I made my post Christmas pilgrimage to Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago. It’s a “pilgrimage,” because I enjoy the blessing of having raised a family of avid readers. So, there’s no shortage of books in our home, and no shortage of enthusiasm for visiting bookstores. Indeed, aren’t bookstores the real reason for shopping?
The object of my quest was to find a book that was a combination of personal journal/explanation/how to concerning making the change to a vegetarian, vegan, or macrobiotic diet. The thought of making this change has been rattling around in the back of my head for some time now, and I wanted to read more than Wikipedia had to say about this. I’m not exactly as svelte as I was in my 20’s, and realized that most likely I’ll never get there again. But I’ve talked to people who have done this, and they seem happy that they made the change. Those whom I’ve talked to feel better, report health benefits, and seem to be able to eat all they want within the range of their food philosophy.
I wanted to find the story of someone who “waded in the shallow end” of this journey and didn’t try to do it all at once — someone who would make me think that this might possibly be achievable for someone who includes friends and loved ones in their eating habits. I also felt like I needed to be “sold” on the why of doing this, and read the words of someone who enjoyed and benefitted from making such monumental changes.
Alas, I found no such book! I didn’t look at the books that were mostly scientific information– I’m just not going to read that. The science seems pretty sound from what I’ve read — at least it’s more on the side of a plant based diet than what I’m eating now. However, it just cannot be that there has never been anyone in the history of mankind who considered attempting this change one meal at a time. I’m astonished that there is no one in the history of the planet who contemplated taking baby steps toward this. The books I found were either straight-out cookbooks that assumed that I was sold on their particular philosophy, or “how-to” books. Of the two varieties, the how-to books started out with advice such as “take everything out of your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, and throw it in the garbage.” No consideration whatsoever that person who may attempt to follow such advice may be married to a spouse who would advise reasonable, prudent steps toward a better diet, or more like exclaim, “you’re throwing hundreds of dollars of food into the garbage!” No advice given on how to win over a skeptical spouse whose wisdom has been nothing short of life-saving.
So, my quest was halted in frustration. However, I’m sure that there is at least one person in the history of the planet who has been in the circumstances described earlier who has written a book about their experience that’s worth reading.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have researched transitioning to vegetarian, vegan, or macro and found a helpful book that is makes it sound fun encouraging, and achievable, let me know!
Half Baked 