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Time has recently slapped me in the face and kicked me in the butt. There is a certain event going down in 2009 (one that I refuse to attend, but have used it as a point of reference nonetheless) that is fast approaching. For this event, I swore I would be in better shape. I’m not only in bad shape, but shameful shape. So, I figured this was the time to work on a goal I’ve had since I was 12. It is time to give up meat. For 30 days starting August 1, I will not consume any meat, and try to limit other animal products (what I’m calling full time vegetarian/part time vegan.) And here’s why:

• Animals. The meat industry is truly a cruel and disgusting one. That aside, I can no longer continue to eat animal flesh and consider myself a lover of animals. It feels hypocritical. Plus, I wouldn’t wear fur, and there are several types of meat I have long refused to consume, so why not treat chicken and beef like lamb and veal?
• I can grow some of my own. This year’s garden was a bust (thanks to some wacky weather and our eventual move), but next spring, we’ll be in a new place with more room for a garden. Plus, we’ll have more money to put into it, so it’ll be like 12 times more awesome than the one I had planned for this year. I’m really looking forward to being more responsible for my food! I also get giddy like that when I think about the end products of various knitting/crochet projects I have around here
• Learning a new way of cooking. That was one thing that appealed to me about the raw diet, until I realized- I don’t really like a lot of raw veggies. Already, I have visions of ice cream made with coconut milk, cakes made with tofu, and trying new fruits and vegetables. We almost got a starfruit tonight, but I wanna find out how to eat it first, or it would likely just perish in the crisper.
• And health. I’m predisposed to obesity. But wait! There’s more! My family’s gene pool also plays host to cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. Plus, I have a spinal condition that is only exacerbated by extra weight. I’m sluggish, have blah skin, and milk is not my friend. If I can make my life better just by cutting out a few foods, then why not change?

I have decided to blog my progress, and if I feel better on August 31 than I do now, then I’ll keep on. Plus, I’m really looking forward to trying new recipes and posting them here, and reviewing new food items (already, I want to say- Soy Dream chocolate ice cream…omg. That stuff is good.) I’m looking forward to changing my body and my life, just by changing the way I eat. Stay tuned!

I’m going to step outside the normal topics of this blog and talk about something wildly controversial: weight. On one hand, there are overweight people- some who are “fat and fabulous,” others who hate being overweight but can’t seem to control that, and others who are overweight by government standards, but look ok to most- all of whom may have been subject to rude commentary b/c of their respective sizes. On the other, there are thin people who sometimes hear comments like “why don’t you have a couple of cheeseburgers and gain a few?” Weight discrimination (to either side) is nothing new.

Recently, on another blog I read sometimes, the questions “is society to tolerant of overweight people? and when is plus sized overweight?” have been raised. I have to mention, I am a fatty. I have been since I was about 5. I am currently at my heaviest (a number that is no one’s damn business ), and at my lightest, I was about 30 over. I’m also tall, so it used to be pretty well spread. As a child/teenager, I was very active- I played softball, basketball, swam every chance I got, and played sports with my siblings and cousins. I have never been a junk food freak (except for Easter, and that only comes once a year), and we didn’t always have a lot of it in the house (although my parents love ice cream and m&m’s). I went through a poorly executed vegetarian phase that involved a lot of baked tofu and ketchup sandwiches. And, from the age of 13, I have been bulimic. So weight is an issue I am all too familiar with. Most specifically, the “over” end.

I want to know why anyone would think that being heavy is now accepted. Not in my little corner of the world. It seems every time I go out, someone makes a rude remark about my weight. And this seems to be ok with people. Why? I want to know, who does weight affect? If I ever bumped my booty into the back of your head walking past you in a restaurant, I apologize (although, I have to say, I usually try to make the um, front side closer. Sucks to be tall, b/c if I walk past and you look up, you could get a snout full of in-pants vag. oops.) I have had super-skinny friends, and their weight never bugged me. Why is it anyone’s business? Are my bingo wings so offensive? Why? You might as well be offended by red hair, crooked teeth, or lopsided boobs. And if you are, man, you have issues. There are much more worthwhile things to be offended by than whether a person has thighs that rub together or a super bony clavicle.

Now, if I were ever by some miracle of engineering to become super-bony, I might relish being told to “eat a damn twinkie, already.” (not that I would, b/c I have never liked cream filled pastry. I may be fat, but I’m damn picky). And honestly, in my mind, even though it is not right, hearing someone being told to eat sometimes conveys concern for that person; you look a little thin, you should put a little meat on them bones, have a snack! Telling an overweight person to “back away from the drive thru” conveys disgust; you have rolls thanks to your BK habit, and your fat is repulsive, so stop eating, already! I do not think it is right either way, b/c weight is so personal, and not every fat/too thin person can help what they are. Why must they all be lumped together? Not every fat person has diabetes or high cholesterol. Not every thin person is perfectly healthy. There are so many variables to consider.

So, if society is indeed becoming more tolerant, it’s news to me. Perhaps I need to find this strange new Mecca and move. And even if I lose all my excess, I’d still choose to live in a place where people are only judged based on character. We, as denizens of this little blue-green marble should be building each other up and helping each other out, not judging b/c of some stupid beauty ideal. And recall, fleshy and fat used to be in. The only constant in this world is change- hot today, not tomorrow. Fat or thin, we are all worthy of at least basic respect. In the end, a person’s appearance matters so little (well, after everything starts to sag, I suppose, which is unfortunate), so why not make the good things a person does a thing to talk about, and leave their too round or too flat butt out of the discussion?