The Choice is Yours

So I went to see Forks Over Knives... again... with my hubby... on our date night! That's right, we saw something educational on our date night. No I did not drag him kicking and screaming. He went willingly. Anyway, after seeing the movie again and mentioning it to a couple friends, I started thinking about the way we eat on a deeper level. Some of the responses I got when telling people what the movie was about included the following:

"I don't want to see something that's going to make me want to change the way I eat."

and...

"It doesn't show animals getting hurt, does it?"

These two comments struck me as very interesting. The first response shows how ingrained our eating habits are in our own being. And believe me, I get this! Even after all the reading and self-education I've done, I still find myself falling back into those habits I've developed over years and years of eating. Let's be honest, it is NOT easy to change the way we eat. When you ask someone to see a movie or read a book about switching to a plant-based diet, it can force them to rethink everything they've ever known or loved about food and that can be a difficult thing to do. To me, however, I can think of no more important thing to do than improve our health through strong nutrition! This is why it is important to make small changes, a little at a time. It is not practical for most people to switch from omnivore to vegan overnight. That's fine! If you eat steak five nights a week, cut it down to 3 nights. If you are eating one serving of veggies a day, add a second, then a third (then a tenth! c'mon people, eat your veggies!). This is what we've done with going from vegetarian to vegan. First I cut out skim milk (which I used to drink like a fiend!), then I replaced cheddar cheese with daiya cheese, then started ordering sandwiches and wraps without cheese when we went out. Heck, I'm still working on giving up the eggs completely!

The second response I received asked about animals being hurt in the movie. I get it. Who wants to pay $12 to see a movie that shows the way a slaughterhouse works? (BTW, Forks Over Knives does not do this). I used to feel this way too but the more I read and studied, the more I realized how important it is to know the truth behind the bacon. Bottom line: animals have to die for us to eat them. There is nothing pretty about that fact. We shouldn't feel guilty though if we still eat animals in some form! Guilt gets us nowhere. What is important is that we think about how we eat and make the connection between what is on our plate and what is grazing in the pasture when we pass that farm down the road.

Ultimately, how we eat is our choice. With everything else going on in our lives, food choices may seem secondary. But remember that when your health is strong, everything else in your life will follow suit. Do the best you can, don't be too hard on yourself, and make one choice today about your food that is healthier than it was the day before!