Confessions of a Meat Eater

I talked a little in my last post about eating vegetarian. Let me confess something to you. I hate eating vegetables. Especially cooked vegetables. My church where I used to pastor at knows this all too well. Ask them. As a boy I have terrible memories of trying to down the peas on my plate. The cooked pea is the root of all evil.

I remember years later eating Shepherd's Pie. It is meat and cooked veggies covered in mashed potatoes. I picked out all the vegetables (allegedly) and began to eat. Before I continue I believe I have a medical condition that causes my gag reflex to kick in when I eat cooked veggies; especially broccoli, cooked carrots and peas. I have had this medical anomaly as far back as I can remember. So I digress. Anyways, where were we? Right. Shepherd's Pie. So after meticulously picking out all the cooked vegetable I began the inhaling of the pie. Suddenly, deep in my throat, it happened. The day I almost died. I felt a cooked carrot way in the back of my throat and yup, you guessed it, my gag reflex kicked in. I started choking and gagging and beating my chest. I didn't taste it. No, I just felt it. Finally after what felt like eternity (approx 10 sec) I was able to swallow the food. This happened over a decade ago and has scarred me deeply.

The church I worked for on my last Sunday, one of the youth presented me with a pan of cooked veggies. They all got a kick out of that. But boy I wish they could see me now. I have pushed through my medical condition (gag reflex) and am now eating cooked vegetables, including carrots, broccoli and snow peas. And guess what else? I love it! My neighbors who have restaurants make cooked veggies in stir fry and fried rice. It is incredible. I have overcome. Sure, every once in a while I can feel the reflex wants to kick in, but then my body realizes it can make it. Perseverance. Fight. Fight.

All that to say is if I can do it, I am completely convinced anyone can do it. I even eat cabbage for Pete's sake. I am still looking for variety. It's just learning how to ask for it. While I am OK at Thai, it is still hard to communicate some things. But seriously, just keep pushing on. If this meat eater with a gag reflex can do it, so can you.