Introduction

Hi Everyone and Happy New Year!

My name is Rosalie Rodriguez.  I am 40 years old and married with two children.

2013 proved to be a great year for me.  In the year leading up to my 40th birthday (On November 15th, 2013), I began to take better care of myself, and was able to shed almost 30 pounds.  Being in the best shape of my life really made turning 40 an exciting time for me.  I had accomplished the goals that I set out to and was ready to take on the world.  There is something truly liberating about going into 40 gracefully and proudly, enjoying and savoring every moment.  I felt like I had finally come in to my own.

On Sunday, November 17th, two days after spending a fabulous 40th birthday with friends and family, I was lying in bed doing some self reflection and thinking deeply about who I was and what I was putting into my body. On a side note, I have always had an issue with eating meat, and for 5 years in my late 20's and early 30's, I stopped eating land meat all together, but continued to eat fish.  After suffering a miscarriage, and immediately craving a roast beef sandwich when I left the hospital (I didn't even really like roast beef),  I began eating meat again.

So now here I was, 40 years old and thinking, really thinking about what it meant to eat bacon, or bacalao (cod fish) salad or chicken or a hamburger.  The irony was earth shattering.  Here I was celebrating the beauty of the 40 years of life that I had lived so far, looking forward to all the amazing years to come, while my choices were contributing to the suffering and death of so many beautiful creatures.  What did that say about me?

I grabbed the laptop and started to do some research.  I watched some videos years ago that PETA had put out, and surely there would be more on the internet now.  I woke my sleeping husband and asked if he wanted to finish off my birthday weekend (yes weekend lol), by taking the kids to the diner to breakfast.  He said okay and we agreed that we would wake the kids in half an hour and leave in an hour.  Great, I thought.  This gives me time to watch some videos and really see what goes in to the food on my plate.

With a bit of internet searching, I discovered that Ellen Degeneres had become a vegetarian after watching a documentary called "Earthlings".  It was funny, I had also been on an internet search to quit smoking in early 30's, when I saw that Ellen Degeneres had quit smoking using Allen Carr's The Easyway To Quit Smoking, and I ordered it and quit smoking within two weeks, never, ever looking back.  So now here we were again.  Me and my girl Ellen lol.  It was kismet.  I knew this was the video I needed to watch.

After only watching the introduction, I was elbowing my husband again (yes, he rolled over and went back to sleep) and telling him that he had to watch this with me.  G-d love him, he rolled back over, sat up, and we both watched the screen intently.  My husband broke the silence first.  Ro, you wake me up to go for breakfast and I'm thinking bacon and sausage, and now we are watching this?  How can I go to breakfast after watching this?  He was right.  How could anyone go for breakfast after watching this, I thought.

We never did make it to the diner that morning.  In fact we never even made it through the entire documentary.  We only made it a half hour in (my eyes either closed peeking through my hands like a little child most of the time), and had to turn it off.  We were sick.  Sick at what we saw.  Sick at what it said about our choices, and quite possibly about who we were if we ignored what we just saw.  Sick at everything.  Just plain sick.

That morning we made a choice.    I told my husband that I didn't ever want to eat meat again.  He said that he really wasn't sure that he could eat meat again either.  And so our journey began, together.  Thanksgiving was two weeks later.  I knew I was never eating meat again.  My husband, I knew it would be harder for him on social occasions and holidays.  I set out to Trader Joe's (my favorite store at the moment, since we are very limited in Staten Island), in search of some turkey alternatives.  To my surprise, I found two at Trader Joe's.

We drove up to friend's in Connecticut with our F'urkey as I like to call it (fake turkey) in tow.  I cooked two different stuffings for our host.  She had a recipe that she used every year.  I made one with the added bacon that her recipe called for, and one without.

We survived our first holiday as vegetarians.  For an Italian (me) and a Puerto Rican (my husband), this was a huge feat!  For anyone who is Italian or Puerto Rican, you know that someone is always trying to convince you that you have not eaten enough, must eat everything that they have cooked, and are "crazy" for not eating meat.  I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.  If we could make it through Thanksgiving, we could make it through anything. Well, almost anything.  Christmas Eve wasn't too far away, and my brother goes bananas with fish and seafood.  Would be fine for me.  Wasn't sure about my  hubby though.

Turns out Christmas Eve was a little bit more difficult for him.  The pressure was too much.  A room full of Italian people screaming and telling you how one day won't kill you, and how you can start after today, can be quite intimidating.  He did have a little bit of seafood, (no fish) appetizer, but ate the food I had prepared for the remainder of the meal.

And it's okay.   I am not here to judge, and I expect the same respect from anyone else who reads this blog.  One day at a time.  One choice at a time.  What is easy for me might not be easy for you.  What is easy for you, may be difficult for me.  But we are awake now.  We can see the forest for the trees.  Still though, we are human beings.  We will make mistakes.  This blog is meant to be a place to share our experience, provide and receive support, and hopefully inspire others to do some soul searching of their own.  I hope you enjoy it.

Spread love!

The Vegetarian Vixen