Whenever we try to quit or even just cut back on something — chocolate, smoking, shopping, or in my case, meat — there is the probability of backsliding. It’s just natural I guess. I’ve been doing really well for the most part, but last week’s bout with food poisoning really messed with me.
As is usually the case when these things happen, I wanted nothing to with most food in general, but was particularly wretched at the thought of eating anything I had the day I got sick. Vegetables of all kinds were especially scary. But I needed to eat something, and the one thing I wasn’t associating with food poisoning was meat, because I hadn’t eaten any. So, for the sake of my poor tummy, as well as my sanity (paranoia, don’t you know) I turned my back on my eating habits and bought some smoked turkey from the deli and made myself a sandwich.
I had kind of sworn off deli meats and didn’t plan on buying it anymore for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s not all that great for you. I’m pretty sure it’s loaded with salt and preservatives. And, secondly, in spite of said preservatives, the stuff always seems to go bad within a couple of days, which means some always goes to waste. In my own twisted mind, this is a terrible sin because if it doesn’t get eaten, I feel like I killed an animal just so I could throw pieces of it into the garbage. Which really, is exactly the case. And guess what, about half of what I bought didn’t get eaten. Not that I’m beating myself up over it or anything.
Between last Wednesday and Sunday, I probably ate meat at at least four or five meals, which is more than twice my usual consumption. Roast chicken one night, chicken, black bean and corn tacos another night, chicken soup over the weekend. Sorry, chickens! I just didn’t think I could do fish, and I’m long past the point of no return with beef and pork. More than anything it was to give myself a much needed break, not from eating vegetarian food but from preparing it. I just didn’t have the energy to figure out which meatless meals might have appealed to me, much less spend the extra prep time making separate meals for myself and the rest of my family.
The last few days I’ve been getting back into the swing of things, for the most part. I made a somewhat strange but pretty tasty black bean chili the other night and I got some red bell peppers and cremini mushrooms at the store yesterday that are just begging to be added to a pasta dish with lots of garlic and cheese. I feel better overall when I’m not eating meat, even if it’s only a slight difference.
So yeah, you could say I slipped, albeit in an intentional way, but I don’t really regret it. Because sometimes, you just have to cut yourself some slack – end of story.
Clacked by Cate Cropp
on Jul 01, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
