Carnivore no more! (Week 2)
“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”
Yes, Sir Paul McCartney, you're probably right on that score. Thing is, I'm pretty insulated from the meat industry along with a few billion others. I don't see the stuff before it gets into my burger. Still, I've always wanted to try going without meat, just for a giggle and to see what it would be like. My 7-day resolution plan is the perfect answer, and maybe I'll discover some inner truth about myself while swearing off my four-legged friends as dinner sources for a week.
Yes, Sir Paul McCartney, you're probably right on that score. Thing is, I'm pretty insulated from the meat industry along with a few billion others. I don't see the stuff before it gets into my burger. Still, I've always wanted to try going without meat, just for a giggle and to see what it would be like. My 7-day resolution plan is the perfect answer, and maybe I'll discover some inner truth about myself while swearing off my four-legged friends as dinner sources for a week.
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| Portobello mushrooms, pretty much the meat of the fungus family |
But first, to recap Week Number One–running every day for a week. I have to rate it as a complete success.
After putting in a solid 10k on the first day, committing to half that distance every day was easier than I thought. Part of the fun was planning a slightly different route for each run, using Google maps to trace a minimum of 5 kilometres every day. I set my alarm for 6am every day, and set off in complete darkness. Luckily, I only had a few drops of rain, and it was really the dark that made it challenging. I like to run through Beacon Hill Park, and down by the beach along spectacular Dallas Road, and both were blanketed in inky black.
By Day 6, I was feeling pretty pumped about closing in on the goal, and a lof of my Strava buddies had figured out what I was up to when they saw my daily logs. I had tons of encouragement to keep going, and closing it out was almost a let-down on Day 7. Still, I had other commitments to make, 51 more to be exact. My knees would thank me, and I'd keep on running throughout the year on a twice weekly schedule.
Val decided to join me on my second resolution. She probably had little choice, since going meat-free is very likely going to affect the people you live with.
We love our curries, and we knew at least two meals this week would be heavy on the spice. So we kicked off the first dinner with a chick pea curry in coconut milk over a bed of rice. Normally, that would be chicken in there, but it was no big deal to replace it with chick peas. Later in the week, we made the same dish with tofu, which has always grossed me out with its bland taste and spongy texture. Gotta stay, I'm still not a fan.
The hit of the week was pizza. We swapped out the usual meat topping with portobello mushrooms, which must certainly be the meat of the fungus family. I could eat that any night.
Over the course of the week, we started to re-shape and re-think our relationship with meat. Maybe this could be something we do more regularly (not full-time, no way!) and start becoming more responsible members of the food chain. It made me think of a new conundrum brewing over a scientific advance known as lab-grown meat. It's made in a lab without killing animals. For the vegetarian who opposes meat because of the killing animals part (Meat is Murder, right?), it suddenly seems completely ethical. For the progressive veggie who wants to reduce the footprint of meat raised inefficiently on acres that could be dedicated to crops, it suddenly seems to make sense. Being extreme anything always invites challenges like this, so I'm glad we're sticking to our middle-of-the-road approach.
Soups, salads, veggies, fruits, beans, sprouts, breads...it was an eye-opening and even sorta satisfying seven days.
NEXT WEEK: No swearing!
After putting in a solid 10k on the first day, committing to half that distance every day was easier than I thought. Part of the fun was planning a slightly different route for each run, using Google maps to trace a minimum of 5 kilometres every day. I set my alarm for 6am every day, and set off in complete darkness. Luckily, I only had a few drops of rain, and it was really the dark that made it challenging. I like to run through Beacon Hill Park, and down by the beach along spectacular Dallas Road, and both were blanketed in inky black.
 |
| Apple Health always knows |
By Day 6, I was feeling pretty pumped about closing in on the goal, and a lof of my Strava buddies had figured out what I was up to when they saw my daily logs. I had tons of encouragement to keep going, and closing it out was almost a let-down on Day 7. Still, I had other commitments to make, 51 more to be exact. My knees would thank me, and I'd keep on running throughout the year on a twice weekly schedule.
Val decided to join me on my second resolution. She probably had little choice, since going meat-free is very likely going to affect the people you live with.
We love our curries, and we knew at least two meals this week would be heavy on the spice. So we kicked off the first dinner with a chick pea curry in coconut milk over a bed of rice. Normally, that would be chicken in there, but it was no big deal to replace it with chick peas. Later in the week, we made the same dish with tofu, which has always grossed me out with its bland taste and spongy texture. Gotta stay, I'm still not a fan.
The hit of the week was pizza. We swapped out the usual meat topping with portobello mushrooms, which must certainly be the meat of the fungus family. I could eat that any night.
Over the course of the week, we started to re-shape and re-think our relationship with meat. Maybe this could be something we do more regularly (not full-time, no way!) and start becoming more responsible members of the food chain. It made me think of a new conundrum brewing over a scientific advance known as lab-grown meat. It's made in a lab without killing animals. For the vegetarian who opposes meat because of the killing animals part (Meat is Murder, right?), it suddenly seems completely ethical. For the progressive veggie who wants to reduce the footprint of meat raised inefficiently on acres that could be dedicated to crops, it suddenly seems to make sense. Being extreme anything always invites challenges like this, so I'm glad we're sticking to our middle-of-the-road approach.
Soups, salads, veggies, fruits, beans, sprouts, breads...it was an eye-opening and even sorta satisfying seven days.
NEXT WEEK: No swearing!
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