Vegetarian Chilli-Cheese Dog. I smashed this!
When I tell you I lived for beef - I mean truly found LIFE in a steak - that is no joke. I remember one fateful day, my friend Dulcie and I stumbled upon Nelore Churrascaria, a place where I could play red light, green light for as much meat as I wanted. I was in hog, and cow, and chicken, and little lamb heaven! Being that oil and beef are king in Texas, there was never any real reason to ask the age old question, "Where's the beef?" It's everywhere you want it to be. No Visa. Even when I found myself on a diet, I'd still indulge in a steak weekly...as a treat I told myself.
Fast forward to May of this year, and you'll find me sitting in the office of my new general practitioner, complaining of fatigue and "general malaise." That word is funny. Malaise. Reminds me of mayonnaise. As usual, I digress. My doc took my vitals, some blood, and a hefty chunk change from my flexible spending account, and sent me on my way. A few weeks later I received the results of the blood work in the mail with a note that said, "Cholesterol is mildly elevated; watch your diet."
I am 26 years old. I barely have time for the standard broken heart, let alone for diseases of the heart. I made the decision soon after to give up meat, and with the exception of a month-long slip (blame it on the chicken and waffles at the Breakfast Klub and the best bbq ever at Gatlin's), I have stuck with vegetarianism.
There have been bad days. Days when the burgers from my favorite food truck seem to lift their buns in the air and shout my name. Days when I wish I were getting smaller, sooner from my new eating habits. Days when I want to curse my friends for describing their rendezvouses with ribs, chicken...bacon...oh bacon....
And then there are days like today. Days when I listen to what my body wants, and not what my mind wants.Today my body wanted mostly raw food, so that is what I ate. With the exception of some random junk food at a meeting this afternoon, I ate raw for no reason other than that is what felt right. It felt perfect. I swung by the grocery store at lunch in lieu of Chipotle, and I picked up a small hand of bananas, some pears, and two avocados. The total came to $2.38; a third of what I would have paid for a burrito, and I'm sure I gained twice the amount of energy. Not to mention, I didn't feel deprived at all today.
After work, I went for a 2.25 mile jog and enjoyed every granny-paced step, even the last few where I wondered if my legs or lungs would give out first. But it is what my body wanted. I also know it's what God wanted. It may sound funny, but I know that he cheers on my trot just as fanatically as he cheers on Olympic marathoners. That is enough to make me sweat with a smile.
Even though I've placed a dietary restriction on myself, I feel more free than ever. At the suggestion of my therapist, I threw away my scale months ago. I'm not bound by a number; I am only bound by the requests and needs of my body. Now that I'm listening, she's got the simplest, most sound, and most beautiful things to say.
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