Dear Olive Garden,

I owe you an apology. When I drive by one of your locations or see your commercials I shrug my shoulders and think to myself "who goes there?" I've always thought "Why would anyone go to Olive Garden when you can find authentic, family owned, really good Italian restaurants in every town on the East Coast?"

I forced myself to go to the fitness center in my hotel this evening. I spent an hour looking at menus for all of the restaurants in this part of Pittsburgh. It was already 8:00pm and I wanted something close, quick and was kind of craving a flatbread pizza. I'm not eating meat right now so that has made finding places to eat challenging in this city.

I looked at your menu online and the caprese flatbread caught my attention. I know your breadsticks and salad (really, your dressing) are your staple items and they are damn good. I remember from many trips to your Lawrenceville location during my high school days. So, as much as it killed me to break my "try local restaurants when you're in a new city" rule, I headed out to your location in Greentree.

I ordered a salad and the flatbread pizza with basil, tomatoes, cheese and garlic. I was pleasantly surprised when I was given a couple breadsticks to go along with my salad. I ate the entire thing. Everything was delicious.

My server was very sweet and friendly; sometimes I'm not treated that way when dining alone because no server likes serving a table for one. They automatically think "smaller tip". She called me honey and sweetheart which was kind of weird because I'd bet my life I'm 10 years older than her. It makes me feel weird when people use those terms unless you're my aunt or grandma---and when I'm much older than you it makes me feel even weirder. It's ok though, because at least she was being nice.

On my way out of the restaurant I even stopped to tell the manager how lovely my server was. Since starting a new job in November I dine out several times a week. I can tell you the amount of times I leave 100% satisfied are few and far between.

So, Olive Garden---I'm sorry for judging you and for cracking jokes about people that go to Olive Garden. Because tonight, I was one of those people, and everything was great!

Sincerely,
Christine

Yes, still no meat---just way behind on my writing.

That's me, buzzing around the entire universe.

Today is Day 21, I can't believe it. This last week has been insane...to give you an idea I've been from home-->NYC-->While Plains, NY-->Long Island, NY-->home-->Easter Weekend with the Roth family-->home-->Hunt Valley, MD-->Columbia, MD and tomorrow I'll be heading back to Long Island.

In addition to the work craziness, I'm trying to help my Aunt Kathy with a wonderful fundraiser she's putting together for Women for Women. I'm also trying to find time to return emails and phone calls, and trying to spend quality time with Andy when I'm actually home.

So, how do all of these blog people do it? I've recently become addicted to reading blogs. Sadly blogs have replaced my reading of books. I kind of look at them as "non-fiction" memoirs??? Anyway, I don't know how these people find the time to write their blog posts. I have some catching up to do but I wanted to let you all know I'm still going strong with the no meat thing.

You won't be seeing the "what I ate today" and "my weight" since I can't remember and I'm not wasting the time trying to figure it out. I am going to work hard on catching up though because I really like having my journey documented. Once I hit Day 28 I think I'll be moving to a few times a week instead of daily because there is no way I can keep up with posts this lengthy and detailed on a daily basis.

Day 17

“While it is true that many people simply can't afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we've somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority." In Defense of Food

Do you want to start a great debate with me? Present the argument that eating healthy is too expensive. Now take inventory of what people spend their money on. Like Michael Pollan states above---people will spend the extra money for a data plan on their cell phone, a premium cable package, going out to eat and so on, but they balk at spending an extra couple dollars on healthier foods? I just don't get it.  

I believe change starts with educating people about food, healthy choices and they how can afford it. I think it's sad that parents consider a bucket of chicken and all the fixins' from KFC to be a "cheap" option. What do they cost, ten or twelve bucks? Give me $12 and I'll come up with several tasty, healthy meals.

If you take a look at poorer countries throughout the world, over time they've had less disease, cancer and obesity because they had to live off of rice, beans and vegetables versus the SAD (Standard American Diet) many of our poorer families live off of here. As these countries (China for example) became more industrialized, their people started eating more meat and fast food. Guess what? Their cancer and obesity rates have risen. One of my goals is to get involved with an organization that helps teach parents how to afford to feed their families with healthy foods while on a budget.

The real questions is what do you value? How are you willing to spend your money?

