...is how long I made it without eating any meat. And you know what? I'm fine with that. Those 15 meals were long enough to prove that 1) I can survive without the animal flesh, and 2) I'm a happier, healthier person with it.
The first two days weren't too inconvenient. If you think about it, all my meals of PB&J sandwiches, bagels or pasta exclude meat on a regular basis, so I felt like I was giving up surprisingly little.
Then the hunger set in: a constant gnawing within my stomach walls. I was unsatisfied, even when I had just eaten.
"But you're not full," my stomach would say. Well, yeah...that's true. Being a little hungry doesn't necessarily mean you didn't eat enough, though.
"But wouldn't you feel better if you ate some more hash browns, or maybe that doughnut? How about a handful of chocolate chip cookies?" It was beginning to taunt me.
I gave in to the demands. Sometime Sunday, I realized that cutting out meat was leaving me with unrealistic cravings. Hash browns fried into oblivion have absolutely no nutritional value. Two slices of bacon would have provided me protein and fat, at about the same caloric cost.
To dedicated vegetarians, I say: Give me animal flesh or give me death!
Not really; I actually admire people who can eat a veggie diet with no significant shortcomings. But I was sluggish, tired, hungry, cranky and quite possibly unpleasant to be around (although a 3rd party source would have to confirm that). All I could talk about was my diet. And I don't want to be that guy.
To "celebrate," I ate a well-made regular-size Baja Chicken sandwich on wheat bread from Quizno's. I think I can keep the red meat out of my diet for the most part, but without my bird flesh, I'm a fowl person.
(Let that one sink in.)
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