Yesterday I wrote a post touting the benefits and advantages of vegetarianism and veganism. Today I’d like to share some of my own personal journey with food in response.

I grew up in a meat and potatoes home and never really even thought about vegetarianism until my wife started reading up about it several years ago. She became very moved by some of the social aspects (treatment of animals, calorie production, etc) before she really began to learn about the health benefits. After moving towards it for a while she became vegetarian a few years ago, even going raw for a while. About a year or so later I joined her and spent a year as a vegetarian before sliding back towards more traditional eating habits.

After watching Forks Over Knives though, my ass was kicked back into gear and I’m moving towards veganism again. Now, out of respect for the real vegans, I don’t want to say I’m full fledged vegan, just that I’m moving in that direction. For me, that means removing dairy and meat from my diet at home while still allowing one meal a week as a meat eater.

Now, to some, that will totally undermine my whole attempt to move away from animals, but for me that is what I feel is balanced. I don’t think meat and dairy are evil just overeaten and mass produced in unethical ways. I think a more plant oriented diet offers tremendous benefits socially and physically. I have really felt in recent months that I tend towards overeating and I eat in ways that I just don’t feel good about. I don’t feel good about meat consumption and I want to live a long, healthy life and I feel like veganism is a way to help me live with integrity.

So over the next few months I might offer updates on the blog about my journey with food and share you some of my experiences.