Early reflections

As of today, January 26, 2011, we're just over 25 days into our meat-free diet and just under a month spent eating, what I like to think as, better.  We've explored some new ingredients and tried some new things; some good, some not so good, some freakishly horrible.  We've progressed well, in my opinion, and I'm looking forward to continuing the challenge.  Yes, I'm still in the mindset that this a challenge for me.  I've yet to decide if this will be our eating habits for life.  Dan actually just mentioned this evening that he did plan on eating meat again.  I'm pretty sure that although I really really want a cheeseburger, I don't mind that lack of it.  I recently came across the word "flexitarian" and I think I like it. 

What we do need to do is research.  I mentioned this in an earlier post, but as much as I like to think what we're doing may be healthy - I honestly have no idea.  We haven't done research on what combinations of food we should be eating.  We haven't done research on any side effects of soy (have you heard about this whole Round-up Ready Soybean?!?!).  We don't know if we are ingesting enough protein.  We have no idea what else might be happening by an instant removal of meat from our bodies.  None of this is really that smart.  Most mainstream or commercial diets will advise you not to begin any kind of diet before consulting a doctor.  We also haven't done that.

What have we done, you ask?  We've completely stopped eating all mammals and fowl.  Fish?  Yes, we are still eating fish and crustaceans and seafood in general.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  Maybe because it makes transition a little less harsh and a bit easier to manage.  Maybe because we really like sushi.  We've also stopped eating out, not entirely, but pretty close.  We previously would eat out 2-3 times a week.  Sometimes a sit-down dinner, sometimes to the local fast food joint (which is about a stone's throw from our house), sometimes take-out, sometimes pizza....  but for the past month, I've been cooking.  Not every day, but I've been trying to make sure we've had something for dinner.  This has required a lot of planning and learning and experimenting and effort!

I am disappointed that I have seen any decreases. A little here and there but not as notable as I had hoped.  Not a real big decrease in weight.  Not a significant decrease in the monthly grocery / food costs.  Not sure if I have lost any inches - didn't think to measure myself.  Maybe next month.

I'll end my rambling and continue to move forward.  This weekend, to help possibly reduce the food costs a bit more, I am going to do my best to try make homemade Clif Bars.  I found a recipe for them and am really looking forward to trying it out.  By the way, flexitarian is a term that was discovered at the Enlightened Cooking website... the same place where I found the homemade Clif Bar recipe.  I'll of course let you know how it goes!