when i was in 8th grade, i read an article in "sassy" magazine about 2 actresses who had lost weight by not eating meat and drinking lots of water. i wasn't really chubby, but my mom always gave me a hard time about my weight. so i decided to follow their lead and become a vegetarian. my parents didn't understand at the time why i would choose not to eat meat. they were raised in post-war korea, where meat was scarce, something only the rich ate. and after we moved to the US, they took advantage of the abundance and accessibility of meat. i never was a big meat eater, so it wasn't that hard for me to make the switch. but still, my parents didn't get it, so they were always saying things like "why don't you just eat a little bit." i stayed a vegetarian til i was a junior in high school, when i slowly started reincorporating chicken and fish to my diet, and eventually beef and pork (which i hardly eat).

shortly after R was born, W was doing some reading and decided he wanted to go on a plant based diet, the health reasons. well, i wasn't about to make 2 dinners every night, so i followed his lead. but the thing that really got me not wanting to eat meat was reading the book skinny bitch. now, the thought of eating meat kinda grosses me out. i don't consider myself a vegetarian, cuz i still eat fish (i'd rather die than give up eating sushi...oh, spicy tuna roll, how i love thee). and i figure, if i really want some meat, i'm gonna eat it. what's the point of depriving myself of something i really want??? but oddly enough, i haven't had any urge to eat meat, and it's been a good 5 months. altho sometimes i think about eating some mango habanero wings from buffalo wild wings. :)

the hardest thing to give up has been dairy. not so much the milk, but the cheese and yogurt! and ice cream!!! i stopped eating and drinking dairy when i had R, cuz the nursing book i was reading suggested it, due to milk allergies in infants. well, when R started having eczema issues, i not only gave up all dairy, but also wheat and nuts. yikes!!! i'll be really happy when i wean him. REALLY happy. but it's a small sacrifice to give my baby the best start at life. but seriously, i can't wait to have a big slice of cheese pizza...YUM.

so my favorite new food discoveries that i love are:
hemp milk (especially chocolate...soooo creamy and delicious!)
hemp seeds (tons of protein, great with oatmeal)
rice dream frozen dessert (mint pie...think it's its!! soooo good!)
rice chips...my favorite is made by a local company, rice and adzuki bean chips...soooo good!!
quinoa...pronouned "keen-wah", it's a protein packed grain much like couscous.

okay, must go finish my glass of chocolate rice dream. :)