My university, in all of its kindness, has given those of us who live far from the main campus a great summer opportunity: free gym memberships at a gym here in town. The gym also has given us a deal on personal training: four sessions for $69. This includes working with a trainer, an evaluation of your current fitness state, and a nutrition consultation.
It’s coming to the end of my time with my trainer, and for the most part I’ve been pleased – but not pleased enough to fork over the additional money to keep the training going. Why? Aside from being a poor graduate student and how I’ll be on the main campus four days a week come August, I have the suspicion my trainer has no idea what a vegetarian is.
I’ve only recently (read: October, 2009) switched to vegetarianism. It wasn’t because I grew outraged at the slaughterhouse practices of the industry (though that now plays a minor factor); I just outgrew the taste of most meats. Fish has never appealed to me, poultry became too bland and tasteless, and the thought of a hot ham sandwich made my stomach retch. The only meat that still tempts me every now and then is beef – I’ve always loved cheeseburgers – but I gave that up, well, cold turkey (I tried avoiding it, I really did). Even though I’ve slipped a few times (recently I had a bit of Jell-O before I remembered it has gelatin – that’s horse hooves, y’know), I’ve done pretty well.
I’m what’s known as a lacto-ovo vegetarian: I only eat dairy (cheese, mostly, but I also have ice cream, yogurt, and milk) and eggs. Everything else is veggies, fruits, grains (bread, rice), and proteins (beans, tofu, peanut butter). Some vegetarians don’t eat eggs, some don’t eat dairy, and some don’t eat either. Further down the road is veganism, which is foregoing all animal products. I may get there someday but I’m just taking one day at a time.
Suffice it to say, it’s difficult at times to eat at restaurants that serve mostly meat-based dishes. Sometimes the only option is to eat French fries (which I adore, but not as a meal in and of themselves) or a salad. Other times, when I’m shopping for frozen dinners (when I’m too lazy to cook), the only vegetarian options are pasta slathered in a cream sauce, or something coated in cheese, or beans. And as a poor graduate student, getting the “organic”, “all-natural” frozen dinners, though good, is not always feasible. Vegetarians and vegans deserve a quick, cheap, and easy meal option, too!
So, anyway, the trainer. From the get-go, I told my trainer I was a vegetarian. The diet plan this gym uses is very meat-based; apparently, one can only get protein from meats or protein powder. There’s also the “carbs” part of the diet, which I can take care of just fine on my own. My trainer emailed me two recipes that were salmon-based. Face, meet palm.
Yesterday I sat down with my trainer and hashed it out with him. I had to explicitly spell out that vegetarians, under no circumstances, eat meat. If we did, we wouldn’t be vegetarians. It irks me that some people think that, if you’re a vegetarian, you can eat fish. Never mind that a vegetarian that eats fish is technically a pescetarian, but I won’t split hairs. And there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what you’re into. Since fish disgusts me, that’s out.
“But you eat eggs?” my trainer asked, somewhat perplexedly. “You eat aborted chickens?”
Head, meet desk.
I’ve thought of going vegan someday. Maybe after a few years as a vegetarian. Yes, I know what eggs are – we hatched chicks in fourth grade. But to put it in so blunt of terms was a bit shocking. It shocked me speechless, at least. I was under the impression that eggs were unfertilized chickens anyway, not aborted ones. Forgive the nasty, but it’s just like a woman’s period, am I right? Of course, I don’t have a degree in nutrition (like my trainer does), but I could possibly tell you the history of chicken farming if you’d like.
If a person wants to eat meat, by all means. It’s not my decision to enforce on others. After all, I’d want an omnivore to treat me with the same respect. And this may anger my fellow vegetarian brethren, but if I absolutely had no say in the matter and my life depended on it, I would eat meat to survive. But given the choice – and I do have one – I’ll stay vegetarian. I’ll stick with the Weight Watchers points diet (which gives me a little more faith in my ability to choose what types and how much food I can eat in a day – hey, it worked in the past!) and take a few classes at the gym until I go back to school. My goal is just to eat better and keep from getting too lazy over the summer. And I’m pretty sure I’ll do better on my own.
