At the weekend (or even during the week), there’s one thing every single one of us loves to do and that is sofa surfing. Even for a couple of hours, we relish in the ability to just curl up, chill out, and watch tv. It becomes somewhat, therapeutic – something each of us cherishes now that we all have crazy work-filled lives. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mum, a young professional or have been working for years – there’s nothing better than coming home, sitting on the sofa and relaxing after a long day or even a long week.
This time, my weekend of sofa-surfing (I’m starting to become obsessed with this phrase today – it may only last today however, so please excuse me) was filled with some educational documentaries. The kind that you stumble across on the TV but gross you out so much that you change channels immediately, thus proving our inability to accept change. But I’m at the stage in my life where I feel the need to change – change what I eat and my daily routine. I always felt sluggish and bloated – the lack of energy or ability to wake up in the morning was killing me. But the one thing that was worst for me, was that food was not exciting anymore – everything seemed to make me feel sick or bloated or tired. Almost like the feeling that you get when you’ve gone to a buffet lunch and eaten your fill and the fill of 10 others (oh come on, admit it, you’ve done that at least once in your lifetime – there’s no sense hiding it from yourself!)
The two documentaries I watched were Earthlings and Forks over Knives. Now if you have any sense of compassion or are a lover of meat or simply want to remain ignorant about the way in which animals are treated in the production of both meat and dairy products then I suggest you don’t watch it. But it is an incredible eye-opener. I must admit, I couldn’t watch more than about 10 minutes at a time – I was disgusted and now various images are ingrained in my head – hopefully for a lifetime.
The documentary begins with a simple definition of Earthlings : One who inhabits the planet earth – this is not limited to humans, but also includes every living being from insects all the way through to reptiles and mammals of all kinds. Once you grasp this basic understanding, it then moves on to discuss racism and speciesism in particular. The way in which humans are unbelievably dependant on animals, for everything from food, to clothing, entertainment and scientific research. It provides an in-depth study of the way in which we humans treat animals and use them to benefit ourselves. It was deeply insightful – and something that would put almost anyone off eating meat for anywhere from a day, to a lifetime. Let me tell you that even a day of not eating meat would be beneficial to you in ways you couldn’t imagine. The full version of Earthlings is available on youtube..
Forks over Knives was a definite compliment to watching Earthlings. Discussing in great detail about how there is scientific evidence to prove that a completely plant based diet has effects on reducing diabetes, cancer and heart disease. The documentary goes on to say how processed foods are far more calorie dense than natural foods, for example, 500 calories of veggies would fill your tummy completely and signal to your brain that it’s full, but 500 calories of meat would only fill your tummy to 50% and 500 calories of fat would have little or no effect in signalling your brain that your tummy is full because it feels like it is empty.
To conclude my sofa-surfing post which proved to be incredibly educational..my favourite quote from Forks over Knives:
Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food. -Hippocrates
Are you there, Soy? It's me, Vegan 