Day 16

"A carnivore's intestines are only about 6 feet long, because meat isn't meant to hang out in the gut forever. Our intestines are 20 feet long; when we eat meat, it takes a full 72 hours to pass through us. That's 3 days, and your body, my friend, is 98.6 degrees inside! It's like having a steak sit out in the hot sun for 3 days straight. Eventually it will start to rot and putrefy. And that's what's happening inside of you. You may not feel that process now, but I challenge you to abstain from animal products for a month and then eat some meat. You will feel how heavy and dense it feels in your gut." The Kind Diet

Now this guy is made to eat meat

My thoughts on the above...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, that is so gross!!! As I was searching for the picture of the lion I found a number of sites that discuss the human body and the theory that our intestines aren't designed to handle meat. Yes, man has been eating meat for a long time, but that doesn't mean it's good for us. Although I haven't given up animal products completely for this 28 Day Challenge, I'm interested to see what I'll feel like the first time I have meat after this break. I can promise you I will think twice about eating steak more than once in a while after reading that quote, if at all.  

I had an interesting morning today. My company was supposed to sponsor a CE session for one of our clients but the presenter was in a bad car accident and the session had to be postponed. I still went into the office to introduce myself and to deliver the breakfast I had picked up for them.  

You wouldn't believe the amount of food that was in the breakroom. Cakes, cookies, bagels, muffins...you name it, it was there. I can't imagine trying to make good choices in an environment like that. One thing I am learning as I go through the process of cutting meat out of my diet is that you really have to be firm in your choices. Making the right choice is often very hard. You have to go into situations like an office breakroom or a new restaurant with a plan, or making a good choice becomes even harder.

I left Long Island just before lunchtime and headed home. I stopped at a Panera in NJ and grabbed a french onion soup and 1/2 caesar salad.

I got home around 4pm and got myself to go to yoga even though I just wanted to sit on the couch. It's nice to be home!

        

        

  

Day 15

“A serving size on ice cream is like a half a cup. Is that like a joke some guy put on there? "Hey, come here: look what I put for the serving size. Did you see? I just did it as a joke but they're going out like that." You ever know anybody to eat a half a cup of ice cream? "Hey, you wanna go grab something to eat?" "Ah, no. I had a half a cup of ice cream. Ya, a whole half a cup. I just kept eating and eating and eating. I must've had two spoonfuls.” Brian Regan

This quote couldn't be more fitting for me tonight. I decided to take the funny route for a sec and give you a break from the disturbing facts about meat and animal cruelty. But for real, serving sizes...let's talk about that for a minute. They're ridiculously huge, all the time. No one needs a pound of pasta, a triple cheese burger, a 96 oz Big Gulp or a 32oz rib-eye. There are lots of photos out there of what serving sizes looked like in the 50's, 60's, 70's and then now. Our servings today are 2x, sometimes 3x the amount of calories they were when our parents were growing up. We're made to feel that we're getting "more for our money" at restaurants. Sometimes meals from a restaurant feed me over and over to the point that I throw away the leftovers because I'm tired of eating them. We are all overdosing on food because it's so easily put in front of us, and let's face it, sometimes it's really hard to stop reaching for more.

Tonight I decided to indulge in some TCBY. You don't find actual TCBY stores in our area anymore so I took advantage during this lovely trip to New York. Maybe you are familiar with the DIY frozen yogurt places that are popping up all over the place---the first time I visited one was in Hermosa Beach in 2008. I remember telling my friend Debbie "these will be everywhere before we know it." Well, they're everywhere now, even TCBY has changed it's format.

One thing that has always bothered me about these places is they claim to be the "healthier" option, yet they give you a cup like this.

I don't even know how many ounces that is, my guess is at least 16. And that wasn't even the large cup, it was the small one. The did not have anything smaller. Now imagine walking into one of these places with a little kid. He's excited to experiment with this DIY thing. Do you think he's going to give himself 4-5 oz. (the standard kids size cup at Maggie Moo's)? Um, no. He's going to fill that baby up and then ask for M&Ms on top---and he's going to try to eat it all, because it's there. 

The lady behind me had her cup filled to the brim, and I thought to myself "I wouldn't even want to eat all of that. I'd lose interest." And that's the thing---The Law of Diminishing Returns applies to food. We think we need and want so much more than we really do, and we get to the point where we are mindlessly eating portions of this size because we don't want to waste the food, it's already there, it tastes good, and so on. Eventually, we're not even enjoying it anymore, but we're still eating it. They must laugh at me when I fill it just so the yogurt covers the bottom of the cup, and guess what---it's enough! 

