Confession Time

As a vegetarian or vegan, it's totally natural to slip up from time to time whether accidentally or intentionally. It's super important to move past those things and learn from them which is something I've always done. In my life, I've had less than 5 slip ups since becoming a vegetarian and one of them was in the past two weeks. Let me explain. . .

I met up with one of my very best friends and we decided to go out for Mexican food which is something that we both thoroughly enjoy doing. As always, we ordered a plethora of appetizers along with our mains knowing darned well we wouldn't finish everything but our eyes are often larger than our stomachs. Anyhow, I was enjoying my food when a plate of the most scrumptious looking fish tacos was placed before her and I caught myself craving a taste. What was I to do?

I had told myself that once I had arrived in Ireland, I was definitely going to try authentic fish and chips and these fish tacos sitting before me would be the perfect opportunity to test the waters. As I struggled with myself for a few minutes, I decided to ask my friend to take a bite of one of her tacos and she happily agreed. As of that moment, it had probably been close to 5 years since I last took a taste of fish (16 since I last ate any kind of meat) so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I grabbed one of the tacos, cocked my neck sideways, and took a pretty large bite hoping for this magical experience. Needless to say, the opposite thing happened.

As the fish hit the inside of my mouth, I froze after taking the first chew. The texture threw me off immediately because of its fleshiness and the smell / flavour of fish was way too much for my palette to handle. I was barely able to chew and felt like my body was rejecting the bite of fish I had taken. 

This was a major lesson learned for me. I somehow though eating fish and chips in Ireland was this life changing event but after this taco debacle, I realized that was the silliest thing I could've convinced myself of. Why did I need to eat fish and chips to get the Irish experience? I felt so silly after taking a bite of that fish taco, I knew darned well I didn't want to eat fish anymore but was able to convince myself in that split second that it was what I wanted. 

What's the moral of this story? Slip ups happen! Embrace them, recognize them, and move forward. I realized very quickly after that taco that I was never going to eat meat or fish again. I needed that to happen to remind myself why I was a vegetarian. It definitely helped put things into perspective. I won't be eating fish and chips in Ireland and I'm not missing a darned thing. I have chosen to give up on eating fish and that's something I'm proud of. Slip ups happen and this was just what I needed!

Embrace your mistakes and move forward from them! Everyone slips up, it's totally natural! I definitely learned from this and feel better for it!

HAPPY VEG