从一年的素食主义学到的5条哲理

小圆

从一年的素食主义学到的5条哲理

For the last year, I’ve been on a vegetarian diet. I didn’t eat any meat (except for fish very occasionally) and based my diet on vegetables, rice and many other kinds of plant based foods. I made the switch by gradually reducing my meat intake during summer last year so that by the time I moved to uni, I didn’t have any problems cutting it out. Since I cooked for myself, it was very easy to buy ingredients and make whatever I wanted to eat (or not to eat).
过去的一年我一直是素食的。我一点肉都没有吃（除了偶尔吃点鱼肉），日常饮食以蔬菜、大米和许多其他种类的种植食物为主。去年夏天我渐渐的减少肉类的进食因此到大学报到时，我已经没有任何问题的戒掉了。自从自己做饭，我很容易能买到原料和做任何我想吃的（或不想吃的）。

However, unfortunately, once I fly for my year abroad, I will have to give it up. The reason why I can’t continue to be a vegetarian (as much as I would love to) is because it would impose a lot of difficulty on my host family. I think it would be too hard for my them to prepare a separate meal for me every single day in a country that pretty much bases its food pyramid on rice, fish and beef. I will try my best to eat as little meat as I can, but I also don’t want to ‘miss out’ on some cultural experiences.

然而，不幸的是，一旦我要飞到国外一年将不得不放弃素食。我之所以不能继续当一个素食主义者是因为这将会给我的寄宿家庭制造很多麻烦。我觉得让他们每天为我准备单独的食物不太容易，尤其是他们住在一个食物结构以大米、鱼肉和牛肉为主的国家。我会尽力少吃肉类，但是我也不想错过一些特殊的文化体验。

Just a quick note, I’m not trying to convert anyone and I’m not saying eating meat is evil or any of that stuff. I’m simply just reflecting on the few things that I learned during my year of being a veggie.

仅仅是一个简短的说明，我不是要试图转变每个人也不是说吃肉就是罪恶的或其他类似的东西。我只是针对我一年的素食主义者体验来说一些感想。

lessons from the humble veg

1. Everyone has their reasons. I didn’t really tell anyone I was a vegetarian unless it was necessary, such as when they were making me dinner, or we if were going out for one. This was because if there’s one thing I can guarantee it’s that as soon as I tell somebody, the first thing they’ll say is “why!?“, after which I have to give my much rehearsed spiel of “it’s a combination of mostly health for me, but I also care a lot about the animals and the environment…” and so on. I’ve said it so many times that I wish people would just say something like “okay, cool” as if I had said “I don’t like the color pink” and be done with it.
I’ve learned that although I should be grateful that people are interested, many people simply just like to question your reasons instead of accepting what is.

1. 每个人都有自己的原因。除非是必要时，例如他们在为我做饭，或我们要出去吃时，我不会告诉任何人我是个素食主义者。这是因为我敢保证只要告诉他们，第一件事他们就会问“为什么？”，这之后我就要高谈阔论一些“这主要是为了我的健康着想，但是我也关注动物和环境…”等等之类的话。我已经说过太多次这样的话了所以我希望大家就说些“好啊，很酷啊”之类我喜欢的话，仿佛我已经说过“我不喜欢粉红色”之后那样自然的接受。
我知道尽管应该感谢人们还是感兴趣的，但是很多人只是喜欢询问你的理由而不是接受它。

2. Not everybody will understand. I used to like to eat meat, but I didn’t love it so much that I would defend it to my death. In the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect when people found out, but now I know that there are some who find it very hard to just be respectful about it. Some people were fine, they would ask me if it was okay for them to eat meat in front of me (to which I replied ‘I don’t care about other people, just that I didn’t eat it’). But some acted like I was trying to convert them or something and would immediately go on the defensive about it. “But those animals wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for us!“. “It’s not our fault we’re on the top of the food chain!“. “But don’t you need meat for protein!?“. At first I would argue that all of these reasons were pretty much invalid but in the end I just gave up having debates everyday before my dinner and just let it go.
I’ve learned that some people, rather than be understanding, respectful or even tolerable about it, would rather argue their own point to justify their meat eating.