I guess the point to all of this rambling is that we really need to start paying attention to not only what we're eating, but how much. If you eat meat, think about the recommended portion size (the USDA says 3 ounces). When is the last time you had a meal with just 3 ounces of chicken or beef? I'd bet my life there isn't a restaurant in America that serves a chicken dish with only 3 ounces of chicken. Same goes for almost everything else we eat. Too much of even the best foods can still be too much, and obviously too much of the crappy foods is even worse.

Serving Sizes-1950 vs. Today...and we wonder why we have obesity problems?

Day 14

"Unfortunately, your doctor is not tossing and turning at night, debating the benefits of pushing drugs or food. He doesn't have enough information to be conflicted; although medical schools are supposed to provide students with approximately 25 hours of nutritional education, it's believed that as many as 60% don't comply." The Kind Diet

We grow up thinking our doctors know everything, that they know best. And some do, some doctors are miracle workers. I don't want this to come off as an anti-doctor rant. But when I reflect on the above quote, I can't help but think "So most doctors receive little or no training on nutrition? Are you kidding me?" How can they give advice and prescribe prescription after prescription after prescription if they're not learning about the foods we eat, how they are processed. They aren't educated on foods can be natural healing remedies for those that don't want to take pills for every little thing.

We trust our doctors to be leaders and healers. We trust them to take care of us and tell us what's best. Unfortunately, this isn't happening as much as we think, expect and deserve.

Become your own advocate. Educate yourself and make your own decisions on how you can live a healthier, longer and fuller life.

Become your own advocate!

Day 13

"Other victims of the egg industry are male chicks; because egg operations need many more hens than roosters, baby male chicks are routinely disposed of in one of two ways: Either they are thrown into dumpsters full of other baby chicks, left to suffocate, or they are put, live, through meat grinders to be fed to other livestock. Female chicks have their beaks ground off with a hot blade at 1 or 2 days old. God help us all." The Kind Diet

Ok, so this quote isn't exactly about meat. It's about eggs. It doesn't matter. This is one of the quotes that made me sick to my stomach, made me wince, made a tear fall down my cheek. I was screaming inside, "HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING???  NO ONE KNOWS THIS IS HAPPENING!!!"

I don't have much more to say about this. I am in utter disbelief that this is happening every day to millions of male baby chicks and most people don't have any knowledge of it. Can you believe they throw babies in a meat grinder alive??? I don't care if you're the ugliest rat running around in a sewer; no living animal deserves to experience something like that. (Well, maybe rapists and child molesters but that's a discussion for another day, trying to keep the depression levels to a minimum here.)

Fortunately for me, eggs are about .00000001% of my diet. I never eat eggs and hardly cook with them. I am learning about egg substitutes (like ground flax seeds) for baking. I won't be dying Easter eggs in my house. I am just one person, and I'm a person that buys eggs no more than one or two times per year. If you eat a lot of eggs I beg of you to think about this stuff; the only certifications that pertain to animal treatment are "Certified Humane Raised & Handled."

Yup, this picture makes me sick too. God Help Us All. What has this world come to?

Day 12

"In these challenging times it's crucial to become 'Prevention Is Hot' cheerleaders. Set an example, teach your children, and lead the way to health, spiritual wealth, and happiness through personal action. Nobody knows your body like you do, and waiting around for someone else to fix your woes is playing a risky game of roulette." Crazy, Sexy, Diet

A few months ago I watched the documentary Food Matters. It was full of great information and was not at all "preachy." One thing that grabbed my attention was the discussion on prescription drugs and the idea that food can be medicine too. We all know there is a major problem in this country with the "fix it with a pill" theory. It seems like some doctors write a prescription faster than you can tell them your symptoms.

And preventative medicine? Yeah right. Try getting your insurance to cover anything preventative aside from a pap or a mammogram. Not happening. I've been asking for years why can't my insurance cover holistic doctors, acupuncture, massage and other preventative "medicines?" I am lucky enough to be healthy and I'm working hard to make sure I stay that way. I believe in Eastern medicine and instead of going on drugs for some of my issues I choose to go to acupuncture. I don't want to wait around until I'm diagnosed with cancer or whatever else to treat my body. I want to treat it now so I never have to hear those words I fear so much..."you have cancer."

I agree with Kris, it's up to us to take care of ourselves. And to try teaching the people we love to take care of themselves too. No one else is going to do it. Most of our society is so conditioned to eating the way we eat, treating illness with pills, and doing very little prevent some of the most preventable diseases. We treat the effects instead of the causes, let's change that.

