what's for dinner?

I've been chewing (pun intended) on the following thoughts for a few days now.

My roommate just got engaged. As with any engagement, the bride-to-be and her bridesmaids (in this case that'd be Rachel and me) immediately start discussing all the things that need to be taken care of. One of the first thoughts to pop out of everyone's mouths was WE NEED TO GO ON A DIET! Upon further discussion it was determined that this diet was to begin November 1.

If you read back a few posts I noted here that one of the things I wanted to do before I was 30 was spend a whole year as a vegetarian. This whole wedding induced diet conversation brought that idea back into my head. The reasoning behind that is as follows:

I hate the idea of DIETS. No, thats not because I just want to eat lots of junk food all the time. Just hearing the word diet reminds me of the herd who take marching orders from Low-Carb Fascist Dr. Atkins, Beverly Hills Diet maven Judy Mazel and other dietary charlatans. I loathe those stupid books and programs and before/after pictures. Those people drive my opinion that dieting is just plain gauche and completely moronic.

Another reason I hate diets... diets promote self-denial, and I've done nothing that I need to punish myself for. Going on a self-punishing diet is a sign of succumbing to the media’s despotic notions of what constitutes a pleasing body image. For example, who the hell is that chick from Marie Claire (google if you haven't read HER thoughts on obese people yet... total BS) to tell me that I'm not aesthetically pleasing enough for her liking? To be honest, I'd rather prefer that she didn't find me all that attractive. Point blank, I REFUSE to conform to ideas in popular culture that I find asinine just because its the "normal" or "attractive" way to be.

Now, all that being said... I do think that bettering yourself is of VITAL importance. This is the reason that I read books, watch the news, attended college, and a host of other activities. Why stay where I am if there is some way to become a more effective form of myself? Thats just as silly as conforming just to please people other than yourself. Its said that you're a different person every seven years. In my case I'd LIKE to think that I'm a better version of myself every seven years. yeah... lifestyle change is a big part of that... not just for me, for everyone.

What do all these thoughts have to do with each other? Well, while I totally understand the first thought all of us girls had about the dieting (looking good in dresses being the main draw there), further thought has led me to the decision that a lifestyle change is a more appropriate route for me...

So, I'm chewing on ideas such as the following...

1. "Deciding what to eat, indeed deciding what qualifies as food. When Froot Loops can earn a Smart Choices check mark, a new industrywide label that indicates a product’s supposed healthfulness, we know we can’t rely on the marketers, with their dubious health claims, or for that matter on the academic nutritionists who collaborate on such labeling schemes. (One of them defended the inclusion of Froot Loops on the grounds that they are better for you than doughnuts. So why doesn’t the label simply say that?) Making matters worse, official government pronouncements about eating aren’t necessarily much more reliable, not when the food industry influences federal nutrition guidelines. If we can’t rely on the marketers or the government or even the nutritionists to guide us through the supermarket woods, then who can we rely on? Well, ask yourself another question: How did humans manage to choose foods and stay healthy before there were nutrition experts and food pyramids or breakfast cereals promising to improve your child’s focus or restaurant portions bigger than your head? We relied on culture, which is another way of saying: on the accumulated wisdom of the tribe. (Which is itself another way of saying: on your mom and your friends.) All of us carry around rules of thumb about eating that have been passed down in our families or plucked from the cultural conversation. Think of this body of food knowledge as samizdat nutrition: an informal, unsanctioned way of negotiating our eating lives that becomes indispensable at a time when official modes of talking about food have suffered a serious loss of credibility." (BY MICHAEL POLLAN. Read the whole article here)


2. The Japanese wisely adhere to the saying, “Hara hachi bu,” which means eat until you’re 80% full... makes sense to me.

3. I wouldn't purchase a car without doing my homework. I took two weeks to buy a pair of cowboy boots just to make sure I got the best deal and the most authentic looking pair I could obtain... and that was just for halloween. So why in the world would I buy a patty made of random animal parts and put it in my body when I don't know what I'm getting or where it came from?

4. 21 more reasons why I'm thinking over the vegetarian thing are here, but seem a little lengthy to copy and paste.


I'm comfortable with myself how I am... however I know that there is always room for improvement. So, this stuff is just something I'm contemplating as a way to improve. I don't LOVE animals in a weird way or anything. But by the same token I really don't see the need to kill them when eating them isn't really helping me nutritionally... Plus its just kinda gross if you ask me. I'll keep posting about this I'm sure... I don't really eat meat now, so I don't have A LOT to cut out, but starting tomorrow its a serious life project. Wish me luck...