Oh, please.

First, sorry for the quietude. I had a great long weekend with family, celebrating my mother-in-law's 75th birthday. We had a house full of people and I just couldn't tear myself away. There's a lot of catching up for me to do, but in the meantime, I have to comment on this bit of stupidity:

On Monday night, Lou Dobbs did a segment on how "Meatless Monday" is being adopted by the Baltimore city school district in an effort to cut costs and get children to eat healthier food. The segment showed schoolchildren eating vegetarian chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, and CNN reported that they found no parents who objected to the policy.

The news network also noted opposition to the one-day-a-week of vegetarian food by the American Meat Institute -- a trade group that represents meat processors and packers with obvious financial interests in meat consumption. Without pointing out factors that helped fuel the initiative, such as childhood obesity and a national school budget crisis, CNN reported that the AMI is concerned that "students are being served up an unhealthy dose of indoctrination." The institute's Janet Reilly claims the policy was depriving students and parents of "choice."

Really?!? Is it the policy of the AMI that unless we feed our children meat at every single meal, we are indoctrinating them?!?!? Into what? A healthy life? People, we are talking about one single meal a week. Seriously. If children are taught that they should eat meat at every meal, the average American lifespan is going to return to something we haven't seen since the pre-industrial age. I honestly don't think I can wrap my head around how horrifyingly stupid that position would be.

So now, I'll let you all in on a little secret...

So far this year, I've lost about 40 pounds. I am, for the first time in more than a decade, at a weight the medical community considers ideal for my height and gender. I didn't go on a diet or take a pill or join Weight Watchers or buy any special meals. I also didn't deprive myself -- I eat three big meals a day, snack when I get hungry and enjoy wine with some meals and beer pretty much every evening.

I'm sorry, I don't have an elixir. I just did what has been shown, over and over again, to work: I exercise every day -- a variety of strength, core, stretching and, always, cardio (walking, running, elliptical, biking). I'm (still) cutting out as many processed foods as possible -- I'm not making my own ketchup (yet), but I do make my own bread. And I made drastic cuts in the amount of animal fats I consume -- I didn't give up meat, but I get a lot of my protein from things like beans, gluten, nuts, and high-protein grains (like quinoa) and plants (like edamame). Plant proteins tend to be much lower in fat than animal proteins. The meats I do eat are locally produced (the larger meat industry is doing themselves in with their sloppy, e. coli-enabling cost-cutting as far as I'm concerned) and lean -- mostly chicken and turkey breast, but also pork and beef, and only in moderation (maybe once or twice a week).

My diet is filling, contains a rich variety, and it appears to be healthy... I may drop dead tomorrow, but today, I feel quite good, thankyouverymuch. So, outside of my failure to eat meat at every freakin' meal, how is the meat industry going to portray me as a villain?