I'm still excited about changing to a plant-based whole foods diet. It's still a little scary making sure I figure it out every day what to eat. I spend an hour every day cooking. Making a whole lot of stir-fry vegetables, sometimes with Asian noodles, usually with beans stirred in instead of tofu, since, unless it's precooked to make it firm [as in restaurants], tofu tends to just scramble up. As a graduation I went to two Twelfth Day of Ridvan [this is the final day of this festival] celebrations today centered around food.
The first was a picnic in Puyallup with hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers on the grill. [I don't mind using the same grill or the same utensils as meat products.] I brought my stir-fry, too, which people seemed to like. No cheese on the veggie burger. I remembered the same picnic, same place last year, and sneaking a meat burger. I used to sneak a lot of food, because it was someone else, not myself, I had to please. Clarity makes a big difference.
The second Ridvan celebration was in Tacoma, Azar's annual dinner she gives to host the Baha'is: in her business she is too busy to attend many Baha'i functions, so this is her way to participate and connect with the friends. She prepares an enormous dinner every year, and this year there were platters of turkey, platters of beef and platters of ham, as well as white rice and a Persian dish with spinach, beans and beef. I had some of that, selecting around the beef, as well as vegetables and a pasta dish. I stayed resolute in my decision to skip animal-based foods, so I'm celebrating that.
My first benefit is clarity about what to eat; with the food compulsion I always agonized about it. My second benefit is sort of a serenity and joy. I focus on eating the proper foods and let go of all my other food anxieties. My third benefit is focusing on people, conversation, and friendship, and being fully present, instead of hiding in the process of eating or agonizing.
Hello, my true self. Hello, friends!
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You will also come to understand the discipline that comes when you attend community functions, and people start 'pushing' foods on you, well-intentioned of course.
It is not necessary to justify your choices or explain them, but just to practice what you have learned...one never needs to ingest anything that reeks of compromise just to make others happy. Or, to eat left-overs just to save them.
All of this really 'wakes you up', gives clarity. And yes, it is wonderful!
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