Herbi

During the latter parts of 2006 I spent six weeks volunteer/interning at a no-kill animal sanctuary. There was no pay, no housing, no nothing. But they did feed us once per day.

The other interns and I thus vowed to 'stock up' at lunch, ingesting gross amounts of food so as to avoid having to spend much money, otherwise, on foodstuffs of our own.

I had no trouble with this idea. Anyone who knows me recognizes that I have the appetite of a 300 pound man (or anybody who eats A LOT). Where it all goes, and how it all stays there is beyond me...sort-of (I do have some serious booty). Either way, I can eat with the best of them.

Being a no-kill organization, it was not surprising to learn that our lunches would be a mix of vegetarian and vegan dishes, coupled with one of the most beautiful salad bars that I have ever seen. Honestly, I was in heaven. I love veggies, love when others do the cooking, and soon realized that I loved how I felt, sans meat.

It was therefore determined that I would go vegetarian for the entirety of my six weeks at the sanctuary. I can honestly say that I felt wonderful while there and...almost made it to the end of the internship without a burger. I could hear it yelling my name one night, I swear!

So, to get to present-day...

Amongst my 101 things... list is the desire to 'be a vegetarian' for one full month. Why?

There are a few reasons.

First, it is hard work. Really. Especially when others aren't doing the cooking and you are surrounded by people who regularly eat meat. At the sanctuary, remember, we were greeted with that luscious salad bar and absolutely delicious--and nutritionally balanced--dishes to choose from. I, unfortunately, don't have that luxury. Therefore, it turns into quite the challenge. Although I am not really a big meat eater anyway, sometimes the thought of gnawing on a chicken leg is amazingly tempting.

Second, I really did feel better when I took the meat out of my diet. Perhaps it was a combination of several factors, but I liked the results. So, I wanted to see how much of an influence meat had/has on my overall well-being.

Today marks day 5 as a full-on herbivore. I can't say that I feel great...or that I feel horrible, for that matter. I do worry that I don't get the proper nutrients in my diet, but considering the way I eat on a regular basis, I probably haven't for a long time! For nutritional purposes I will allow myself the occasional can of tuna. Fish is part of some vegetarians' diets anyway.

Whether I will make it the whole 30 days or not is debatable at this point. The mesquite sliced turkey and the left-over fast food fried chicken were yelling at me earlier. Screaming, really. It was so rude.