#VeggieFeb

Posted: January 29th, 2014 | Author: Ryan | Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

(I wanted to call it Veg-uary, but got shot-down in committee.)

Introducing: #VeggieFeb!

28 days, including at least one weekend away from home, where I won’t eat any meat.

#VeggieFeb Veg-uary challenge

This will be my first month-long challenge for 2014, though the credit for the concept belongs entirely to Anie.

In the past I’ve suggested that we practice weekday vegetarianism, but that wasn’t very successful. The hope this time is that our increased use of local produce over the summer and fall have given us enough experience to thrive, even without delicious, tasty pig meats.

The Expert Advice

To try to prepare myself, I sent a text to my good buddy Logan, who’s been a practicing vegetarian since the 90’s. I suppose his lack of response is caused at least in part by the diminished amount of energy his body has due to carne asada deficiency.

All jokes aside, I am interested in proving successful in this challenge, not only because of my sense of self-determination, but also because I know it will be a net positive to learn more/better ways to prepare local produce and expand my idea process.

Yield from a regular trip to the Public Market last Summer

The Rules

We didn’t really discuss these, but here are the principles I want to put in place for myself:

“Nothing with a face”
I’d like to say no eggs, but I may compromise on this point to maintain nutrition and make it an easier social transition.
The challenge is about eating vegetables, not just eliminating meat.
This means not replacing meat with faux-protein.
This means not eating more bread/pasta/noodles/cheese/grains just to fill up.
I need to remain open-minded about the type and kind of vegetables I’ll eat.

There are some question marks that remain around how well I can balance this diet change while still trying to eradicate my diabetes, but I’m hopeful those can be resolved without too much compromise. Â When I previously discussed an all-juice diet after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly DeadÂ with my healthcare provider, they said that I’d still need to eat nuts or beans or get some source of protein to smooth out the blood sugar. Good thing I just got my pearly whites all checked-up, because here come the almonds.

The “no fake meats” rule is just my personal belief that since we are going into this from a health stand-point, and not a moral objection to eating animals, we wouldn’t really be experiencing it if just tried to make the same food we’ve been eating. Â Plus, using Monsanto-tainted soybean curds in place of animal products seems like a very poor choice. Â We’ve already made commitments to eat meat that is naturally raised and humanely processed, getting all of the rBGH, antibiotics and other crap out of our systems, so why would I want to start ingesting Round-Up via tofu?

As with healthy eating in general, I think breakfast & lunch will be my biggest challenges. Â Our present lifestyle minimizes time awake at home before leaving for work, meaning that breakfast is either just coffee or something from the cafeteria at work. Dropping breakfast meats will be rough, but doable. Avoiding all the sweet breakfast pastries when I’m hungry and have minimal other choices, that will be the real challenge. As for lunch, it usually comes down to a social dynamic; finding a place where I can get something good and my friends/colleagues can enjoy the rest of the menu. Plus, truth be told, lunch around my workplace is pretty much boring and over-processed anyways, but it’s often the most productive part of the day for managing tasks and bonding.

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Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, OR. (credit: Wikipedia)

Win, lose or draw, at least I’ll get to book-end this challenge with a few really good meals. Â Friday night we’ll be celebrating a birthday at Clever Koi (described by someone I know as the best restaurant in town), and March 1st we will be driving from Portland to Seattle, so wake-up with a bacon VooDoo donut and end with a lobstah roll. Probably even cram some beef-jerky in for the road, though in Portland I presume they’ll have to pickle that. (ewwww)