Vegetarian with Vegan Rising

If anyone had told me that the hardest part of owning my own business would be keeping up with a blog, I would never have believed you.  And I would have been wrong!  But, new year, new me, right?  So, here we go!

"It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”  ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is January 16, and it is the 21^st anniversary of my becoming a vegetarian.  (History note:  it’s easy for me to remember because January 16, 1991 was the day the first Gulf War started, when Bush #41 was President.)  I’ve been asked many times if I miss meat, and the answer is no, I don’t, and I never have.  It was a very easy transition for me.  It was harder on the people around me who couldn’t understand that this could be a healthy lifestyle choice.  I made the decision because I’d just read too much on a wide array of related topics to keep eating meat.  The simplest answer is that I could no longer see a difference between the cats who live in my home and the cows in the field.  I couldn’t eat the cats, so I couldn’t eat the cows any longer, or the chickens and pigs.  

In the past year, I’ve focused more on vegan eating – no animal products at all.  It’s been a harder transition for me than becoming vegetarian was, but I’ve cooked more than ever before and have had fun experimenting with new cookbooks and recipes.  I’ve finally learned to love olives (how did I miss those salty wonders before?), avocados, sweet potatoes, roasted chickpeas, and a host of other foods I’d been ignoring.  I’ve also had to get a lot better at saying no, a skill that’s hard for me.  I still have a lot to learn, but it’s been very interesting, I feel great, and I am learning to read labels like a pro, a necessity for a vegan. 

I still think of myself as vegetarian with vegan rising.  I never try to convert anyone to my way of eating, but I answer questions honestly when asked.  If you’re interested in vegetarian or vegan eating, there are more and more resources available every day, with new books being published daily and new food options available nearly every trip to the supermarket.  Do an Internet search for “vegan recipes” or “vegetarian recipes” and see what comes back.  Some of the best information and recipes I’ve found have been on blogs – go figure! 

We just got back from the Houston marathon expo, where we had a great time and I got to see the men’s Olympic trials finish!  For an Olympics junkie like me, it was a once in a lifetime treat.  We have new product coming soon, literally as soon as we can get it on the website, so we’ll keep you posted on that, and in the mean time we’re working on our 2012 race calendar.  We hope to see you soon!  Run like a warrior!