On August 10, 2007 we decided to be vegetarians. We have always wanted to cut meat out of our diets primarily for health reasons, but also environmental and ethical reasons. On the night we decided would be our last I had exactly 6 chicken tacos at the soccer field.
On October 10, 2007 I had my blood work done at the health fair. My total cholesterol now 288, triglycerides 150, HDL (good) 66, LDL (bad) 192. My ratio is 4.4 so that is not too bad. My uric acid levels were also low indicating low protien.
I have gained 6 pounds during the past 3 months.
Chilli's for dinner Friday night, had chicken crispers.
Mi Casa Too for dinner Saturday night, had carne asada taco.
Made salmon for the girls, and chicken sausage for us on Sunday night.
Made pork fried rice and chicken potstickers for dinner last night.
I think that covers all the meats in the food chain...
I do believe that you can be athletic and vegetarian if you have either a personal chef or do not have a job or children in sports. It was a good experiment and I don't regret having tried it - it is just not going to work for us at this phase in our life.
4 comments:
Damn! If only you could have held out for another week or two, it might have convinced me to become a vegetarian too......
We kind of declassified ourselves from being any kind of "arian".
We haven't bought any meat for months from the supermarket except for the occasional fish fillet. I don't mind eating a bit of chicken when dining out...like at a buffet...grab a bit of Kung Pao Chicken or something. So most of our meat comes from dining out or eating at someone else's house. That limits it to about once a week.
I think it's still important to eat low on the food chain though; for example, Sardines are a better choice than Tuna for health, environmental reasons, and overall health of the fisheries. Chickens are a better choice than cattle and pigs, because the animals reach slaughter age in weeks rather than months. Less pollution and animal suffering.
And what you guys accomplished was not in vain. You broke the habit. You learned that you can live without meat, and now going back into it, you can make better choices and eat far less of it. It was an awakening of sorts for me. It felt empowering to make a decision to go with or without it. Take it or leave it. So many people are dependent on it. Like cars vs. bikes!
It's also nice to be flexible. We went to a cowboy style wedding recently where they served, tri-tip, beans, and salad. I had some tri-tip and didn't feel bad about it. Being so strict can be a pain in the ass!
Jeff- As you know we spent the previous year working toward this goal. We ate meat once or twice a week before going all veggie. I'm very happy that we finally went totally meat free to test the waters for as long as we did. However... we have totally regressed because of it. I think we've eaten meat in EVERY meal since stopping the veggie diet! Hopefully we'll get back on track...
Calling yourself something means you have to live up to your label. I prefer to say I don't eat much meat and leave it at that. You might find it easier to just reduce and replace meat gradually. Buy better quality meat and less of it.
Don't tell anyone, but I cooked up a killer free-range turkey for Thanksgiving.
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