of the post. It will automatically open a reply box and insert the quote. You can delete any part of the quote you don't need to use. I hope this helps. I'm not very good at explaining tech stuff.
i'm a vegan runner also, and the best part about running as a vegan is the light as air feeling you get. people always ask me how i have so much energy and i LOVE telling them it's because of my diet!!!!
My Lady Dragonfly (sorry...King Arthur this week, rubs off)...I laughed so hard this afternoon watching an old episode of the 1970's British comedy "The Goodies." The episode is called "Farm Fresh Food" and while it purports to be a satire of modern convenience foods and farming methods, at the end the farmer decides to go back to "real" chickens--and then can't bear to harm them. I know it's not cricket, but if you can find this episode on the Net (or can afford the Goodies DVD compilation, it's well worth a watch. And the most surreal thing was, it was all about chickens/eggs/cows/milk/pork...not a single mention of fresh VEGETABLES.
I was lucky, we had a huge veg garden when I was a kid...it fed us all summer, and then all winter...and once you've tasted veg that an hour previously was still in the ground, you never consider them a "side dish" again.
I don't understand why hard core meaters don't think that vegetables are important and that if everyone would just eat plenty of meat, they don't need other things. STUPID!!!
You know, you don't actually have to be as careful about what you eat when you are vegan, not was careful as most of us are. I know that since I don't buy flesh, I spend a lot more on veggies because it is in the budget for the odd $3.50 red bell pepper (just for 1, but I wanted it for something). Meaters think this is highway robbery and just skip it in favor canned corn, which is not really a vegetable anyway.
To me, going vegan was just another excuse to spend on plenty of wonderful fresh veggies...all the eggplant, fresh tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, kale, avocados, green beans, brussel sprouts and you name it in the produce section. I can't see that some nasty stinky (and possibly unsafe) flesh is better then bright veggies and fruits.
I think that not eating meat for us here is not really the entire story. I think what gives us energy and health are the things we increased in our diet, not just the one thing we dropped. HOW can someone justify eating meat as healthy, when the rest of their diet is refined grains, canned peas and corn (not really vegetables anyway) or like "salad" of iceberg lettuce, they might as well drink water was bother to eat it. Give me beans, tofu and all that veg any day of the week!
Its interesting...before going vegan I used to have tuna for breakfast and think...wow that protein is really giving me lots of energy! (besides the mercury of course)
Now I am saying the same thing when I have an apple!
I believe our thoughts are SO powerful and as a society MOST of us are in a group illusion that meat makes us feel strong and good! We have been brainwashed successfully we NEED meat...its amazing to watch the attachements that come with eating esp. meat.
"What I LOVE animals. I WISH I could be a veg*n? Sigh"
-Like they would just DIE without it.
Put them in position where they had no access to meat or if they had extreme hardship and they couldnt eat meat watch them give up their attachment.
Unfortantely people are not willing to let go of their beliefs until something comes that is stronger than their beliefs.
Something very dramatic happened why I gave up meat 4 yrs ago and honestly it
never would have occured to me there was anything wrong morally or healthwise about eating meat. I grew up in that environment.
I am so grateful for that harsh harsh lesson I received because it BROKE ME OF THAT ILLUSION! Most people DO NOT want to be broken of their illusions. It is SO painful to realize what they have believed in is wrong/or not exactly wat they thought.
People believe their very thoughts and opinions are THEM. They are willing to die for their beliefs.
Remeber the "matrix",
Of course now I CAN NOT believe we think that eating animals is ok...like WE have the right...we are all connected and I try to cause the least amount of suffering and eating low on the food chain. I CANT stand when people say "But plants suffer too you know" Like it exonerates them and justifies their reasoning. Of course we all cause some kind of suffering but I try to be MINDFUL in the food choices I eat to cause the LEAST amount of suffering to the world.
After reading the China Study
...oh my god. How can one eat meat??????????
But yeah people are like what do you EAT? There the mostly overweight people who eat McDonalds.
I have sensitized my body to a higher level and it demands good nutrition. Other people dont and have no awareness they are hurting themselves.
Its like a musician who can hear the intricate harmonies and melodies that one who has not trained
cannot.
Sorry for the long rant. ::)
one more thing.
