Day 4

"Every single creature wants to live fully. That's what God designed us to do. That's our purpose. Who are we to take that away unless we have to? And these days, where's the 'have to'? We used to think that slavery was okay, but we got over that. Why can't we get over the needless torture and killing of animals for our sensory satisfaction?" The Kind Diet

I've learned over the last couple of years that animals such as cows, pigs, chickens and even fish know what's going on. They love their babies. They have separation anxiety. The can sense fear and death. They have long memories. They have feelings, just like we do. How I've continued to eat meat after learning all of this, I don't know. It's so easy to dismiss the information and make yourself numb to it. But then I find a picture like this and think "we inhumanely kill millions of them a day, what is wrong with us?" And what would humanely killing them consist of anyway?

A photo like this puts it all into a different perspective, doesn't it?

I'm finally feeling more like myself today! The thought of food doesn't make me want to gag, I have an appetite. Yay, here comes the challenge. I'm eventually going to be tempted, I know it can't stay this easy.
I learned today I am going to have to work on go-to lunches because salad isn't going to cut it. I made a huge salad today with lettuce, shredded carrots, cucumber, red pepper, onion and sunflower seeds. It tasted good but halfway through I was bored. I forced myself to finish it but I really didn't enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I love salad, but usually as an appetizer and not as the meal. If anyone is actually reading this, do you have a favorite meatless lunch? A big thing for me is having something that's quick to prepare. I work from home and don't have a lot of time to cook lunch like I'd spend cooking dinner.
I'm writing this as a sit on my porch while the sun goes down. I can't get over this weather! Andy should be home soon and then we're going into Philly for dinner and a comedy show at Helium Comedy Club. This will be the first time I'm going out to a restaurant and not planning on ordering chicken something. I'll report back on how that goes. I know when I see boneless buffalo wings on the menu it's going to be tough, but then I'll think of this guy.

UPDATE:
We had a great time at Helium Comedy Club last night! By the time we got down to the city and parked we didn't have time to go out to eat. So we did the next best thing and grabbed a beer at the bar. Helium serves food and has a "famous" pizza so I figured we'd be safe with that. Um...I think it was a frozen pizza? I really don't know---sadly I would have preferred a Tombstone compared to what we got. I only had a small piece and another beer. Got home, got sick. What the hell is going on? Maybe my body is adjusting to the no meat? I really don't have any idea. I don't have the symptoms of a stomach virus and I don't feel sick. Weird...can't think of anything else to say.

Needless to say skipping meat tonight wasn't too hard, there wasn't much on the menu that I was interested in---maybe a chicken wrap or something. When I find myself at Maggiano's, Carrabba's or Chipotle it will be much more challenging.

What I Ate Today:
Small apple w/1 tbsp peanut butter
Large salad w/romaine, carrots, cucumber, onion, red pepper, sunflower seeds
1 (very) small piece of (crappy) pizza
2 beers (Sam Adams Summer Ale, Yuengling)

My weight: 115