Life as a Vegetarian – One Month In

Wow, has it really been a month?!? In a way this has been both the quickest and longest month in history. And to further make this complicated, becoming a vegetarian cold turkey (great pun?) has been so much easier then I thought it would be, and yet so much harder then I thought possible. Confused? I am!

I have not had any meat in an entire month, though there have been several very close calls. From ordering what I have always ordered on a menu without a second thought, to going places with people and seeing things I have always really loved. Then there was the cravings, good God; the cravings. Thankfully there are a lot of fake meat substitutes! My latest meat craving was chicken strips, half a small box of fake chicken strips and a lot of ketchup later, craving fully satisfied.

On the other hand, I feel great! I feel almost…lighter? It’s a strange but good feeling. I have also taken to cooking when I can afford it. Finding the grocery store that has the best selection has been fun, and the winner is? HEB and Kroger! So far, HEB is the only place I have found the Smart foods. Oh but Randall’s has this brand called Eating Right that is awesome too.

On the other hand of the cooking thing, I have yet to find a recipe I really like. I have books and magazines, and nothing I have made has made me want to ever make it again. Anyone have any good vegetarian recipes? I am thinking about trying to doctor some of my favorite recipes.

Animals, some people seemed to think that I could care less about them. That is far from the truth! I want to try to change this misconception. I did not become a vegetarian because I was going PETA. I went vegetarian because the thought of eating meat repulsed me. Now having done all the research I could so that I would know how to make this big change, I read a lot about what animals go through. I am still not going to become a active PETA member, but I understand more on that aspect of things too.

I have never really liked eggs, so for the most part I use the powder vegan fake egg stuff that seems to work out fine. However when it comes to deviled eggs, all bets are off.

Thanks everyone who has supported me though out this, especially my Mom K who went out of her way to make me a portabella mushroom burger for Easter and decided to make the steaks after I left, because I have always loved steak, and I might have given up right then for one of hers.

I will endeavor to keep you updated on how my life as a vegetarian is going. Oh, and did I mention I could give blood the other day? I was afraid of what my IRON count would be, if it’s under 38 you can’t give blood. Mine was 39! Go multi-vitamin!

An Introduction

My name is Lauren Freeman, I am an aspiring writer, currently a vegetarian and I am doing well just to get by everyday. Welcome to my life, and the life of millions of other silent voices. Of course if no one ever reads this, then I guess my voice is still just as silent.

When I sat down to write this, I was thinking of making this blog dedicated to just my writing and the effort to becoming a published author. I would try to take you through my trials, questions and successes of the entire writing process. But I have more to say.

So then I thought I would have more then one blog, but I know myself; I would quit, quickly; if I had to log out and log in as a different user every time I had something to say on a different subject. I am great at starting things, planning things in detail; but finishing? Not so much, as I said before I know myself. So more then one blog is out, should I then make each subject a different entry? Or should each blog be like a news letter, with different parts? I suppose it would depend on the length of each subject and whether or not I want a certain subject to stand on its own or not.

If I post this blog, with the hopes that I would gain readers, perhaps you can help me stay on track. Talk to me, ask me questions, make comments, challenge me, and hopefully I will inspire someone else to move forward as well.

With all of that said, let me introduce myself. At the age of 27, I have not really gone very far. Within an hours drive from my dad’s house, I live with several room mates of which I could probably write about in length, for years. That blog entry probably would not be very pretty, so I won’t go in to detail. Though I am sure you will hear all about them as life moves forward.

I have worked in the same café for four years now, before that I worked at a café with the exact same name, owned by the same people in a different location much closer to my dad’s.

I read, write go to work as the sales lead, come home, sleep and start all over again. That is my average day. But I am striving to live a much more out going life, much to my introverted self’s horror. In truth I started this journey in September of 2009. I joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and began spending all of my time walking/running long distances, and volunteering during every spare moment I had. I sold hundreds of over priced beers at countless concerts, sold thousands of food and drinks in concession stands at Houston Astros games (baseball). Worked event after event volunteering over 180 hours. In the end, I STILL could not raise enough money to even think about continuing when the amount I still needed appeared half way through. So I dropped out, but tried to help the teammate (we became good friends) I always walked/ran with make it the rest of the way. She did, and I volunteered at her marathon seeing her off, worked my shift then helped her limp back to the car.

September 2009 was also when I decided I was going to lose weight, and I am proud to say that I have now lost 50 pounds, and am still loosing.

2010 has been a year of changes. I am wearing clothes that have never fit me before, I am wearing make up having decided to move forward completely after my break up with my now ex-fiancé, who out of nowhere, broke up with me; leaving me homeless.

I have also applied for a better job! The long application is in, approved. I took a hard computerized test, and passed. I am now waiting on a credit check, if that is approved I will move forward to medical. Keep in mind I have not even been interviewed yet. If I get this job however, I will be moving from the Houston area, (a place I have lived in and around my entire life!) to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, just a short distance from where my sister and aunt live. Though where in the world I will ever find the money for the move is a great mystery. But I really, really want this job, so I will make it happen. ..somehow…

The rest you will learn as I write, updating you on how events are going in my life. My weekends are currently booked with volunteer projects; you can get a much more up to date detail of what is happening, when it happens if you follow me on Twitter. My username is iniysa