Archive for May 4th, 2009

It was a week ago last Sunday that I watched a program on television, CBS Sunday Morning, that featured a story on Going Cold Turkey from Meat.

The basic idea was this: a fire station’s crew went vegetarian to stay fit and healthy. I like vegetables and salads. Would going vegetarian be a challenge? Would it improve the way I feel?

After enjoying a Sunday celebratory dinner with pork baby-back ribs, we began Monday with no meat in sight, at least for a week. Come Friday, we were being challenged by not feeling very full all the time (a late afternoon snack fit the bill), but then it ended early. I was invited to a luncheon I felt I had to attend and eat, where roasted chicken was being served.

I ate the chicken.

Then we went back on the veggie wagon, ending tonight, with our second helping of homemade minestrone soup.

We didn’t go vegan: we still ate milk, dairy, and eggs. We never once really craved meat. My gastrointestinal issues still (to this moment) torment me, so I can’t say it was any easier on the bowels or the pipes. I am not sure I lost any weight, because to make up for the hunger issues, I made up for it with vegetable-based carbs.

Yet going vegetarian was a challenge. Restaurants cater to meat eaters. My whole thinking of meals centers around a protein (such as beef, fish, chicken) and without the said protein, your culinary point of view is handicapped. We ate salads and soups, and even a homemade tofu dish with mushroom-flavored soy sauce and edamame beans. Noodles with vegetables (instead of meatballs) were delicious, as was my beforementioned minestrone.

So, after a week of no meat, where do I stand? “Are you going vegetarian full time?” a friend asked. Probably not, I wager, simply because I don’t have ethical concerns with eating meat. Perhaps going a month is a better test for any health benefits, but for now, I do have a plan inspired by this experience.

First, I plan to eat less meat. I plan to treat the eating of meat more as a privilege than as an American right. Second, I want to try and succeed at eating fish once a week. Meat may take on a role in only two meals each week. For my own health, I also plan on reducing portions. And as a struggling diabetic over the past three years, I plan to adopt new technology in my life to help better manage my disease.

Still on my list: I have a lot more to learn about eating without meat. I plan to learn more recipes I deem “gourmet.” Vegetables can be delicious on their own and there’s no shame in that. Living as a week-long vegetarian has shown me the struggles other vegetarians encounter, at least when starting out.

Living more healthy might start with cutting more out than just meat. That’s my next challenge.