“I don't want the cheese, I just want to get out of the trap”

-Spanish Proverb

I used to always say…I’ll never be a vegetarian, I like (insert meal of the night here).

Then I became a vegetarian and found even better meals that were healthier for me, the animals, and the environment.

I used to always say…I’ll never be a vegan, I like cheese too much.

Then I became an experimental vegan (trying it out through August, hopefully continuing after) and found that I haven’t missed cheese at all. Adding delicious avocado to my salad, or creamy hummus, who needs cheese, my taste buds and belly are happy.

It’s not about what you take away from your diet, it’s about what you include in your diet. I think that is where most people lose interest or think it will be too hard.

Over the weekend when I spoke with my family about my decision (which I will go into more detail in another post) the big thing each one said was how they could never give up cheese, eggs, bacon, etc. My mom’s big one was blue cheese. She exclaimed how she could not live with out blue cheese. The funny thing is, she doesn’t eat it all that often as it is. Why not find a new favorite food. There are plenty of choices out there to explore. In fact, I think she eats more avocado than cheese, and she always enjoys the avocado with full appreciation. She also buys more hummus varieties, than varieties of cheese to keep in the fridge for appetizers or snacks. I think that her giving up her beloved cheese would be easier than she would expect.

Yes, I used to eat cheese, and yes I used to enjoy it. The Spanish Proverb above, “I don’t want the cheese, I just want out of the trap” I thought was very fitting. I, like my mother, was in a trap. I don’t want to preach on this blog about the harm that is caused to animals, which is a huge reason for me to try to be vegan, so I am leaving out a few opinions here about what I feel the carnivore trap is. Basically the trap to me is continuing to eat in a way that harms animals so I can enjoy my cheese. Now, I don’t want that cheese, I want out of that trap. The cheese is not worth it to me. Some people still want the cheese, and will stay in the trap to enjoy that cheese. That is fine, that is their choice, we all have different opinions.

Do you want the cheese? What is your favorite kind of cheese? What is the one thing you feel like you couldn’t give up to be ve(getari)an?

I’ll answer. I used to always want the cheese, now, I am happy with out it. My favorite kind of cheese was goat cheese, especially the wonderful varieties from Trader Joe's. I used to buy the medallions like they were magical. The one thing I thought I couldn’t give up was always cheese.