Vegetarian Month

Well, here we are. I feel kind of strange because I have this insane urge to blog, but I'm tired of the thoughts that circle my head over and over and really have nothing to say.

I guess I can tell you how vegetarian month is going. For July I decided to try being vegetarian for a month for a few reasons.

1) To better understand my dear friend M
2) Because she always talks about how much better she feels without meat. Which always sounds good, feeling better.
3) I have this strange habit of choosing to do things that I know will be difficult for me. Giving up things, etc. It's the exercise of willpower that I love, not that I'm especially against what I'm giving up.
4) To say I did it.

So anyway, today is day #20. And I must say, being vegetarian is really not very difficult. Sometimes I would really like to eat meat (like when my parents have something meat-filled for dinner, it's independent food night for me), but I don't miss it all that much. It's kind of like the soda thing. I miss it now and then, but after a certain amount of time, you realize that you really don't need things as much as you thought you did. And it feels kind of good, if only for a month or however long this lasts, to free myself from things, to prove what I can do.

The one obstacle I've encountered during this little experiment is the social eating of meat. Haha. It's been a little weird to maneuver my way out of social situations where people are eating meat, or offering it to me. I feel rude saying no, and honestly, a lot of people would scoff at my month of vegetarianism (be honest. you were smirking to yourself when you started reading this.) so I'm a little bit cautious about telling people.

The cool thing is, I've started to notice a difference. I actually do feel better. I feel a whole lot better about the drastic decline in the amount of cholesterol-laden foods I've been eating. And as a side effect, I'm eating a ton more fresh fruits and vegetables to make up for what I would've eaten in meat and related dishes. I think I'm finally drinking as much water as I should per day. And I've found I really don't like sweet, sugary things as much as I used to either. Hooray!

So I'm contemplating continuing for the rest of the summer. And after that I will probably start eating small amounts of meat again, mostly because I think I'll have a lot harder time once fruits and vegetables go out of season, because they make up a large part of my diet right now. But strange as it is, and despite my expectations, I actually liked doing this. And I LOVE veggie burgers. (You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get your hands on those things. :) )

Love, Jennifer