One Week as a Vegetarian
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.
5 Responses to “One Week as a Vegetarian”
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Haley J.
Said this on May 4th, 2009 at 11:26pm:Bravo! What a noble effort! I attempt to eat two meals a day following a vegan diet, and then allow a moderate meat portion for the third if I am so inclined. I also have no ethical issues with meat itself, but the mass-produced, hormone-injected stuff worries me. My husband’s cholesterol is dropping like a rock, so it’s definitely working for him. Good luck!
Scott Burger
Said this on May 5th, 2009 at 10:19am:I keep trying. I am doing “Meatless Mondays” now.
Why? Its not for animal rights reasons. It is for economic and environmental reasons.
Loomis
Said this on May 5th, 2009 at 12:38pm:You put your finger right on the hardest part about being a vegetarian, even part-time: that we are programmed in this country to plan our meals around meat. It’s always meat plus something else. Chicken and something. Beef and something. This is a fairly arbitrary (and historically recent) way of thinking about food, and it takes a few weeks to break the habit. And a big yes to the fact that restaurants tend to cater to meat eaters, especially “nice” (read: pricey) restaurants in small cities like Richmond, where vegetarians are usually stuck with some bland, half-hearted pasta dish. The ethnic places (Indian, Mexican, Ethiopian, most Asian, etc.) tend to have more variety.
Other tips: freeze your tofu overnight and let it thaw before you cook it. It completely changes the texture, makes it more like pork and less like a quivering white mess. Seitan is higher in protein than tofu. The texture is closer to meat, and you’re not consuming as much soy, which has some (alleged) health consequences. Forget tempeh, it’s just revolting. Rice is your friend. There are a hundred different varieties of rice, and it makes a nice foundation for just about any meal that you can cook. Nuts and beans are good sources of protein. The best source of recipe inspiration is to find a top-notch vegetarian restaurant (e.g. http://www.goborestaurant.com or http://www.vegetatedc.com or http://www.watercoursefoods.com or http://www.crystalsunflower.com) and replicate the menu.
MessyChef
Said this on May 5th, 2009 at 6:02pm:Loomis:
Thanks for your links and encouragement!
Brenda
Said this on June 1st, 2009 at 10:48am:I have a difficult time accepting that otherwise compassionate people do not find killing and eating animals revolting. If anyone can give me their well-thought out feelings on this issue, I will be grateful(i.e. do you believe animals do not feel pain, or do you believe they feel pain, but you simply do not care?) I am not trying to “convert” anyone; I am simply seeking to understand. Thank you.