Maybe.
We'll see.
Normally, when I commit to something, I commit to something. I don't say "maybe, we'll see" because I usually consider that a spineless way of saying "I have no intention of following through, but I lack the conviction to just say no for now." The only reason I'm not 100% confident in this attempt to eat no meat for a month is because Jaime said she didn't want to try it with me. So our diets are bound to clash. And Jaime knows that if there's one thing I hate doing, it's wasting food. I'd rather break my vegetarian commitment than see some chicken curry leftovers go bad in the fridge, untouched, while kids are starving in St. Anthony, ID.
So, we'll see. Besides the above mentioned anticipated challenge, I don't see any serious challenge. The idea of doing this started because I would occasionally find myself remarking at the end of the day how I was accidentally vegetarian that day. I hadn't tried to avoid meat, it just happened. I love cheese and salads and good bread and olive oil and...stuff. I'm trying hard to avoid saying chicken and bacon, because i love those too, but I'll survive without them. The point is, I haven't been a big red meat eater in the last several years, and I've never been a big "steak" guy, so excluding the challenge of avoiding fried chicken and chicken salad sandwiches and stir fries and Asian meat dishes, i'm not worried. Central London makes it super easy to be vegetarian. Lots of vegetrian sandwiches and soups and salads to pick from. Breakfast and lunch will be relatively easy.
The reason? I don't really have a reason beyond I want to be able to say I've done it. I want to have empathy for those who feel stronger about this stuff than I do. And I know that most meat you buy in the normal supermarket and average restaurants probably isn't very good for you, so I want to see if I feel better when avoiding it completely for an entire month. If I do feel a lot better, I'll probably avoid it more in the future, and it won't feel like a sacrifice, rather a treat to avoid it. That said, I have no intention of total meat abstinence after this month.
Yes, I picked the shortest month of the year. But I may have also picked the coldest month of the year, when my traditionally carnivorous body subconciously craves hearty meat dishes, so I figure they even each other out.
I'll try to keep a food log here of what I'm eating for two reasons:
- Keep me honest
- I want to be able to look back at it myself and see what the reality is for someone who doesn't eat meat for that long. It may serve as a good recipe book for the future.
- Okay, three reasons. I also want to have a record of how much other animal product (dairy/eggs) is in my vegetarian diet, so I can have real cause behind my current opinion that vegans are masochistic nuts who are missing out on happiness. For example: Jaime's Chocolate Chip cookies (with eggs and milk chocolate chips), or ANY cheese on ANY pizza or sandwich. I can't even fathom life without it.
And, go.
Posted via email from eric forsyth's posting place
