[Femmadian]

[Content note: Somewhat graphic discussions of bodies and their functions! A little gross, but human!]


Yay, Medusa! Good for you! I'm happy for you that it's having such a positive effect on your life already and I wish you the best of luck in your journey. We all go at our own pace and any reduction in meat consumption is a positive thing!

As an aside, as I was reading your post I thought to myself: what a great legacy for Gracie to leave behind in your life. I completely understand what you mean about the mental block and, at the risk of sounding preachy, I think that it's a great way of honouring her memory.

I started my own path to vegetarianism thirteen years ago and have been completely vegetarian (lacto-ovo) for eight of those thirteen. It's a gradual process and I think it was kinder to my body than going cold turkey (pun kind of intended)! I don't know if I could ever go full-on vegan as I like the occasional egg and love my dairy and haven't found satisfactory substitutes for either yet. I originally started cutting out meat for philosophical reasons, but I'm pleased to have noticed the incidental health benefits as well along the way.


[Body stuff]

Going veg does aid in the speed and ease of digestion! It was one of the first things I noticed too, heh. Vegetarians do have a decreased risk of developing colitis, IBS, and colorectal cancer (among other things) and I know from personal experience that we have more, ahem, "efficient" digestive symptoms when on a leafier diet.

Personally, just a few things I have observed: I have very strong and healthy hair and nails compared to my (biological) family members who eat meat. I am also rarely sick and when I am, antibiotics and other medications seem to have be more potent and effective on my system than theirs (to the point that they've even commented on it). It makes me wonder about the implications for antibiotic-resistant pathogens when we're unknowingly being exposed to so many over-prescribed animals (and the implications for healthcare!), but I digress. That's just my own anecdata. The effect on my skin is a bit harder to pin down for me for various reasons. I do take omega-3 supplements and drink green tea to help with that. The tea especially is what I notice a big difference with, especially with hair, nails, and skin. I'm pretty lucky in that I can find locally green tea which is produced without pesticides. Just as an FYI for Canadian tea-drinkers, Red Rose is the only brand out of the top 10 which does not use pesticides.

The biggest change for me, and the one which I am happiest about and was most welcome, was the effect it had on my cycle. I had always had very painful, long, heavy cycles ranging from 9-12 days every month and it was to the point of being disabling and causing me to miss time from school and work and though I noticed little changes here and there as I gradually cut meat types out (beef was the first, fish was the last), I noticed a HUGE difference when I finally cut out chicken. Like, immediately, as in the very next cycle. The pain is still there but nowhere near as bad (and I've learned to reduce my dairy and caffeine intake the week before to help with that as well) and it's maybe a third of what it once was by all measures and for that I am truly, eternally grateful. Both my mother and maternal grandmother struggled with this same issue for years and years until they both had to undergo hysterectomies for severe hemorrhaging and ovarian cysts in their 30's and 40's, respectively, so if I can help mitigate that or at least reduce symptoms in any way, then you bet your butt I will.

Even a lifetime supply of the most lovingly and deliciously prepared butter chicken from my favourite Indian restaurant could never tempt me into giving that up!!!

[/end personal body stuff]

I wish there was greater emphasis on the health benefits for women when talking about vegetarianism/veganism - not in a concern-trolling way that puts more pressure on women to lose weight or change their bodies (or shames them through diet as yet another thing someone else thinks they are doing wrong), but rather from more of an overall harm-reduction model. I think it's worth talking on a societal level about the way that certain animal products and especially the hormones they're injected with affect the female bodies specifically of the people who consume them, especially young girls as they near puberty! We know so little and I wish there was more focus on this.
[/soapbox]

Anyway, blah blah blah… back to your original point! Noms!

I think that one of the great side effects of being veg is that it forces you to expand your food horizons. I would never have touched an avocado or a portobello mushroom sandwich before going veg and now I love them! It dragged my then rather limited palette kicking and screaming towards a more balanced way of eating. It was either that or live on bread and bananas 24/7.

Indian restaurants are your friends. There are so many great meat-free options to try! Also, some traditional Chinese restaurants are good as well as they also tend to be low on meat content in their menus. I tend to stick with Indian though for the added flavour and the use of paneer in just about everything as a meat substitute. My favourite local Indian restaurant is always happy to substitute just about anything with it and I mentally thank them every day for introducing me to it. It's a great way to get your protein and to me, it tastes so much better than I ever remember any meat ever tasting (never mind tofu)!

So, you asked for recipes! Pinterest is currently my number one source for vegetarian recipes, though your mileage may vary. Now, I'm not sure how familiar you are with it or how much you use it (if at all), but I find it helps having a visual of what I'm getting myself into and I like being able to bookmark/"pin" it to my own recipe board to try later on. I'm not sure what your tastes are but here are a few vegetarian boards with plenty of recipes to whet your appetite (sorry about that unfortunate butternut squash image on the third one). If you click on the individual picture, most of them have a recipe listed below the image when it magnifies and/or a link to the site which does have the recipe and additional information about it listed for you.

If you're looking for something to satisfy a sweet tooth after dinner and are leaning towards veganism, there are plenty of delicious options to be had.

I've also recently stumbled upon "Domestic Sluttery" which, while the name raises an eyebrow for me, had a refreshingly flip and irreverent attitude about so-called domestic pursuits (cooking among them) against the din of the recent explosion of "domestic goddess"-type websites as of late. They've since stopped updating but I like pouring over their archives. They have a great little 101 post about some of the more common meat substitutes and had a regular feature for about a year called Sluttishly Vegetarian which I found to be endearing as well as helpful.

Anyway, hope that gives you some ideas! There's a lot to choose from depending on what you're looking for. I wish there had been these kind of websites around when I first started. It would have saved me from raiding the pasta aisle at the supermarket in the early days.

I'm curious - is Jackhammer coming along for the journey too? I know I would have killed to have a veg-friendly person under the same roof when I was in the early stages. So many of the recipes I found then made more food than one person could eat in a week! It's nice to have someone to force feed your experiments to (I mean, cook for). Hope she likes tofu.

Good luck!