So recently it's come to my attention more and more that I want to seriously concentrate on eating more natural and healthy foods. I t was my new years resolution to lead a more active lifestyle and eat healthier but it has come even more into focus for me since then.
I think one of the catalysts was when we had to hire a few new people at my workplace and one of the people we hired is a vegan. And it's funny, because I think a lot of people (myself included) can't help but have the first image that pops into their mind at the word vegan be that of a granola crunching hippy. I think it's engrained in our head. At least us Americans. And it's kind of sad that stereotypes like that sometimes prevent us from enjoying other people's company, but that's a whole other blog post.
But she's not that kind of person. She's a very smart woman and when you work in such a small office like environment you can't help but strike up conversations once in a while. And picking her brain sort of inspired me. Not that I mean to assume that all vegans are hippies or anything but she really dispelled that image from my mind.
Because if you look at how we as Americans eat, sometimes it's even revolting. And North Dakota seems to be the epicenter of unhealthy eating in the U.S.. This is the heartland of obese Caucasian people.
And then to top it off, I geeked out (speaking of stereotypes, lol....) and have started watching documentaries about different subjects. And yesterday I watched "Forks over Knives". Which was very interesting! Even for people who are adamant that a vegan diet or lifestyle is a dumb idea, I would recommend that you watch that movie. It's on Netflix on instant play!
The one piece of information that really got to me is that many other countries do not have the rampant obesity and health problems that the U.S. does. And what do the people in those other countries primarily eat? Fruits, veggies and more natural foods. The movie goes into more specific details about that, but I find that basic premise very interesting.
Maybe if we made it more of priority to educate people in our country about a healthy diet that includes more healthy, natural foods and try to dismiss the negative stereotypes that we have of vegans, we might start to see progress against many treatable and preventable diseases and health issues.
So this leads me to the thought that I'm not sure that I'm ready to completely give up meat but I definitely want to focus more on a plants based diet (or as most americans know it, a vegetarian diet).
Some vegans or vegetarians might think I'm a wimp for not giving up meat entirely. Hence the title, lol. But oh well. I think it's a step in the right direction at the least.
