June 30, 2011

The Green Challenge: Third Update

Progress: 696 hours without meat
Status: Full, but not fulfilled.

Well, the month is just about done and the finish line is in sight to a race nobody asked me to run. Will I be a winner? It's hard to say.

There are two things I want to address in this update. The first is indigestion. I would say that I have a strong stomach, one that laughs in the face of abuse. I lived in Korea and ate a hearty diet of red pepper pastes and garlic for every meal, and I almost never suffer from indigestion or heartburn. However this month, especially in the last two weeks I've been experiencing heartburn on a daily basis.

This is an unexpected development. Does it have any connection to this vegetarian challenge? Is it mere coincidence that it started the day after I realized whiskey and mozzarella sticks have no meat in them? I'm not sure. All I know is that my stomach is upset about something and it's going to get my attention or burn down the factory trying.

The other thing I wanted to mention is the dissatisfaction I feel at times with the food I'm eating. Look, some days I forget that that I've cut anything from my diet and I live my life happily, and other days I have to resist the urge to punch my way through a chip wagon like a T-1000 just to get at the cheeseburgers. I've tried a number of meat substitutes in different meals like veggie patties in a burger, vegan sausage in pasta, tofu in a stir-fry, etc. In each case I found the food to be delicious, yet I wasn't satisfied. It must all be in my head, but I feel like something is missing, like I'm eating a knock-off version of a name brand meal.

July is nearly here, and I'm looking forward to easing myself back onto the bacon train. I'll try not to go crazy all at once. The last thing I need to go into a meat-eating frenzy on Canada Day and wind up on the news because I flipped a hotdog cart and ate bratwurst off the ground like an animal. Until then, I'm going to see if Pepto-Bismol makes a decent salad dressing.

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