KRISTY BERRIDGE

To be health conscious these days is to be super trendy and it’s amazing how many people are on the bandwagon and just exactly how many people have an opinion regarding your choices.

Take me for example, I have recently turned Vegan. To those uncertain of this term, it means I no longer eat any animal products; i.e. meat and dairy. It’s simply gobsmacking how many people have enquired into my general well-being and if my funeral will be announced anytime in the near future. I mean really, just because I’m not ingesting a cow or scarfing a pound of butter a day does not mean I will die. Rest assured, I did not become a Vegan to save the animals, make daisy chains and spread messages of peace and love, I turned to this alternate form of eating because I’d become a bloated, gassy mess with bad skin.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no cover model now, but I’m definitely better off for making the decision to change my lifestyle and eating habits. Interestingly enough, it really does seem to bother some people I encounter. My mother initially worried because my bones would break and my hair would fall out. My dad worried we’d never eat at our favourite steak restaurant again and The Cockney thought the refrigerator would be incessantly stocked with Tofu and black beans. I understand these concerns because these are the people that love me and want to make sure we still dine out regularly, I don’t fall to pieces if I crash-dive down a set of stairs or that Sunday dinners at home still include a dead animal roasted and stuffed with trimmings.

Funnily enough it’s strangers and work colleagues that give me the most unwarranted feedback concerning my personal health journey. It seems that when you open your lunch box and salad looms behind the lid that you must be crash-dieting or if you ask a waiter to make simple amendments to an order, you’re forced to endure the eye rolls of impatience.

Since becoming Vegan I’ve often wondered if this sort of treatment is prevalent to many different minority groups. For instance; do the Jewish cop shit about their curly beards and crazy sideburns? I suspect there is always someone suppressing their desire to high-five someone in the face with a chair for constantly scrutinising their chosen way of life. The lesson to be learned is tolerance. I will learn to be tolerant of overly-opinionated dropkicks because there is no way in hell that said drongos are ever going to stop freedom of speech and vocally distributing their biased thoughts. I guess in some ways you do have respect the confidence supporting these views, even if sometimes you just want to eat your damn lettuce in peace!

Kristy J