It was SO painful for me to realize "America" (mom and dad) are wrong/misguided
I BELIEVED from an early age that America was so powerful correct and knew everything (Notice the child/parent idealization) thats why OTHER countries are jealous of us! :-\ (no really I thought this!)
It never occured to me that medicines can hurt (the doc said it was ok) he said milk was good for me
until I cured myself of eczema through knowledge and diet (after YEARS of hurtful steriods) and NO medication for 3 years. Wow that Eczema was the greatest lesson. stopped me from eating ingesting tons of bad things!
Or adults can be/are wrong.
We bring these idealizations as children into adulthood. And believe them.
If you truly felt/asked your body how it felt after eating fruit/veggies or meat/junk...what would your body tell you. We dont "listen" too much anymore what our bodies tell us and listen to what our mind wants...wants and wants...not needs.
And Belieive you me I STRUGGLE with this ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK now I sound like a crazy person...sorry! ;)
Hey Lady!
I love your picture. Its so nice to put a face with the UNcheese Mix. Uh-Oh, now its like eating "food with a face"!!!
I thought you would like this link (I posted earlier, sorry if you saw it) but it addresses the various smells and secretions of meat/veg. diets! I think you are on to something! I have also noticed better smells coming from me and my husband. My little boys still stinks though and he's vegan. He sweats and night and it smells but I like it! ::)
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/2584
I understand that people eat meat and why. What I don't understand is how few fruits and vegetables people eat. So many people eat just meat and bread, or meat and french fries. A typical lunch for my coworkers are chicken wings....that's it. No fruit, no vegetables, nothing just meat.....gross.
I don't think I smell any different, but I definately feel more "clean" on the inside and out when I'm eating healthy vegetarian food.
Tweety, you took the words right out of my mouth saying that you "feel more 'clean' on the inside and out" when you're eating healthy veggie food. That's one of the things I noticed right away when my DH and I went veg almost 30 years ago. It has always been hard to explain but I have said I feel "lighter" on the inside which I feel is probably the same as your "clean." Somehow meat made me feel sluggish.
Anyway, talking about how omnis are grossed out by veggie food, recently one of my co-workers commented to another of my co-workers who happened to be eating a veggie burger (though she's not veg*n), that the burger was "gross." I thought to myself, "...and you're NOT grossed out by eating bloody flesh?" Really, really peculiar when you think about it. :P
I think it's so barbaric. "We will keep some animals in squalor, we will kill them brutally, we will eat their corpses."
I hope everyday that this is just a "phase" our society is going through, and that we will snap out of it. (Like slavery)
George Bernard Shaw, made a colorful statement long ago, "While we are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?" Go, George! (I love the phrase, "...living graves of murdered beasts..."--so vivid)
Oh I hate the way some people react to strange foods like hummus or tofu or whatever. Honestly, if it's not a tried-and-true taste aversion (for instance, I have always hated watermelon and the smell of it still makes me nauseated) or an animal product, I'll try anything. Fermented? Fine. Fungus? Why the hell not. Pungent? Sure!
My family, who are mostly omnivores (except for a few who are pescatarians), are always very open to vegetables, meat-alikes, and other vegetarian foods. Well, my big sis had an aversion to silken tofu for a few years after a disastrous Boston "cream" pie I made when I first went vegan at 15 years old, although she has re-devoted herself to exploring tofu and loves my tofu scramble now. I'm sure growing up in that environment with open-minded people makes me even more annoyed at people who get freaked out by the concept of tofu dogs or fermented cabbage. Still, it amazes me that someone could eat organ-meat or inhumanely treated animals and not think twice, yet a vegetable that "looks slimy" gets passed over. *sigh* /rant. :)
OK now I sound like a crazy person...sorry! ;)
You definitely are NOT a crazy person! :D
I'm a pediatric nurse, and it's shocking how every MD wants to put the kids and adults on steroids to treat even mild eczema! Hmm....have they ever thought of having allergy tests done, or even a change in diet? No, that would be too difficult, just put this cream that a drug rep said would work! ::)
It's such a joy to go into my local natural foods place (Sun Harvest) and see families with their carts full of good healthy foods, happy children (most of whom are not obese) pointing out some fruits or cereals they want! At my mainstream market, I get to see overweight 3 yr olds carrying large bottles of Coke, their mom's cart dripping with packages of cheap ground flesh ((ick!).
Okay, my rant is now off! Haha! /rant off
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