Day 11

"There are many things that are out of your control (your neighbor's bratty kid, rainstorms, skinny jeans and tube tops), yet you actually have a lot of power over your health, happiness and life---and it all starts with your mouth. What you put in it, and the words that come out of it, determine your destiny. Shitty nutrition and chemical crutches will wear you out. Stinkin' thinkin' and verbal self-abuse amputate your angel wings." Crazy, Sexy, Diet

Whoa, that's a lot to take in right there. There are few things we have complete control over in our lives and we should thank God one of them is what we feed our bodies. Yet many of us (myself included) feed ourselves crappy foods more often than we'd like to admit. We know a whole lot about what foods are good, bad and in the middle, but still find it so hard to make the right decisions. I struggle with that everyday, during every meal. I love the idea of feeding myself the foods that are best for me and cutting out all of the garbage, but it's never easy. I pray that one day it will be easy for me, that I won't even be attracted to the crappy foods. I hope I get there, slow and steady, because I can promise you I'm not on the fast track.

Our bodies get tired of working so hard when we feed them foods they don't want or need. Our minds get sick of us saying to ourselves we're not doing a good enough job. That's what I take from Kris's quote above. This 28 Day Challenge started out as a "don't eat meat for 4 weeks" thing, and it's turned into so much more. I'm learning about myself everyday; this journey has taken on a life of its own---one I did not plan for or expect. I find these quotes and really start to think about how they make me feel and what they say to me. Writing about it all makes me slow down and take it all in.

We all have the power over our health, happiness and life---but do we actually believe that to be true? I'm trying...

Determine your destiny

Day 10

"No meat is a truly low-fat food. Because saturated fat is marbled throughout the muscle, and the cholesterol is found in the cell membranes of the meat itself, trimming the excess fat off your steak doesn't do much good. Dr. William Castelli, director of the Framingham Heart Study, says a low-fat plant-based diet would lower an individual's risk of heart attack by 85%. You heard me. 85%." The Kind Diet

To everyone I love: Please read the above quote over and over until it sinks in. Maybe you're not willing to cut out meat completely (I don't know if I'm even quite there yet.) Do what you can to lower your risk of having a heart attack. I want you to live a long, healthy life. I want us to be on this Earth together for a long time. Please...use portion control, limit the amount of times a week/month/year you allow yourself to eat meat, become aware and conscious of your choices, educate yourself about food. If you think about what you are eating, you will start to make little changes in your habits because you want to. For my Oprah fans, "When you know better, you do better."

Be Kind to Your Heart!

Day 10, I made it into the double digits! I was like a little kid on Christmas morning all day today, I had ants in my pants, I couldn't focus on anything but the clock. Tonight was the Bruce show with Mom & Dad and some good, good friends in Philly. B-R-U-U-U-U-U-C-E!

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band 3/29/12
Stephen, Ben, Lou, Mom, Dad & Me :-)

I spent the day making calls and sending out emails for work, waiting patiently for the work day to end. I had leftover potato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. I might as well just throw two pieces of bread on the griddle with a little bit of butter and then dip it in ketchup because I could really care less about the cheese part of it all. (Yes, sometimes I eat like a 5 year old. Cheerios are still my favorite cereal!) I kind of like my grilled cheese with bacon but obviously skipped that part today.

I was bad and didn't make a green juice today. I can't promise it will be any better over the weekend since we'll be in Avalon and I'm not dragging my juicer down there. I am not there yet. I think it's safe to say I'll resume the green juice thing on Monday.

I've been wondering how I'd do with the no meat thing after a night of several beers; that's usually about the time I'm craving something greasy and bad. After the (awesome, incredible, I want to go again!) show, we headed out to a bar in the city for one last drink and some food. Steve sat down next to me and ordered a chicken parm sandwich---he is mean. He tried to tell me it wasn't good, but I know he was lying because he finished the whole thing.

Anyway, I survived. Now, I told you I'd be honest so I'll just admit I shared mozzarella sticks and onion rings with Ben. I consider it a victory that I didn't cave as I was surrounded by chicken parm and chicken fingers. After several beers it was hard to focus on all of the lovely quotes I've been sharing with you all. That chicken parm looked really good.

