[speaker001:] all right you want to start out
[speaker002:] well it'll be real easy for us because we're both my husband and I are vegetarians so yeah so that's the first thing we look for is if we can eat there or not
[speaker001:] oh are you really oh are you strict vegetarians
[speaker002:] we're not vegan vegetarians we do we're ovolacto we do eat uh eggs and and milk products I used to be a complete vegan vegetarian where I didn't eat any animal products at all
[speaker001:] uh-huh um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] but um it was it's really difficult in the area if you don't have you know the products that you can get and if you go out to dinner there's virtually you know there's not a whole lot of things you can get
[speaker001:] there's very few places that you I'll bet that you could uh
[speaker002:] yeah I think maybe if you were somewhere like California where they have a lot more vegetarian restaurants and stuff but here basically you go to an Italian restaurant or you go to a Mexican restaurant you know where you can get foods that
[speaker001:] uh-huh um-hum
[speaker002:] you know where you have a little bit more variety as far as the pastas or the the corn meal you know or something
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah and you wouldn't have the meat products in that and some
[speaker002:] but yeah yeah you have to watch that too all you know some of the restaurants here they will you know like you can ask them and they'll tell you whether or not they use like lard or you know animal fat to cook with
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] so but so that's that we don't really eat out too much we we tend to eat at home and actually you know I think we we we get a have we have a healthier diet than the average person
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh how long have you been doing this
[speaker002:] um I've been a vegetarian for uh two years now my husband has been one for oh just over a year now and uh so
[speaker001:] uh-huh do you feel that it has improved the way you feel
[speaker002:] definitely and it it makes you more aware of what you're eating because you you have to be I mean you you I think you
[speaker001:] you think um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] you you balance the foods uh you know you're more aware of what nutrient you know value each thing has and minerals and you're just more aware of food for energy for energy sake
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum I always thought it would be be hard to figure out what to eat if you were a vegetarian how how
[speaker002:] well that's just it you you do have to figure it out and and you know to get proteins and things and when I was a vegan it's you know you have to consider calcium and iron and things like that you you're not even getting through your milk products your egg products
[speaker001:] yeah um-hum uh-huh because you don't eat any of those things
[speaker002:] if you don't eat any of those but actually you can get everything you need through vegetables I mean there are there are there are you actually you can get more calcium through leafy green vegetables than you can get through milk products a lot of people don't know that well the thing is that milk products our bodies don't uh
[speaker001:] is that right uh-huh
[speaker002:] don't uh the the lactose that kind of milk it doesn't our we we tend to uh what's it called we don't synthesize the the calcium the same way
[speaker001:] uh-huh we throw more of it off our body out other words
[speaker002:] yeah we we slough some of it we we send we send some of it out because it our body doesn't accept some of it
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so we're not utilizing we're when it when it gets rid of some of that um that we can't use it get rids it gets rid of some of the calcium
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] whereas we eat say broccoli you utilize all of it you utilize your your body accepts all of the broccoli
[speaker001:] um-hum all that's in it uh-huh
[speaker002:] so it's like it's like say a person using vitamins as opposed to uh vitamin supplements as opposed to eating regular food
[speaker001:] why uh-huh
[speaker002:] your body just doesn't accept vitamins and the minerals in the the vitamins in
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh supplements that it does in regular food you know so but we both we both feel much healthier much healthier and I couldn't consider going back to eating
[speaker001:] that's interesting uh-huh after you have been on this
[speaker002:] yeah well now I changed for ethical reasons and my husband
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] has changed he feels more ethically about it but he he in the beginning began for health reasons
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but um now he he feels like I do that he looks at the things that he eats and he realizes what they are before he eats them and he you know
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh he thinks more about them then
[speaker002:] yeah plus he eats we both think more about I thought more of about it as far as what it was I was eating
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know as far as a living creature and now we both think a lot of well what is it we're eating in relation to what it's going to give to our bodies too so
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum so you kind of have a combination
[speaker002:] um-hum yeah
[speaker001:] uh-huh now see we I live in a farming community
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] so of course we have a lot of animals and that type of thing raised in our area
[speaker002:] well we do too I mean I was raised in um we're in cattle country and people here buy a half a cow and put it in their freezer you know and that
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum oh yeah yeah
[speaker002:] that's the way I and I believe you me it wasn't easy to give up to give up a hamburger that that was one of my favorite foods was was a was a good steak or a hamburger but
