How School Days with a Pig changed my Diet and Outlook in Life

I have tried a no carb diet before but I found it not too sustainable and suitable for my active lifestyle. By active, I mean working out almost everyday. I lost a lot of weight but I did not have enough energy. I easily gain weight when eating rice, so what happens is that even if I workout so much I still gain weight and always plateau at 180 pounds. I was already resigned to the idea that I will be 180 pounds for the rest of my life with an overweight BMI (I am 5’9″ so my BMI at 180 lbs is 26.6 which is considered overweight).

Back in April 2012, I watched a Japanese movie entitled “School Days with a Pig”. Grade 6 students got this pig on the start of the school year to be raised and butchered at the end of the year. It was their teacher’s way of teaching responsibility to his students. The students fell in love with the pig since they were playing with the Pig while raising it. They even named it P-Chan and even made the pig pen look like a small house. At the end of the year, since all of the students already fell in love with P-Chan, some did not want the pig to be butchered and have P-Chan to be taken care of by the incoming grade 6. So the class went into a debate. You can see the 11 year old kids debating and everyone really loves the pig. They had a vote and the decision was split so the teacher was the one to decide what would happen to P-Chan. P-Chan was able to escape his pig pen and the students looked for him. While searching for the P-Chan, a scuffle occurred between two students with one wanting P-Chan to go to the slaughterhouse and the other who wanted P-Chan to be taken care of by the incoming grade 6 students.

Student A: Why did you want P-Chan to be brought to the slaughterhouse?

Student B: What’s the problem with that? The purpose of a pig in this world is to be eaten.

Student A: So if the purpose of a pig in this world is to be eaten then what is your purpose?

I suddenly cried. I think that last line made a mark in my heart and to most of us who are not sure of what our purpose in life besides. It just so happened that it was during Holy Week when I watched it so I was not eating any red meat during that time and I just decided to continue my no meat diet until today.

Of course if I say that I did this due to ethical reasons, there is still some problem with my diet because I am still eating fish and other seafood. Though, I already stopped eating pork, beef, chicken, eggs and anything that has legs. I am currently on a Pescetarian Diet

Well, I already lost 21 pounds in 5 months (159 lbs at 5’9″  with a BMI of 23.5 which is normal). My blood pressure is not fluctuating anymore because before this there are times when my BP shoots up to 130/90 but now it is stable at 120/70. I feel lighter and more energetic when it comes to working out.

Though, I already attempted a Vegan diet but I always end up eating things with dairy particularly cheese after three days. If I could not go totally Vegan, at least I’m still trying my best to be Vegetarian. I am already ok with my Pescetarian diet for health reasons but I would still love to see the day that I totally become Vegetarian or Vegan. From ethical reasons to health reasons and hopefully back to ethical reasons.