I am trying to be honest with myself because I love the way a lot of these foods taste. I love a lot of foods that are bad and gross for us to be eating. I wish I didn't. So I know it's going to be hard sometimes, because I'm going to want bad and gross for me foods. I'm trying to train myself to think about all of the things I'm learning; about what my body needs and how the animals are treated. So maybe one day, I won't even want them anymore. Right now, being aware of all this is key.

What I ate today:

1 cup cheerios

1 cup potato soup

1 grilled cheese (2 pieces of wheat bread, 1 piece of American cheese)

5 or 6 beers

2 mozzarella sticks

3-4 onion rings

I did not weight myself today

Day 9

"diet: (noun) a way of living, or thinking, a day's journey; This was the definition of diet when it entered the English language in the mid-1600s. So simple! So sane! How did this cute little word become synonymous with deprivation, suffering, and---let's be honest---total hell? With the Kind Diet, we are returning the word it its original definitions, for this journey is about changing how you think and live, one day at a time." The Kind Diet

Ask anyone in the U.S. and I bet you they don't know the true definition of "diet". We have become such a diet-crazed society when the real formula is simply eating healthy foods - crappy foods + exercise = weight loss and good health.

I've been lucky enough to be "one of those people" that never really had to diet. Yes, I gained weight in college (thanks to beer and living across the street from a pizza place) and when I look back at the pictures I think to myself "uhhhhh". But, I also ate french fries for lunch everyday freshman year in high school and didn't gain a pound. (Sorry Mom, you didn't know that. And no, I don't recommend trying them as an every day lunch choice.) In a way, people like me are at a disadvantage because we don't have much of a reason to educate ourselves early on about health and nutrition. We can eat whatever we want (pretty much) and don't put on significant amounts of weight (that easily), thus leading to eating crap more often than we should and not doing much about it.

Back in January 2010 when I weighed the most I've ever weighed (including my college years) I realized I ate way too much junk. I hated the way my clothes fit, how my face looked and I started to feel guilty about my eating habits. That hadn't happened before---I knew I had to make some serious changes. I started reading about the food industry, what's really in our food, how animals are treated and so on. I started out by eating "less crap" and exercising...that's it...and I lost 10 pounds that year. And more importantly, I felt better about myself.

In 2011 I started doing yoga...yoga changed my life. My mom and dad told me to give yoga a try a few years ago and I didn't take their advice until January of last year. I found myself saying "you really should have started sooner." Yoga helped me calm my mind, gave me strength and somehow my clothes started fitting better. My mom always said "you lose inches!" Yup, you do. I don't know how it happens, but after a few months of yoga you really do "lose inches." You feel better. You're more focused, more alive and stronger. It's pretty amazing. If you've been wondering about yoga, give it a try. You won't be disappointed!

I think society and the media put way too much emphasis on weight and not enough on health. We have young girls going through their teenage years with serious eating disorders because we aren't learning enough about food and nutrition at a young age. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with food. The above quote, about learning the true definition of "diet" and taking it one day at a time really struck me. We can make little improvements, one day at a time. Baby steps. It's all so overwhelming. My advice is to try changing one thing, do that for a while, then change another. You'll get there, we'll all get there eventually.

Why do we have a "dieting" problem in this country?
Perhaps it's because critics were saying this girl is "too curvy"? Seriously...

Day 8

Change of plans---in addition to The Kind Diet, my daily quotes will be coming from some other sources as well. Today, it's from Crazy, Sexy, Diet by Kris Carr. A little bit about this girl; she's amazing! She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2003, it was stage IV. She took it upon herself to find a way to stay alive and she did just that. I watched the documentary Crazy, Sexy, Cancer several years ago and find her book to be inspiring and potentially life changing. You should read it, everyone should read it! For more on Kris Carr visit her website; www.crazysexylife.com.

"The belief that we need enormous amounts of protein to be healthy and strong is one of the most pervasive myths in America. In fact, overdosing on protein is one of the key reasons why we've become so unhealthy. Studies show that as protein consumption goes up, so do the rates of chronic disease. In truth, protein deficiency is virtually nonexistent in industrialized countries. The USDA's recommended daily allowance for protein is about .36 grams of protein for every pound of body weight." Crazy, Sexy, Diet

For me, that comes out to about 41 grams of protein per day. When you look at the list of plant foods high in protein that is pretty easy to reach. I already eat foods like black beans, brown rice, almonds, peanut butter, peanuts, quinoa, sunflower seeds, broccoli, cashews, spinach, baked potatoes and walnuts on a regular basis. Before giving up the meat I was probably one of those people getting excess protein, considering a chicken breast has about 27g. Now that I'm conscious of what I'm eating each day I can refer to the list and create meals that ensure I'm getting enough protein.

