I'm going to be a vegetarian forever. Anytime someone scares me away from the lifestyle (like when I go to the doctor) I go look it up online and am immediately flooded with information, of study after study- how what I'm doing is the best thing for my body! It's not so much about meat as it is about milk.

I have a new friend who is a general practitioner- or was before she moved here- and the first thing she says to me when I tell her we don't drink milk is, "Where do your kids get their calcium?" I cringe inside. I want to say, "Where does YOUR kid get calcium? Trust me, it's not from his sippy cup!" But I just mumble, "Spinach and other things. We eat healthy." And then we pass through the awkwardness.

Every time we go to the doctor I go through this. But usually I just omit that we don't drink milk and they go ON and ON and ON about my kids calcium needs and they get it the most through MILK. And I just nod my head and think, "Whatever, I'm not going to do this."

But today we went to the doctor, and I actually really really liked him. Brighton has hardly gained any weight since we moved, though he's definitely grown in height, he's just getting skinnier. I was a little worried, but he said all we need to do is up his calories and he sees it all the time. Kids get more active but eat the same amount so they lose weight.

Then we had a major talk of milk. And for the first time, because I was a little more vocal, he sensed my "against-ness", for lack of a better word, and he just plain asked me. So I told him that we limit dairy because I think it's bad for our health. Or something. But he went on and on and ON about calcium and bone growth and osteoporosis and how NOW is the time. That kids build all these things in their bodies NOW and it's not later. Later is too late. He went on forever and was starting to convince me- not to go CRAZY, but to have them eat more dairy.

I went home feeling convinced but strange. Then I thought, "I've researched a lot. That's how I came to our diet, now. But I feel confused and can't remember all the reasons why now." So I went to my lovely computer and started reading.

And I learned some new things.

95% of your calcium is IN your bones. It's already there. You LOSE calcium, when you pee, poo, sweat, and something else. The best way to keep your bones is to lose LESS calcium, not GAIN more. Eat calcium rich foods, go outside and get vitamin D so your body will ABSORB it, but it's really about RETAINING calcium that's really gonna get you somewhere. Guess how you retain it? Stay away from animal products. Protein rich foods make acid happen in your body and your body take calcium to neutralize it and then you pee it all out and lose that calcium. So if you eat less protein, you lose less calcium. So if you eat a lot of meat or chug a lot of milk, your body is using up a lot of it's calcium.

I never knew this. So fascinating.

Before I knew this, I was convinced by the studies. Countries and cultures that eat consume the least animal protein have the lowest rates of osteoporosis and all us westerners have the highest. So it kinda makes your brain go "Duh!" but now I have some science behind it.

So immediately I felt relief and decided to stay with our diet. Which is between a veggie and a vegan. We eat eggs, cheese and yogurt. But less and less eggs and cheese as time passes. So I guess we're more like veggies who don't drink milk. ANYWAY.

Above all this, for me- it just feels right. I feel in my heart this is what we're supposed to do. The only times I go against it, is if I think my kids aren't getting enough calories and are starving and they just need something fast, so they don't starve while I prepare a meal.

INTERESTING. One article I read said that SOUR CREAM and YOGURT (good yogurt) are not acidic and therefor, your body isn't losing calcium from consuming them. So there you go. Yogurt is apparently good for you. I have no idea what's in the yogurt we're eating- it's definitely not sweetened!

Anyway, blah blah. I found it all very interesting and I hadn't researched food since we moved and it was a little exhilarating. If I were to go back to school I would major in nutrition. I love it.

Side note- after our little discussion about food and health, we sit outside the doctor's and I give the kids chocolate, because they just had shots and I thought, "If the doctor sees me stuffing their faces with chocolate after I said I was hesitant about giving them flouride, I'm going to feel like an idiot." I never said I was perfect.

Greg and I came across this (he loves Ted Talks on Netflix) and I just LOVED IT. Quick, to the point and I thought he said a lot with few words. This is basically our lifestyle and I wish everyone would do it. It's only a few minutes and I think it's a genius idea.



By the way- this isn't me trying to convince everyone to be vegetarian or anything. I was just a little exasperated at my doctor visit and needed to vent my thoughts a little.