As a kid I got queasy watching my mom’s hands squish raw hamburger and egg, though I enjoyed the final product: meatloaf smothered in ketchup and brown sugar. As a teen cashier at Gordy’s IGA, my stomach roiled each time I walked through the back of the butcher shop on my way to the tiny breakroom. Of course, I always knew that roasts in our fridge came from cows, but I never had to look at hanging sides of bloody beef until my first grocery store job. I’ve been a vegetarian on and off since then, about 40 years now.

In my 30s I experienced low blood sugar, so finding a combination of plant protein and complex carbohydrates was tricky. I finally realized my body responds best to eating small meals every three hours. Long before trendy “meal prep” tips flooded social media and making ahead accoutrement became a $2.7 billion industry, I packed my own lunch and planned out my family’s suppers. My husband teases me about the amount of “lunch” I take to work. I’m gone for nine hours; that’s a lot of empty containers to bring home each night. Vegetarians consume piles of healthy food. The American Heart Association recommends five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. I generally eat two or three times that amount.

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 Once at a dinner party – with friends who knew I’m vegetarian – I said about the soup, “I can’t quite identify this vegetable.” I held the white cube on my spoon. “Oh, that’s chicken,” the host responded.

PATTI SEE

A plant-based diet makes muscles more efficient and speeds workout recovery by lowering inflammation. Vegetarians tend to weigh less than meat-eaters, and we have lower cancer rates in part because our meals tend to be higher in fiber and lower in saturated fat. Statistically, we live longer. It doesn’t just feel that way because we’re craving Big Macs all the time.

My dad was a carnivore for all of his 93 years, and he thought meat cured what ails you. Each time I had a cold or even just looked a little pale, he’d ask, “When’s the last time you ate a steak?”

A vegan health teacher I know used to promote how plant-based meals allow better blood flow to any destination. Some middle school students blushed when they realized Mr. A was talking not only about health benefits for vegans and vegetarians but their better erections. Just two hours after eating a heavy animal-based meal, arteries can constrict by 40%; a plant-based meal of the same calories allows blood to move freely through arteries.

 I don’t want anyone to cater to my diet, though I like to recognize what I’m eating. Once at a dinner party – with friends who knew I’m vegetarian – I said about the soup, “I can’t quite identify this vegetable.” I held the white cube on my spoon. “Oh, that’s chicken,” the host responded. I discretely ate around this “new” vegetable. 

 We all know people who are gluten or lactose intolerant, and their quality of life depends upon eliminating those foods. I opt not to eat meat, but I’ve never been hardcore or forced my choice on others. I’m a vegetarian who loves winning brats at tavern meat raffles. And I make my family fall-off-the-bone ribs and rare ribeye. I’m also an ex-smoker who will light your cigarette.

 I lay off meat because I don’t like the texture or what it could do to my body. Technically, since I occasionally consume some seafood, I’m considered a pescatarian. But I don’t need to sound any weirder than I am.