A few months ago, there was an article in the papers which featured locals who embrace the environmentally-friendly lifestyle. A vegetarian mother was interviewed and she shared her explanation to her 5-year-old child when asked why they don't eat meat - it's painful when i bite you right? The animals will also feel the pain when you kill them for food. (Or something very close to these lines lah). i remembered Ethan having read the same article, exclaimed that it's unfair that the mother imposed this diet restriction on her kid. i told Ethan honestly that i don't have an answer for him. Like religion, i as his mother would bring him up in Christian values simply because this is what i believe in. Having said that, i've also told him that the decision to embrace the Christian faith is for him to make alone.
Exactly 40 days ago, i made the decision to go meatless :) i've shared in an earlier blog post that i've er sort of imposed "Meatless Mondays" on my family. One Monday 40 days ago, i just felt ready to give up meat for the simple reason of ridding the toxins in my body. It wasn't anything about being ethical (i seen awful videos of animals being slaughtered and read books about the inhuman practices, but it hadn't move me to give up meat) or being environmentally-conscious or being spiritual. i just felt i want to do it. But i wasn't convinced of my own resolve. i was like looking at my calender and at those events ahead that would tempt my resolve. Finally i decided to try out for 10 days. But as you can see in the pic above, the heading in my diary was 40 Meatless Challenge. i like 40, reminds me of Lent :)
i would like to think that because i wasn't hard on myself (after all it's only 10 days), it wasn't difficult. The only time i felt tempted was when i was preparing dinner on the evening of Ewan's departure to Dalian. i love salmon lah and cooking it was a bit too much of a temptation. But i didn't give in so i can pat myself on the back. Side track a little to connect with the point in the opening paragraph: this is my choice alone and i've no intention on imposing my meatless challenge on my family, so i will continue cooking meat for them as per normal. But, meat as in chicken and fish only. i've given up cooking red meat such as beef and pork much earlier.
Anyway, back to the story. i have grown up a meat eater and among meat eaters. But some vegetarian friends made an impression. One was an ex-colleague. i didn't have an accurate or positive impression of vegetarians some 20 years ago. i lumped her with another ethnic group because it was always a hassle come ordering food for departmental parties. i remembered her complaining that there wasn't vegetarian food one Christmas. When she became pregnant, i recalled asking her if she had taken in enough nutrition (how terribly rude and ignorant i was then! But then i wasn't a mummy yet, so i can be excused).
My uncle also made an impression. He decided one day to become vegetarian on the first and 15th day of every month according to the lunar calendar. Then he moved on to become a full-time vegetarian. His wife, my aunt, followed suit. In past Chinese New Year celebrations, my mum always had to prepare a separate vegetarian dish for them.
i went to a conference in Australia about a decade ago and i wasn't expecting a vegetarian buffet. i only can recall a nice potato dish, lol. But the conference speakers are vegans themselves, so explained the arrangement. When one of them came to Singapore a year later to conduct a workshop, i remembered the speaker not being happy because the organisers hadn't provided vegetarian options for him. So, for subsequent lunches, he had something different from the rest of the participants.
What i'm trying to say is this: you can't go about being a vegetarian quietly. Because of the diet choices, you stand out like it or not. But i was determined not to be an inconvenience to my family. Only my family knew when i started. The significant other is supportive whenever we eat out. When we ate in a restaurant with my in-laws, he ordered vege dishes for me. i don't think my in-laws even noticed i didn't touch the meat. But when i met up with some friends recently, i bopian, told them about it when they urged me to eat Hokkien Noodles from a well-known stall. And at my workplace, i kept quiet about it too until being urged to eat meat dumplings a colleague cooked and shared :) My own mum asked me if i have energy or not, lol
My kids are sweet. They joked about it initially but seem used to the idea that their mama ate no meat :) In the recently concluded church camp (Day 33 to D36 of my challenge), Ewan read the food label at the buffet table and warned me that the tofu is cooked with minced meat. Ma, got meat leh! Lol. Ethan when he queued up for egg omelet, took the initiative to tell the cook not to add ham to my omelet.
Oh, about the camp. i was mentally prepared to break the 40-day challenge at the camp because i have no idea how it would go as far as food options are concerned. i told myself not to be so hard on myself if it happens. But as it is, i felt no temptation whatsoever during the 4 days.
i've received a lot of encouragement from those who knew. Some told me not to count the days. Some told me to try for 100 days cos that's when the habit will stick. i don't know how it will go from here but as at today, i feel no compulsion to take in meat. i also feel somewhat cleansed lah. Ethan had once challenged me to name him Olympians who are vegetarian. i googled ok! You want to know the answer, go google lah! Long story short, i haven't fallen ill (but i must say, prior to this, i am hardly sick too) and have grown to listen to my body more. Eg i will realise that i crave for sugar at certain times and will then remind myself not to overload on sugar. i must say my digestive system is er very digestive, wahahahaha. Oh well, i may not have lost weight, which isn't my goal in the first place, but i do feel lighter psychologically.
So..what can i say but YEAH!
