Beat That Meat!

Last September, I committed to getting back my fantasy bod, and I felt like my workout and eating routines were really paying off in December. Then, recently, I reached a crossroads.

Actually, it was more like a plateau.

Like Fergie, "I be working on my fitness," and I put a lot of thought into finding new challenges for my body --- interval and resistance training and lots of cardio. I find successful results in the gym, so I decided my workouts couldn't be the culprit.

I turned my focus to my diet.

I am NOT a dietician, but I eat relatively healthy. Lots of spinach, lean meats, fish, apples, prunes (I love prunes). 4 Subways are within a 1.5 mile radius of my house, so I "Eat Fresh, For Less" a LOT. Cannot lie, though...I allow myself several cheat sweets throughout the week but always in moderation. And definitely nothing my 60 minute cardio workouts can't keep under control.

Then a friend suggested I give up red meat. I don't eat red meat that often, so that sacrifice was a non-factor to me. But I am Black and from the south, so you know what that means - I eat a helluva lot of chicken.

Could chicken be the culprit!?! Yikes!

For 10 days at the beginning of March, I gave up meat. But I didn't notice a change in my weight, shape, or in how I felt. So I said, "Bring on the grilled chicken dish, with a side salad, sprinkled with low fat bacon bits!"

Then just like in the movies when a fairy godmother senses pending destruction, the Omnivore Gods were rallied and sent to stage an intervention in my life.

Within 5 days, I was bombarded with the following:

• www.meetyourmeat.com (recommended by my linesister, Crystal)
• Oprah's 7 Day Vegan Challenge
• Food, Inc. (foodincmovie.com)
• Erin Lanahan Method YouTube Vlog about Demystifying Workout and Eating Myths

Meetyourmeat.com graphically reveals the inhumane and shockingly unsanitary living conditions endured by pigs, chickens, and cows before they make it to our dinner plates.

Oprah's Vegan Challenge follows her staff as they give up all things animal for a week. Several Oprah staffers lost some major LBs doing this!

The Food, Inc. documentary exposes how profit - not consumer health - dictates most of the food and farming industry practices.

And my colleague and fitness guru, Erin Lanahan's vlog explains how eating meat can be counterproductive to fitness goals as your body's fat cells store toxins and hormones found in much of the meat we consume.

Yes. I was extremely overwhelmed at the amount of food information that was thrown at me in such a short time period, but I knew there was some lesson to be learned. I couldn't ignore the signs.

I'm not going to spoil it for you because I really, really want you to watch the links I provided.

However, I will say this. In my effort to become more educated about my diet habits, I have been shocked into an entirely new way of thinking about my food choices.

I am not okay with knowing that chickens are genetically redesigned to have bigger breasts just because white meat is the consumer's favorite part. It bothers me that pigs have intelligence levels comparable to that of 3 year old children, yet instead of letting them have some level of dignity, many farmers use bulldozers to move pigs around their property.

It's troubling to know that, thousands of meat packing workers are often underpaid, mistreated and sometimes, are illegal to work in the US. The last thing I want to do is eat meat - in all its bacteria-filled glory- that was packaged at a plant where workers could care less about the job they're doing.

This time around, I've given up meaty "goodness," not for weight reasons but for health reasons.

I'm on Day 7 of meat abstinence.

Don't mistake this post for my "holier than thou," meat-is-for-losers message. That's not my intention. I've been enlightened a bit about what exactly it means to my body to eat meat, so I'm embarking on a new journey-- one which I suspect will be full of relapses as temptation and old habits rear their ugly heads. Meat and I have been best buds for 20 plus years now, so anything could happen ;-)

But just like we're educated on the dangers of smoking or of alcohol consumption, such should be the case for meat consumption.

We owe it to ourselves know.