I'm a stranger in a strange land

I have always thought that being Vegetarian is a lot easier then people think it is. Being nearly Vegan for the past two months has also shown me that being Vegan is also pretty easy. As long as you know how to cook some pretty simple meals and how to shop/eat out, you're fine.

The only time problems seem to arrive is when I am in a place where I am not entirely in charge of the meals I eat. This has happened, for instance, when I have eaten over a friend's house, or have gone out to a restaurant. I have learned to make the best of these circumstances though. When eating over a friends house I always have to remember to tell them plenty before hand that I am a Vegetarian. I usually offer to bring a dish with me so that they do not feel obligated to go further out of their way for me. When dining out, it has helped me if in the past if I call the restaurant before hand to know exactly what I can and cannot eat. If it turns out that all I can eat is a salad, then I know to eat before I go so I'm not starving throughout dinner.

Currently I am working at a camp in southern Florida. It is a great place with great people and amazing weather. Working at the camp means I also live and eat here. The food I can eat tastes pretty good actually. There isn't, however, much I can always eat. At least for lunch and dinner. I knew I was going to run into this problem before I even got down here, but so far I am amazed at how much it has actually worked out for me >knocks on wood<. While almost every meal has some kind of meat, they also serve salad at lunch and dinner and if I ask nicely they'll give me extra.

Breakfast is probably the best meal of the day because they have cereal, oatmeal, grits, bread, bagels, fruit, soymilk.... All things that I can eat, and all things I like to eat. Lunch, for the most part, is cold cuts. While they provide peanut butter, I stay clear of peanut butter with hydrogenated oils. So I just went out and got my own jar of natural peanut butter and a tub of hummus. Personally, that's all I really need for lunch and the peanut butter is great protein.

Dinner has been the real tricky meal. It is very hit or miss for a vegetarian. Last night, they served up some delicious steamed vegetables, while today they tried to serve me some buttered vegetables. I just ate some salad, the pasta, and then had some dried edamane from out of my room. (For those of you who don't know, edamane is a high protein soy bean.)

I've been working out at the weight room here everynight so I have an additional 4th meal after my workout. Now I have to admit that I have not done a lot of my own personal research into post workout food yet. I do have a friend here I workout with who has told me some of the things he has learned about post workout nutrition. Under his suggestion I have been eating a lot of bread and carbs after the gym along with my pea protein powder mixed into soymilk. I'll also eat some fruit and maybe some granola.

Pea protein is pretty gross. It's a good vegan protein though because it cotains all 9 amino acids. It also has nearly 30 grams of protein per serving. When you mix it with some soymilk, it really does not taste that bad either.

I know I have said in the past that I would avoid soymilk if I could. As I said, my reasoning was because I have noticed in the past that I break out whenever I drinkt it. However, I have decided to give soymilk another chance. The truth is, it's delcious and I love it. If it still makes me breakout, I'm going to give it up but for now I will drink it. It's an experiment. I'm going to try to have once glass of soymilk a day, which has 7g of soy protein, and then eat 13g of some other form of soy protein. This could come from the edamane or maybe a clif bar.

I think the biggest thing I am learning about being a vegetarian is to be aggressive. There is a reason I am a Vegetarian. I believe the way this country slaughters and eats animals is wrong. No animal deserves to be treated that way. While I don't believe it's always appropriate for me to be vocal about my opinions, I shouldn't hide who I am. I can't be afraid to say "No I will not eat that because I am a vegetrain." I shouldn't feel "stupid" when I'm eating something different from everyone else that they might thing is "weird." I am who I am. I know that what I am doing is right and I shouldn't be afraid to express that.

I have told a few people here that I am lactose intolerant. I'm not. I think I was afraid of the negative atitude people here might have towards my decision to cut dairy from my life. Lieing to people is not right though. The main reason I gave up dairy was for health reasons, but I also did it for humanitarian reasons. If I tell people I'm giving up dairy because I'm lactose intolerant, then I'm failing to raise awareness about the issues I have with milk. While I don't have to be overly vocal and shouldn't attack people who eat dairy or meat, I should at least present an opportunity to start a healthy conversation.

It has really helped that I still have some great support from people at home. I have some good friends who are encouraging me to stay vegan for as long as I can. I considered actually eating dairy again the first day here because I figured I would starve otherwise. A friend back home encouraged me not to though and I'm glad he did. Because it is working. Remember that. No matter where you are, you can make it work if you know how.