2.不是每个人都会理解。我过去喜欢吃肉，但是我没有喜欢到死。开始，我不知道当大家发现时我要期待什么，但是现在我知道有些事情是人们努力去发现仅仅是为了尊重的。有些人还好，他们会问在我面前吃肉是否合适（我会回答无所谓，我只是自己不吃）。但是有些人就好像我一定要他们也转变之类的，会立刻对它反感。“但是那些动物如果不是给我们当肉吃了就还会活着！”。“在食物链顶端不是我们人类的错。！”。“但是你不需要肉来提供蛋白质吗？”。一开始我会争论这些理由不可靠，但是最后我已经放弃每天饭前辩论了，就让它去吧。
我意识到有些人，与其让他们理解、尊重或甚至忍受它，他们更愿意强调他们的观点来证明吃肉的合理性。

3. It’s not just leaves. Now onto the good stuff. Since becoming vegetarian, I’ve learned to cook about four or five times as many different dishes than if I had stuck with meat. I learned to use different types of rice, all kinds of beans, nuts and lentils, mushrooms, vegetables I’d never tried before and lot’s of seasonal fruit. I would have probably missed out on easy and quick ways to put together salads, soups, pastas and entire courses if I’d just stuffed myself with a burger and chips. As a bit of a foodie, all of these lessons were absolutely enlightening. (Also, yes, I did lose a lot of weight )
I’ve learned a lot about my body, what constitutes a healthy diet and about preparing food in general.

3. 不仅是树叶。谈到好的方面。自从成为一个素食主义者，我已经比以前吃肉的时候更会烹饪不同的菜色。我学会运用不同的米、大豆、坚果、扁豆、蘑菇、蔬菜。我以前从未尝试过而且还有很多季节性的水果。如果我只是整天吃汉堡和薯条，我很可能已经错过这些简单快速做沙拉、汤、意大利面的方法和整个的过程。作为一个小小的美食家，所有的这些理由都是绝对有启发的。（而且我确实减了不少体重）
总之，我更了解了我的身体以及一个健康的食谱包含什么还有如何准备食物。

4. Willpower can be amazingly strong. Personally, I have always found it difficult to resist really fattening things like chocolate, cakes and desserts. So I don’t buy them. But when they’re in the fridge for the rest of my family whilst I’m at home, it takes an absolutely enormous amount of willpower for me to resist it. When I first started to give up meat, it was a little difficult and I would almost forget sometimes. However, I’ve noticed that over time, it became easier and easier for me to resist until I got to a point where I just didn’t feel like I wanted to eat any at all. It’s very rare now that I want to eat meat, and I never have cravings for it.
I’ve learned that the way to treat cravings is to not feed them and eventually they will die. Now if only I could apply this to chocolate.

4. 意志力是无比强大的。个人来说，我发现很难拒绝会增肥的东西例如巧克力、蛋糕和点心。因此我都不买它们。但是当它们为了其他家人出现在冰箱里，而我又恰好在家时，我要用很大的意志力来抵抗它们。当我刚开始不吃肉的时候，有一点困难而且我有时会忘记。然而当刻意注意一段时间后，直到我已经到达那个主动不会想吃肉的状态抵抗起来就越来越容易了。现在我很少想吃肉而且对它已经没有渴望了。
我意识到对付欲望的绝招就是不满足它们，最后它们会自己灭亡的。现在但愿我能用这招对付巧克力。

5. Fresh and simple food is the stuff of life. Finally, I’ve learned that food isn’t something we should feel bad or guilty about. It’s fuel for the body, and fuel for the soul. It should make us feel happy and healthy. It should give us energy, not drag us down. Preparing food should be a joy, not some stressful routine we have to endure. We should eat foods as close as we can to how they’re given to us by Mother Nature, not canned, baked, boiled and fried until it’s barely recognizable.
I’ve learned to be more grateful for my food and what it really means to be closer with nature.

5. 新鲜和简单的食物是生活的本质。最后，我知道食物不是一些我们应该觉得不好或罪恶的东西。它是身体和灵魂的能量来源。它应该让我们感到开心和健康。它应该给予我们能量而不是拖垮我们。准备食物应该是个愉悦的过程，而不是我们不得不忍受的有压力的例行公事。我们要吃接近天然状态的食物而不是罐装的、烘烤的、煮沸的、油煎的，甚至都无法辨认的状态。
我已经学会感谢我的食物和它代表着的大自然。



转载自：http://www.douban.com/group/topic/47060819/

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