She Went Vegan - Oh, Man!

A few years ago, I was in grad school.  It was a transpersonal (or spiritually based) perspective on psychology.  Therefore, the students had a wide variety of backgrounds from across the globe.  In this brief article I am only going to mention the eating habits vs. all of the other differences, but that was a big one in of itself.  

For most of my life, I have said I could do without meat - I could be a vegetarian.  But, growing up in the midwest in a small town I wasn't around people who had a plant based diet.  We were taught that we had to eat meat to get our protein.  Well, after growing deep and meaningful relationships with new people who were serious vegetarians, vegans, and raw vegans I easily made the decision to go vegetarian.  That means I no longer ate meat - no red meat, no chicken, no turkey, no fish.  It was pretty easy for me, but since my sons and husband were still carnivorous it made preparing meals a bit more challenging.  I made it for about a year, then I gave in and reverted back.  

About a month ago I finally got around to watching Forks Over Knives.  Well, that was that.  I immediately decided to go back to being vegetarian.  Then I did a little more research and come to understand the unhealthy properties of dairy including the addictive properties in cheese.  Within a couple of days, my son (a senior in high school), my youngest son and I all decided to go vegan.  Time to watch Vegucated :) 

Now, hubby hasn't gone vegan.  He doesn't mind eating vegan meals with us, but also wants meat a couple of times a week.  And, I will admit that at this point we are not vigilant with our veganism.  Though we are adamantly vegetarian, we still give in and allow a bit of eggs or milk or cheese into our diets.  But, for the most part my sons and I are vegan.  

What does this have to do with relationships?  Well, we need to support our partners even when their choices are very different from our own.  Just because I am convinced that animal protein is exceptionally bad for our health I am not going to condemn my husband (or my friends for that matter) because he chooses to still eat it.  And, he supports me and the boys even when that means the food choices in the house are A LOT different than he has been used to.  

Doesn't matter if your differences are about your diet or about your taste in music or whether you like the house hot or cold - you need to find ways to compromise and honor and respect each other. 

Looking forward to yummy bean burritos tonight (nope - no cheese),

Janelle Alex, Ph.D.

Photo credit: © Liddy Hansdottir - Fotolia.com  

Find new recipes!

As a couple we get into the patter of cooking the same things over and over. Remember the days where each day had a title as to what you were going to eat. Meatloaf Monday, Taco Tuesday, ...

Well just as you need spice in your relationship you need it in your diet also. Nowadays new and exciting dishes are just a click away using the internet. Find a website that you both like that has a variety of recipes for several different types of cuisine. Take turns picking out something that sounds wonderful to you and make a list of six new dishes. Then make it a point to try these dishes our during the next month. After 6 months of doing this you will have tried 36 new dishes. They don't have to be ones that take all day to cook find websites that have simple meals that busy people can prepare in no time. Now it becomes a challenge to find new and exciting recipes to out do each other. Grade each recipe after you have consumed the meal and anything with a low score toss out. Ones you give high marks you can store or put into your meal rotation. Now forget about boring Meatloaf Mondays and starting thinking of your meals as an adventure in taste.

Start your day off together at the breakfast table.

For most couples the start of the morning is hectic and a rush to get ready for work. You can break that tradition and get a more relaxed start to your day by getting up a little earlier and enjoying a small breakfast together. This will help get your relationship and day off to a much better start. It doesn't matter if you eat at home or go out the important part is you spend the time together in a relaxed state, talking and conversing with the person you love. This will help you get a much better start to the day then just jumping up and going. Sure no one wants to get up earlier but think about how it will change your day leaving for work in a relax state compared to one of disarray. The thing you have to remember is to spend the time together, not reading the paper or watching television. I want actual time spend talking or maybe just holding hands while you are eating. Take turns clearing the dishes while the other person hops in the shower or heck forget the dishes and shower together. Love and passion are one of the greatest gifts we are given so don't waste time avoiding them, dive in and get all you can.

Take advantage of 2 for meals

A great way to enjoy a evening out without breaking the bank is to take advantage of the current craze of the all inclusive meals. Several restaurants around are offering a complete meal for $20. Now that is a value for a night out. Now of coarse any drinks are extra, but recently my wife and I went to Chili's and we quite surprised at what we got for $20. We went away feeling full and had enough food left over to eat it for supper that night. Some of the other we went to had scaled down versions of their meals but not Chili's these were full portions. I almost felt kinda guilty getting our meal for this amount. Needless to say we were please and will return to try something different. Not only to toot Chili's horn but you need to look around and check out the specials if it works for you why not save a little money, if you feel bad leave a huge tip like I did.

Click on the title of this post to go to Chili's web site to see what they offer on their $20 special.