Yum!

Day 7

"Killing is a big deal... We tend to hide from this fact, but let's open our minds to it for just a moment. That was a life. Not it's dead. And it's in your body. These animals experience lives tantamount to humans being strapped into straitjackets, locked in cells, abused by jailers, awaiting nothing but death. Their God-given instincts are repressed and their very beings denied. And by the end, they know what's coming. Don't kid yourself. They can smell the blood. They can sense the fear. They can hear the other animals moaning. Wouldn't you understand, in their position?" The Kind Diet

That's enough to break your heart right there. I can understand how we're not all going to give up meat, and that's ok. Like I mentioned in my last post, I am not even saying I will never eat meat again. But, we can all start learning about the horrendous treatment of these animals. Their filthy living conditions, the despicable ways they are killed, the lives they never have, the jail-like conditions they spend every living day in and the impact this way of life has on our environment.

We choose where we buy our meat from---do we go to a local farm where they raise the animals, feed them what they are supposed to eat (and digest) and let them have space to roam or do we buy from Tyson and Perdue? When we give our money to these money hungry giants that think it's ok to treat animals this way we are saying "it's ok." I am guilty of doing this, I don't know anyone that isn't. I've spent my whole adult life buying chicken, pork and beef from the grocery store and buying "what was on sale." I am now researching different companies and paying more for organic, grass-fed beef and organic chicken. The next step for me will be to find local farms where I can buy meat from to ensure the animals are in fact treated the way the labels claim.

We rescue puppies from puppy mills because they are abused and treated this way. Their living conditions aren't much different from the photos below. For some reason we don't stand up for the pigs, chickens and cows like we do for the puppies. Why is it ok for them to live like this? We can all do something, will you?

Their sad reality. Could you imagine living like this?

7 days with no meat! Wow, I can't believe it's been 7 days that I haven't had one bite of chicken, steak, or bacon. I was telling Andy last night that it's been much easier than I thought it would be. Quoting The Kind Diet and writing how I feel about the quoted topics has really helped me stay committed. The more I think about how disturbing some of this stuff is, the easier it is for me to skip the meat.

I had an apple with peanut butter and some granola for breakfast this morning. My regular appetite is back and I'm going to have to start trying out some of the new recipes I've been bookmarking.
I had leftovers from last night's dinner for lunch. It was nice having something already made when lunchtime arrived. I think I'll be making lots of extra at dinnertime so I have already made lunches!

I went to yoga and since Andy wasn't going to be home for dinner tonight I just had the rest of my soup from Saturday and a salad.

It's 11:30pm and I'm starving! I might have to something before I go to bed because I think I'm too hungry to go to sleep like this.

I have to say, I'm really proud of myself. There have been so many times when I've wanted to try out the "no meat" thing and I always made excuses. "So and so is coming over for dinner","we're going out to dinner","we have a wedding"...blah, blah, blah. There is never going to be a time when you can't find excuses. I am so glad I decided to attempt this challenge because I proved to myself that I can actually do it!! I realize 7 days isn't that long, but it's the first time since I've been eating solid foods that I've gone an entire week without any chicken, beef or pork. I knew giving up the beef and pork (I don't really eat pork, just bacon occasionally) wouldn't be too hard, but I never would have thought I'd be able to give up chicken. Not counting this last week, I would bet my life that you'd find chicken in my diet nearly everyday for the last 10 years. When I think of it that way, it's pretty gross.

Moving into Week #2 I'd like to start incorporating juicing. I bought a juicer a few months ago and haven't used it much. I've made orange juice and grapefruit juice a couple of times. I haven't made any "green" juices or juices with vegetables, period. I'm upping the challenge to myself--for week #2 I will be experimenting with juicing everyday. I plan on starting with Kris Carr's "Make Juice Not War Green Drink." I mean, she basically cured her own cancer so it's probably a good place to start.

