Gotta Get My Grass On

Fruits....the fruit of life? Vegetables....the juice of existence? Hmmm, I wonder. As a recent convert to vegetarianism I have to renew my relationship with the food group "fruits and vegetables" and somehow bury my long standing relationship with the "meat and poultry" group. Needless to say it's been a hard sell to my stomach.

This all started with my return to London last week. I got back on the 10th of January and decided to mark it with a brand new me. A vegetarian me. Considering my issues with the new year it was not a resolution, just an expression of an evolving me. A new eating habit to match a new me to match my prodigal return to London. The idea of becoming a vegetarian was fueled by my inability to make the right food choices. Although I am by no means a big eater, usually satisfied with 1 or 2 meals a day, whenever I decide that I should eat it's always something horribly bad for me (McDonald's is the usual go-to). In becoming a vegetarian not only would McDonald's no longer be an option, but I would have to stop and think about every food purchase I make and certainly everything I put into my mouth. It's actually worked. I've eaten more healthy in the last week than I have in the last year.

I've always had dreams of returning home to ooohs and aaahs, to "my God, have you lost weight?", or "you look so different!", and the kicker, "wow, you look so good!". Honestly, I can be as vain as the next girl even if I'm not like that on a regular basis. However, my weight, as fluctuating as it is, has been my Achilles heel, my arch nemesis, my "thing" since I was a teenager. The other side of puberty was a rough time for me, and I feel as if it's now or never, at least in a dietary sense.

It hasn't been so bad. Granted the food choices have dwindled, and I'm taking a very long time deciding what I want to eat in the Starbucks line or at Pret or at Cafe Nero. I assume it's all worth it for the healthy me, and for the fit me and definitely for a more slender me. My fridge is bursting with carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, vegetable stir fry, fat free mozzarella and my pantry with bran cereal (no sugar! I didn't know this stuff existed), bananas, peaches, apricots. I'm a walking poster child for healthy eating now. Well, except for the occasional lapse, but it is early days yet! I'd really like to surprise the people in my Toronto world, I rarely get a chance to do so.

So if I appear grumpy, or maybe snarl a time or two, take pity on me. My stomach is still adjusting, my sugar levels returning to normal, my fat cells being deprived, and my internal balance finally finding its balance. One thing has become apparent to me. As a vegetarian I am now eating the things that real food eats. I'm fighting that soon-to-be-burger-meat cow for my little spot of shaded grass. Gotta get my grass on!