Storytime: The Time I Ate The Sauce

Hello everyone,

As I discussed in my previous post, How-To: Commit To A Vegetarian Diet, I am vegetarian. For those of you who've tried or are trying to transition, you know the struggle. In my case, I have an Italian stepdad who loves to cook. Of course, with my luck, his favorite food is what? Meat.

So one time, my beloved stepdad decided to make "Vegetarian Pasta" for my mother and I. I was so thrilled that I didn't have to break his heart again by denying his food. Not only was I happy that I didn't have to break my stepdad's heart for the millionth time, I was also happy because my new lifestyle finally got through to him.

I was so overjoyed that I offered my help in the kitchen. This is something I don't do. I simply don't belong in the kitchen. If I'm in the kitchen, it's either because I'm making coffee, a sandwich, or I'm trying to look for something sweet. Other than that, no thank you.

Anyways, my stepdad was pretty shocked. He took some time to think this over. Finally, he agreed to my assistance. I was assigned to stir the sauce. Slowly but surely, I started to feel like a world renowned chef with my stirrer. The sauce began to smell better than I felt, wonderful. At this point, my mouth was watering and I began to grow impatient. When was the stirring going to end?

The time finally came when he told me to stop. I was mentally and physically prepared to gain five pounds. Then, the most disappointing, most baffling moment happened. It was almost like it happened in slow motion...

He threw, in my beloved sauce, pounds of beef. How many pounds? I will never know. What I do know is, feelings of devastation overthrew me.

I thought to myself, "What do I do now?? I worked so hard on that sauce! He's going to kill me if I say no... I have to stick to my beliefs... maybe I can say I'm allergic to garlic... no, he just witnessed me witnessing him put in the garlic... I'll just tell him I'm not feeling good... crap, he just asked me to try the sauce... oh god, this is it, this is when it falls apart..."

Well, what do you know? I tried the sauce. Did I want to? No. Did I have to? That's debatable. Truth is, I had two choices:

1. Say no to eating the sauce and lose my stepdad's love forever 

or

2. Eat the sauce. Make him happy. Repent. Repent. Repent.

Moral of the story: Changing your diet takes time. You will not perfect it overnight. Things happen. It's okay. It's not the end of the world and it's certainly not the end of your journey to commit to your diet.

Life goes on. You and I are still amazing.

Until next time!

Nala