Veg 4eva

I haven't talked about my vegetarian experience in a while so thought I'd write a brief post about it (thanks to a suggestion from Isha). Yes, I've continued successfully with my vegetarian diet throughout my time here. It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be, to be honest. Yes I've had some dreams about plates of thanksgiving turkey and mom's spaghetti bolognese, but they haven't translated into any real cravings during my waking hours. The major question that I've been asking myself lately is how I will eat once I'm back home. This was intended only to be an experiment to see if I could go veg and be happy doing it. I'm happy to say that the experiment was a great success, but where do I go from here? Before I consider that, let me first summarize some of the lessons I've learned from this experiment:

- I don't need to eat meat to be satisfied. Boom - I said it. Meat is not a necessary part of a satisfying diet. I can be full and happy without it. Plus I'm pretty sure my iron levels are doing fine from all of the greens I've been eating, so that potential side effect is moot.

- Butcher shops can be dirty. Ive become more aware of the meat options available since I've been here. More importantly, I've paid more attention to butcher shops that I've passed. It's rare in the states to see half or fully butchered animals. Instead they just come in conveniently packaged post-processing parcels. Here I've seen the chickens waiting to be slaughtered, and it makes me sad - my animal-loving side finds it hard to ignore the connection between the poor chickens on the street and the bite in my mouth. Granted, I'm sure those chickens taste delicious, but that doesn't mean I would feel any better about eating them

- Not all vegetarian food is healthy food. This is obvious, of course, but is worth mentioning. Potato chips are veg. So is a snickers bar. You can have a terrible diet and still eat vegetarian, so being veg doesn't necessarily mean being healthy. 

- I don't understand vegans. Critical elements of my diet here have been eggs and cheese. I couldn't do it without them - paneer, mozzarella on pizza, omlettes, hard boiled eggs- they are so satisfying. I couldn't ever be a vegan - ever. 

- Variety is the spice of life. One of the reasons I've found vegetarianism so easy here is that there are options everywhere! Its hard to get bored when you can try a different dish every day for a month and still not get through the veg options on your average restaurant menu here. If I'm going to keep this up, I need to keep introducing new dishes to my rotation. It may end up requiring me to eat a lot of Indian food at home, but I'm ok with that.

- Vegetarians who impose their views on others are annoying. Some people are vegetarians for religious or moral reasons. Good for you, buddy, but I don't want to hear a diatribe on how the human body isn't meant to process meat. Just shut up and pass the steak, ok? Anyway, I'm not going to be one of these types - you eat what you want, and I'll eat what I want. 

Now where do i go from here? On the one hand, I've really enjoyed being a vegetarian. There is a huge selection of dishes, each more delicious than the last. They're filling, nutritious, and satisfying. Plus I eat more vegetables and feel great about it! Tonight for dinner I had "bhendi fry" which is basically just sautéed okra and onions with spices. This is a dish I never would have ordered back in the states - who eats okra as a main course? But it's delectable! 

On the other hand, the lure of carnivorous behavior is too strong for me to resist completely. There are certain recipes at home that I can't picture myself saying no to forever. Finger Lickin' Chicken Sandwich at Goddess? Skewers at Fogo? Chicken and dumplings? I can't see myself saying no to these things. Plus I don't want to! 

However, I don't want to fall back into the same old eating patterns as before I left. I now know how great a veg meal can be (one that isn't mac and cheese or hummus and pita). I want spice and variety! So heres my plan: I'm going to go part-veg going forward. When there is a veg option on the menu, I'm getting it. The meals I cook at home will be veg. I'll humbly request my family members make more veg friendly meals when I'm eating at their houses. But - I won't be a teetotaler. If a tempting dish comes my way, I won't say no...but I'll think twice before I say yes. My goal is to eat meat no more than once a week. Maybe some weeks it will be twice, and others it will be none, but on average I'd like to stick with once a week.

Now, to all the cynics out there (I'm looking at you, Apurva) - this is doable. I'm not doing it because I feel like I have to, but rather because I want to. I'm not going to be purely vegetarian because I know it's an unrealistic goal. At the same time I have realized that I eat too much meat at home and want to change that. As Mr. Carnevale would say - nihil nimis (nothing in excess). Word.