"Make Juice Not Wat Green Drink" Kris Carr
-2 large cucumbers (peeled if not organic)
-big fistful of kale
-big fistful of sweet pea sprouts
-4 – 5 stalks celery
-1 – 2 big broccoli stems
-1 pear or green apple (optional)
-1 inch of ginger (or less)

Day 6

"Did you know that more than 50% of the corn grown in the U.S. is eaten by animals? Roughly 8% of corn grown is for human food use. 60 million acres of the U.S. are devoted to growing hay primarily for livestock, while we use only 13 million acres to grow fruits & vegetables. While 1.2 billion people do not have enough to eat every day, we're bending over backward to make damn sure the 20 billion cows, pigs, and chickens are getting fatter and fatter by the minute." The Kind Diet

The quote above really got me. If you know me, you know it causes me great pain to throw food away. I hate wasting it. I joke that I must have lived through The Great Depression in another life because I don't know many other people like me. I am actually proud I don't like to waste food---I think it says that I am grateful that I even have food. I can understand how all of this information may be overwhelming. It just keeps coming and coming and there is no end in site. Who knew that we devote almost 5x as much land to feeding animals that feed people, than feeding people! And, the most frustrating part to me is the fact that cows are supposed to eat grass!!! Instead they are being fed corn and grain and all kinds of things they are not built to digest because there isn't enough grass to feed the obscene amount of animals we raise and kill every second. We do whatever we can to feed 20 billion animals an unnatural (but cheaper) diet to plump them up and produce as much meat as possible (filled with antibiotics and hormones among other things) but don't do a whole lot to feed the hungry people in the world? Learning about all of this really makes you think about our priorities as a society. Greed has taken over and it's out of control. Where is our government in all of this? How is this happening? I keep asking myself these questions and feel like there is nothing I can do. But then I sign the petitions, try to tell other people what's going on, and make the difference I am able to make right now.

Yup, cows are supposed to eat grass...

Day 5

"The meat industry has a nasty reputation for not containing its waste very well. Not only does the poo, fertilizers, and other sludge get into the soil, it can also leach into nearby rivers and water tables. We have strict laws about the disposal of human waste but none for the animal equivalent, and according to Worldwatch Institute, U.S. livestock produces 130 times more waste than people do!" The Kind Diet

Um, ewwwwww!!! This is just the very beginning of the disgusting facts you can find when you really start digging. I remember there being a lot of information about the environmental effects of our livestock in The Omnivore's Dilemma. I feel like the environmental impact of the meat industry is something that is overlooked, rarely acknowledged, and sorely in need of some attention!!! We need to wake up...we are ruining our clean water supply, messing up the food chain, taking away animals' habitats, wasting resources and slowly killing the Earth. The damage happens at a much faster rate than you would think and it will take centuries to start reversing these effects. I find it scary that there are millions of people out there that don't give a damn! They don't even take the extra step (not that it's even an extra step anymore) to recycle in their own homes. They are teaching their children that the environment doesn't matter, that we don't have a responsibility to take care of it.  What about making sure our children and grandchildren can enjoy clean water and green grass and oxygen so they can breathe?!? It makes my blood boil, it really does. So I realize there is A LOT of work to do on getting people to open their eyes to the very real problems effecting our environment. The food industry is a major one and I hope people start paying attention.

We kind of need this to stay clean, don't we?

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?

Day 3

"Meat contributes to cancer. Dioxin is the most toxic chemical known to science and is recognized as a human carcinogen. It is estimated that 93% of our exposure to dioxin comes from eating animal products." The Kind Diet

There are 3 things I am most petrified of happening to me---being raped, getting shot and being told I have cancer. When I watched the movie 50/50 I could almost feel what the main character was feeling when the doctor told him he had cancer. I'm scared to death of those words exiting a doctors mouth with me on the other side of his desk. If this a fear you share with me, watch Forks over Knives and take what you will away from it. If you dive deeper into the studies available about this topic (such as The China Study) you will be blown away. The foods we eat are feeding cancer! Isn't food supposed to be something we can't live without, not something that may shorten the number of years we live? I don't need to say much more, the quote above says it all. Cut down on the amount of animal products you consume and you'll cut down on the amount of ammunition you are feeding cancer cells that could already be living within you.



Imagine a world without cancer!

Day 2

"People used to say, 'Listen to your body' and I had no idea what they meant. 'What is my body saying? I don't know...it's here." The Kind Diet

This quote actually made me laugh inside, because I know exactly what she means! After reading through these books I've thought the same things to myself. How do I listen to my body? One of the reasons I am doing this challenge is to find out. I've read about the changes that occur when we go without meat for a length of time and I want to see what it's like. Now, Alicia gave up meat and dairy and she probably experienced more intense changes than I will because of it.  I'm not there yet. Like I mentioned the other day, I hardly eat dairy anyway but I love pizza and I'm not ready to give it up. I don't know that I ever will be. Anyway, I hope at the end of these 4 weeks I'm able to look back at this post and know what it means to "Listen to your body."

