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Having fostered such an interesting array of comments (here and elsewhere) with yesterday’s entry, I don’t think I can let it go just yet. What was clear to me when I wrote it might not have come through all that clearly, because of the way I expressed it. I assume that I overassumed and therefore underexplained. You can’t see inside my head, right? (You can’t, right?)
Anyway, lest anyone think otherwise, I’m planning on a four-week trial of a vegan diet. That doesn’t mean a full-on animal worshiping lifestyle. I reserve the right to sit in my leather chair, and I have no intention of seeking a truce in my war against ants and houseflies. This is all about me, and my body and what I put into it. As much as I respect animals, this isn’t a spiritual exercise on my part (although I admire those who live the total vegan lifestyle).
The diet I mentioned asks me to give up meat, eggs and dairy. It doesn’t demand anything. It also asks that I give preference to brown sugar over refined white sugar, and whole grains over processed flours. It wants me to try to avoid oils (which are 100% fat) as much as possible. It suggests in the strongest possible terms that I read labels carefully and avoid foods that get over 25% of their calories from fat. (And it tells how to figure this percentage from the meager information on the packaging.)
What the diet doesn’t ask me to do is make anyone else uncomfortable. It doesn’t need me to feel superior to anyone else on account of my choice, or to make them feel anything at all about it. And even if I did feel superior, I certainly would deny it. (You can’t read my mind, right?) | 
