Long way from vegan

Doesn't this look like an edible Pac Man?

On March 19, 2012, I made a decision to stop consuming caffeine. I had been used to drinking one and a half cups of coffee in the morning, but I knew I wouldn't miss it. It was really only a ritual; nothing I savored or noticed as a trigger for a more alert self. I remember when I first started drinking coffee. After graduation, I launched my job search with a mailing sent to 200 publishers in the Chicago area. As luck would have it, I got just one response and flew to Chicago, on my dime, for an interview with Mosby-Year Book to be an editorial assistant. More luck, I was offered the job, my first real job out of school. The best part of the job was the group of people I met while I worked there. What smart young women! I loved grabbing lunch from all the nearby restaurants. But on my way into the building each morning, I stopped for a muffin (cranberry please!) and coffee for $1.50. It was a great deal and an even better muffin. 


The Coke, I knew, would be harder to part with. It was a silly thing to be over forty and still drink such an unhealthy product, and almost on a daily basis.  I had suspected a food allergy when it came to caffeine, and it was getting worse, so I stopped coffee and caffeine drinks cold turkey. But that's not all. That Monday I also stopped buying deli meat. For the last 3 months of school, my children had Nutella and banana on wheat bread almost every day. I stopped buying potato chips and hard rolls to accompany our weekend lunches. And while all this was going on, I was reading whatever books I could get my hands on and watching movies about the truth behind the standard American diet and factory farms. I admitted to myself that I wasn't really very healthy at all. I made changes right away. And as I always remind myself, baby steps are perfectly fine when it comes to change.


I stopped buying red meat, experimented with more vegetarian dishes and talked with my husband and children about our food choices. And even as my grocery bill reflected my experiments, I feared my own failure. In other words, I questioned my discipline and commitment. Making change at 43, after being raised in a meat and potatoes kitchen, felt overwhelming. I would have to learn to prepare and eat new things. I would have to continually educate myself.


Joining a farm share has really helped. Each week when I pick up my bag of freshly harvested, organic produce, it's like a contest to eat it all before the next pick-up date. My kids are o.k. with the change. They may not eat everything I prepare, but they're not rude about it. They haven't tried my new recipe with swiss chard yet. We're all taking baby steps though. I let them know that they can eat anything they want when we go to restaurants. And if we are guests in someone's home, I'll usually eat whatever is being served. I'm more worried about what I bring home. I'm doing pretty well with the caffeine thing too. I broke down only twice since March. Once I ordered a fountain soda Coke and another time I bought an ice coffee (not decaff - mistake!!!). My suspicions about my allergy were correct. Avoid caffeine at all costs!