Could You Be an Undercover Vegetarian?
The start of a new year can be a magnificent time to reflect and asses where your life is at and start taking steps to make this year better than the last. Not everyone likes new years resolutions and often I have found about 2 weeks into the year they have gone straight out the window. So I want to take this opportunity to share a story about a year when my wife Erinn and I conspired to approach things differently and have a bit of fun with the process.
We had just been floating down the Murray River on the Albury Wodonga border on new years eve about ten years ago when the idea came to me. What if Erinn and I could make a significant change for a whole year without anyone else noticing? It was a little bit left of centre but Erinn was on board so we started to hatch our plan for the year ahead.
I have never had any desire whatsoever to become a vegetarian, however, Erinn for a long time had had reservations about eating meat but was just not sure how to make the change. What if we both gave it a go together? I really did not like my chances of sticking to becoming a vegetarian for a short time, let alone a whole year so I needed to make the goal more realistic.
That was when it dawned on me that we could make significant change without me needing to put a line through eating meat altogether. We would become ‘undercover vegetarians’. What is an undercover vegetarian you may ask, well by my definition it meant that when we had complete control of what we were eating, we would be vegetarian. For example, when we would be eating at home by ourselves we would be vegetarian & when we were eating at restaurants we would choose the vegetarian option. If we were guests of others in their houses or at functions, we would eat the food we were served without making a fuss.
It was like I had won the lottery on New Years Day when we were invited to a bbq with the rules allowing me to load up on the meat that was on offer. It highlighted the silver lining of the rules that permitted meat in this context. Once life got into its regular rhythm, both Erinn and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and it was a lot of fun.
Our eating habits changed and every time our eyes met when we were served meat as guests of others we would have a cheeky smile that conveyed delight in the secret plan we were executing.
What started out as a bit of fun actually taught me a lot about the process of making significant change. The following were the key reasons that this crazy idea worked and had a positive impact on my relationship with my wife and our general well being.
We were intrinsically motivated
Erinn and I were both intrinsically motivated to achieve our goal. I was motivated by the whole idea of it being a secret and that it was essentially a very elaborate in joke with my wife. Also I was motivated by the fact that I knew Erinn liked the idea of eating less meat (she is now a full time vegetarian) and I thought this would be a good way to affirm her in this choice.
The rules made our goal achievable
If I had decided to go without eating meat for a full year with no exceptions, this would have not been achievable for me at the time. It would have backfired, so to have the option of eating meat from time to time with others was what made it a realistic goal for me.
Having a partner in crime kept us going
Having a partner in crime is a massive help in motivating you to achieve your goals. Erinn was the perfect partner in crime for this one as she enjoyed the deeper connection of working towards something together. We had a lot of fun along the way and still look back and reflect on how enjoyable the year was.
The whole experience of being an ‘undercover vegetarian’ was positive for me and was a reminder that you can make significant change and have some fun in the process.
Could you be an undercover vegetarian?
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