In The Beginning

I got out of bed this morning with determination even though I was feeling tired after having only slept 4 1/2 hours. I am a night owl. I know it's not good for me. I know that I can't possibly feel good all day on that amount of sleep. I know all this yet I haven't gotten off my rather ample backside to make any changes. It's hard (I'm whining). I put the kids to bed at night and the house is quiet, I can watch t.v. without constant interruptions. I can relax. It's my time and I don't want to give it up even though I know that it's not healthy.

I read an article about a weight study. It seems that the majority of overweight people get less than 8 hours of sleep every night. Yes, I say to myself, that's the reason I'm overweight. I don't sleep enough. Now that I am secure in knowing the reason I'm overweight, I can go drink two cups of coffee with cream and sugar and have a donut. Yes, it's sleep (or lack of it) that's causing me to be overweight.

I'm being sarcastic. I do sarcasm rather well having successfully raised one mouthy teenager and currently raising another one. I have learned sarcasm through motherhood. I have also learned to whine even if it is internally. I would never whine out loud - it's not useful in a house full of kids. I mean, if they whine and I whine then who'll be the adult.

But I digress. This is after all a blog about my becoming a successful vegetarian.

So I got out of bed with determination. I felt tired and I knew that I needed to make some changes. I went to the computer and searched. I found an article on being a vegetarian and it was fascinating. I realized that I have never really cared for the taste of meat and that with a few modifications I could easily become a vegetarian. Remember that easily part because it will come back to bite me in the ass in a few minutes.

After reading for hours I came across a website that had a link for an ebook titled "How To Become A Successful Vegetarian". I started reading the book and it answered a lot of questions but it also brought up more so I decided to go on Facebook and message my cousin who has been a vegetarian for quite awhile. I bombarded her with questions which she answered with such enthusiasm that it made me excited about the prospect of becoming a vegetarian. She also sent me a ton of recipes and articles. I went over the recipes and I was hooked! Being a vegetarian doesn't have to be boring, it can be quite a wonderful epicurean journey.

My cousin told me about a wonder grain called quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) and I decided to visit my local co-op the next day and I would bring my husband along for support. I went into the co-op with a bit of trepidation. I had never been in a co-op before and I had no idea what to expect. Once inside, I found isles upon isles of grains that I had never heard of (let alone that I could pronounce) as well as an assortment of nuts, berries and wonderful smelling spices. They also had coolers with all kinds of new and wonderful items inside. Who knew that there were such things as tofurkey and veganaise. It was so much fun but it also made me realize that there was a whole new world of food out there and I had no idea how to prepare any of it. I decided that day that I would get a co-op membership (I would save 10% on all my purchases). It also meant that I would work 8 hours a year (2 hours every 3 months) at the co-op but I am excited at this prospect. I look at it as an opportunity to find out about everything they sell. I can pick the brain of the customers for ways to prepare the items and I am hoping they will be eager to help a new vegetarian.

I email the co-op and ask them about classes for new vegetarians. I think it would be great if they had one. Maybe someone to give a guided tour through the co-op and explain some of the foreign items and share ideas on how to prepare them. I want to learn. I want to immerse myself in a healthy lifestyle. I look forward to receiving a reply to my email.

In the meantime I joined fitday.com and started logging in everything that I put in my mouth. The first day was hard as I often found myself with my hand in mid air headed towards my mouth with food that I hadn't even thought about eating. It was then that I realized how eating had become a subconscious habit for me. I would fix lunch for my kids and lick the spoon or prepare supper and take a bite of this or a bite of that just to see if it tasted okay. Those bites add up to extra calories every day. Extra calories that I didn't even realize I was eating. Extra calories that I couldn't afford to eat. It was then that I decided that I had to be completely honest about every single bit of food I shoved in my mouth. If I ate it, it went into my fitday food intake. No cheating allowed!

I also decided that my sedentary lifestyle was not conducive in my quest for a healthy lifestyle. I knew I had to get my body moving, jiggling, wiggling and most of all...sweating. I put on my sneakers and got on the treadmill. I did one mile, got off and felt like I had sea legs. Boy was I out of shape! I logged my activity on fitday.com and started my housework. I even did another mile later that evening.

I've had an epiphany of sorts - I don't think it was lack of sleep that made me overweight.