What if we just paid attention to what we need?

Day 1

I've decided to use a quote from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone each day. Maybe you aren't aware of what's going on and want to learn just a little bit...maybe you'll want to learn even more and you'll read one of these books. Who knows?!? It's taken me years to take this step. The quotes I am using are the ones that hit me hard and made me decide to do this for real. I will briefly comment on the quote and then share about my day. I will also list at the end of my post what I ate that day and my weight.

"How could I spend so much energy saving one group of animals, then turn around and eat other ones? There was a fundamental hypocrisy in my thinking. Weren't they all living beings? Why did we buy some of them cute little doggy beds while slaughtering others? I had to ask myself- in all seriousness- why don't I just eat my dog?" The Kind Diet

Wow, when I read this I thought it made so much sense, it made me feel like a hypocrite too. I've always loved pigs and used to want one as a pet (I can't even get Andy to say yes to a cat so I'm pretty sure a pet pig isn't happening.) I love animals in general and have always felt "connected" to them. If I had to stare an animal in the face, or see babies being dragged away from their mothers before I ate them, I probably wouldn't be able to do it. We are so far removed from what our food is (cute little pigs, chicks, cows, etc.) and how they are treated (we'll get to that later) that it's pretty easy to eat meat and not feel too bad about it.

How freaking cute is this guy?

A Challenge to Myself

It's been over two years since I first set out with the goal to lose some weight and learn about eating healthy. The scale had tipped 130 and I felt disgusting. To some that may sounds ridiculous, but for me--- I had let myself go, I felt crappy, my pants weren't fitting and my face was chubby. I had to do something about it. You can read about the beginning of this journey here when I was first started to learn about making better choices.

In those 2+ years I have read books like Skinny Bitch, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Crazy, Sexy, Diet and The Kind Diet. I've watched documentaries such as Forks Over Knives, Fat,Sick & Nearly Dead, Food Matters and Food Inc. Guess what? They all tell you the same things! And that tells me this isn't a bunch of bullshit---we are killing ourselves with the food we put in our bodies. Milk, eggs and meat aren't of the same quality they once were when our parents and grandparents were growing up. You may not buy into the thinking of Forks Over Knives; that animal protein is bad for us. But, it's hard to argue that the hormones, antibiotics and other disgusting things found in our food mentioned in these books and documentaries are a good idea to put in our bodies! Not to mention the appalling and cruel ways animals are treated almost all of the time.

So far, educating myself has been a roller coaster. Most times when I was reading one of the aforementioned books I would make better choices. All of the information was in my face and it was hard to eat a burger or taco after reading about what ends up in our meat. But then, I'd finish the book, time would go on, and the info would lose it's "top of mind" status. I've tried to share this information with the people I love, not to start arguments or preach to them, but to at least make them aware there is information out there they should be aware of. I've always been able to acknowledge that even though I was sharing/discussing this information, I haven't made any permanent changes.

Can I say I will never eat pizza, my favorite chicken dishes or a perfectly seasoned aged steak again? Not right now. But something has changed for me after reading The Kind Diet. The description of animal cruelty that occurs everyday really got to me, to the point I had tears falling down my face and it felt painful to continue reading. I've read this stuff before but the way this book was written, it struck me big time. Obviously the reminder of the conditions in which these animals live, the filth, disease and drugs that end up in our food was influential as well.

Right now, the thought of eating meat disgusts me, so I am challenging myself to eliminate meat from my diet over the next four weeks. I'm not going to put the pressure on myself to give up dairy too, I already don't each much dairy and think I need to allow myself to eat pizza while I go through this. Maybe down the road I will eliminate dairy as well, but for now I'm happy with going meatless to start.

My goal is to write about this journey everyday. Something consistent throughout these books is the four week timeline. They all say within those four weeks you will really start to notice changes in your energy, skin, sleeping habits and how you feel overall. Writing about it will document my progress and help keep me accountable. We'll see where I am at the end of these four weeks.

Spring is about rejuvenation, cleansing, new life, and being open. My challenge to myself will start on the first day of Spring. What better time to start?

Are you trying to make changes like this too? Do you have books or documentaries you recommend? If you've already started a journey like this what have been your greatest challenges? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!