It's all about balance

In honor of my brother, who recently turned vegetarian, here's a post on how to become a vegetarian/pescatarian. I'm so proud of him, because he can give it all up. I just can't let go of seafood from my diet.


First off, I feel that getting all the nutrients from meat is essential. I told him to eat an egg everyday, because egg whites have all 20 amino acids. Not all foods have that, in fact, I don't think there is ANY food that has all 20. Amazing huh?!


If you want protein, there's plenty in tofu, or tofu by products. Think SOY! Vegetarians need soy beans in their diet, whether it be soy milk for breakfast, i.e. western style in cereal form or eastern style with soy milk in all types of breakfast options, i.e. 鹹豆漿, 甜豆漿...etc.. However, you also want to be careful you don't overdo on soy. That is also ... well, not balanced. You can google the effects if you eat too much soy.

I try to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can. My mother always tells me to eat lots of colors of each type of food. Eating different colored foods will allow me to absorb a variety of nutrients from these different veggies and fruits. Since I LOVE eggplant, I try to eat that once in awhile. I don't like that many purple colored foods. Oh, Japanese purple yams are also very yummy! hehe, you must try it if you haven't! It's hard to go back to regular orange or yellow colored yams once you've had the purple kind. Try Asian supermarkets near you to find them.


If you are thinking about becoming a non-meat eater, good for you! My brother found that his overall health has increased since he started his new diet. Don't get me wrong, I think boys/men love meat. He still has cravings when we all go out to eat. But, he thinks about the video he saw of people slaughtering pigs...i.e. how pork becomes pork on our plate. It's always good to have a reminder of why you are not putting something in your mouth if you made a conscientious decision and have the will power to do so. For me, it's just that I don't really find red meats all that attractive. I can only eat so much of it before I'm done -- so it's not that hard. UNLESS, i'm in Taiwan and there's all these delicious street vendors with night-market delicacies. 


I found this guide yesterday to help me decide what seafood items I should pick if I want to be a healthy pescatarian:

My main point is. Whether you decide to be vegetarian or pescatarian for a day, a week, for breakfast only, M-F, whatever your schedule, it's a step in the right direction for all of us. Consider the greater good for all of humanity. . . and the effects of global warming on the earth. Watch this talk if you want to hear about the other inconvenient truth (http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_foley_the_other_inconvenient_truth.html) My favorite quote:

"Failure is not an option"

My recent trip to Taiwan really made me feel like that's the only option. With the avian flu outbreak with chickens, pork from Australia that is also dangerous, the U.S. imported beef that has deadly injected stuff they are forcing other countries to import (not good), and mercury poisoning in the ocean.... it's almost as if Mother Nature is trying to tell us something....but what is it....?? *cough cough* 


As noam chomsky says...something along the lines of ...

Be Good, Do Good Things and Keep In Touch.

EDIT 4/18/2012: Be careful what you eat....
Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html

Eyeless Shrimp

Proud Pescatarian

http://lolalollipop.com/2-cow-vs-pig-vs-shrimp/

Today, is day number 2. I have successfully completed my 2nd day of being an honest Pescatarian:

"one whose diet includes fish but no meat" (according to merriam-webster)

 Recently, I've been watching a lot of documentaries related to global warming, water wars and our ecological footprint on earth and it really got to me. Struck a chord, hit home, serious wake-up call. Therefore, I decided to start my pescatarian diet!!


You may be thinking..how does this relate to being gay? Well, I think it does. As a minority group, we want people to accept us and have a non-biased, non-prejudice attitude and opinion about our lifestyle right? I often feel it's the narrow-minded, hypocritical, uneducated and ignorant people who have the most prejudice against people who are not like them. Wouldn't it make sense to become the opposite of those people? 


So my logic goes like this:   As a triple minority (gay, woman, Chinese) I should strive to be the exact opposite of ignorant people by keeping an open-mind, educating myself on as much as possible and being a responsible citizen to my country and the planet i'm currently living on. If I strive to be the best that I can, then I'm setting a positive example for future generations and at the same time, giving people who ARE ignorant and prejudice against minorities LESS reason and ammo to build on their hate. This world has enough hatred to go around - we should try to have more good people spread more compassion everywhere - in all forms - to one another and to our environment.


Ok, enough of the preaching...the other reasons I feel are a plus to this pescatarian diet are:

1. Minimizing my ecological footprint from removing red meat from my diet. Specifically, all the truck carbon dioxide output, methane from cows, and packaging materials to transport meat is cut down.
2. Save a few animals' lives. 
3. Cheaper lifestyle = I save grocery $$ every week
4. Healthier diet for myself. Less fat and oil and bad cholesterol consumed in my own body
5. Makes me feel good :) I'm contributing to a greener planet and making a difference.

What do you think? Would you ever consider being a Pescatarian or Vegetarian?