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] you know I suppose if you really believe in something it's you you adjust your life because your mind you your you inside yourself you just it's not right
[speaker001:] you get adjusted to the taste um-hum um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] so but um
[speaker001:] um-hum so you would have a little more trouble when you were looking for a dining area than what most
[speaker002:] oh yes
[speaker001:] most people would
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] now we wouldn't have that problem because we're not vegetarians
[speaker002:] so what do you look for when you
[speaker001:] uh I think the main thing that I look for is uh cleanliness uh you know the in the appearance of the people that work there and the uh quality of the food that they serve
[speaker002:] uh-huh do you normally when you're traveling do you look for places that's established that that you've been to before or are you willing to try new places
[speaker001:] if oh we try new places but when we a lot of times we do eat where we know
[speaker002:] yeah like a chain restaurant or something
[speaker001:] what um-hum what the quality because a lot of them are the same no matter where you stop
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh we do do that a lot and I guess I'm getting old older also I like to be served I like to sit down and have my uh order taken
[speaker002:] as opposed to like a cafeteria kind of
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] situation yeah
[speaker001:] so I suppose you'd say I well I I don't know whether it's age or what it is but I have
[speaker002:] well no I don't think so I think it's just your because I I prefer to be waited on too I just if you're going to go out to eat why not have the whole service you know why why not get the whole
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] I guess because we don't go out that much I feel like it's a treat
[speaker001:] um-hum you should feel have a treat and I like the light meals not all restaurants have light meals on their menu
[speaker002:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker001:] you know and I
[speaker002:] oh light menu you mean like cooked light or
[speaker001:] uh L I T E like uh uh things that aren't as heavy a meal
[speaker002:] oh I see uh-huh
[speaker001:] it that you get more uh fruit and maybe cottage cheese or a chicken breast or things that aren't as uh they're not breaded and they're not fried and they're not
[speaker002:] not a lot of gravy and things like that you know I I like those too I like those too because uh some seems like sometimes it's
[speaker001:] yeah uh but not all restaurants uh-huh
[speaker002:] you order a meal you order their dinner meal and it's like they're trying to find out how much you can eat or or
[speaker001:] I know it's too much yes
[speaker002:] or or like evidently people go in there and they're not satisfied that they'd been given enough and they complain and maybe they're afraid that people are going to complain or something I
[speaker001:] um-hum I don't know what it is but now for instance we we had a Scout dinner last night we went to and it's it's they uh well they'll serve you at your seat and usually usually the salad bar is included so you have to get up for that but they have so much food that you not matter how hard you try to restrain yourself you end up eating much more than you need
[speaker002:] uh-huh and I think that's a shame I mean I must admit sometimes I do like a buffet but uh but I think that they just tend to make you you say oh well I've have got all I can eat or or you know it's one of these situations where
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] nobody's going to restrain what you eat the amount that you eat and I think that people that we just tend to eat overeat yeah
[speaker001:] um-hum uh-huh yeah you can eat as much as you want and you like the food you know
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh a lot of times the foods like uh Haas's carry a bread bar that is just out of this world and you know you and soup and uh they just and fruit and vegetables and they they just
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I don't know that you I know I always overeat no matter I go with good intentions but I somehow along the way when I come back to my seat I have too much and I eat it because it's so good
[speaker002:] yeah well at least it's fruit and stuff there maybe it's not too bad
[speaker001:] yeah  and I like reasonable prices of course too I don't like to you know go to anything that's real expensive
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I think that's a waste of my money
[speaker002:] just for food it does seem like it
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] yeah but uh we like uh we do like international food so we tend to I like cooking we like Indian food and uh I love Italian food and
[speaker001:] so do you uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh Chinese uh
[speaker001:] Chinese we've got a good Chinese restaurant in town I I really like eating there and
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and you don't get stuffed on their food it seems
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you know you can eat a whole big plate of their food and you really don't feel like you've eaten too much
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you're full you know you're satisfied but you don't feel stuffed and miserable
[speaker002:] yeah yeah that's one thing that I wish we had more of uh because where we're from it's it's pretty limited and it's most of the restaurants are oh they tend to be you know American style food and we don't have too many where you have to go all the way to Dallas
[speaker001:] um-hum um
[speaker002:] and so really is a treat because uh you know we don't make a trip sixty five eighty you know sixty five to eighty miles depending how far in Dallas it is
[speaker001:] so yeah yeah