Day #7: For real this time :)

Ok, so let me start by correcting an error in my last blog. Today is actually day #7 and not yesterday, by skipping the weekend in my blog writing I got myself all turned around. I have recovered my counting skills and can proudly proclaim today as day #7 and I am still going strong.

Something that has been happening within the last few days is that more people are asking questions. I actually don't mind this at all and encourage them. It helps me to solidify my original goal even stronger within myself, which is to be more healthy. So please ask anything you want, I will answer to the best of my abilities and if I don't answer sufficiently for you, than just keep asking questions.

As for my health, I will report that one of the things I have noticed the most is that my energy level is sooooo much higher. I used to come home from work and be so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open, there were many a days when I would pass out on the couch watching tv. Not that this is abnormal, but for me I felt so weak and could barely drag myself to the couch. Now I come home from work and have energy to make dinner and spend time in my garden and still watch a movie or tv with Michael. This is a whole new world and I love it.

Another thing that has happened is that I have begun to lose weight. My exercise regime began this process but the new eating habits have definitely helped it along. I stepped on the scale and almost fainted. I have broken through to a number I have not see on that scale in ten years or more! It is very exciting for me and encourages me to continue.

I understand that my eating habits may not be for everyone. I remind you that I had to do something drastic to get my health back. I am not following any specific diet, I know that for me I had to make a lifestyle change. Diets never worked for me. I am just asking you to follow my journey, see what you think, you do not have to do what I am doing, but who knows maybe it will be inspiring. So feel free to ask question after question or just comment. Strive to be the healthiest human being and continue to grow everyday. That really is what it's all about in the end. :)

Namaste

*Don't forget to follow my other blog all about gardening! http://radfieldfarms.blogspot.com

Day #7: Dinner Party

I'll be honest and admit that one of my fears of becoming a vegetarian was that it would separate me from my friends. I mean, it is a huge life change and that naturally impacts your life. As I have written in a previous blog, people have proven to have passionate reactions to this new behavior of mine. So I thought I would put it all to the test.

Now I love getting together with a group of friends and laughing and having great conversation. I enjoy having them in my home and entertaining. Mike and I had already planned to have some friends over for a game night long before I started this quest, so what better time to see if I could mesh my new veggie world with the ones I enjoy so much.

The dilemma for me was figuring out how I could make everyone comfortable, letting the meat eaters have their meat and the vegetarians (two of us) have none. I didn't want it to feel segregated, I wanted good food that everyone could enjoy. Mike and I brainstormed and the end result, I think, was very successful.

We wanted appetizers and a main dish. We made homemade bruschetta and Crab Rangoon for appetizers, obviously the bruschetta was for me. For the main dish we decided it would be fun to have everyone make their own pizza. Mike and I made the dough for the crust beforehand and the sauce as well. We set out toppings like cheese, spinach, mushrooms, olives, pepperoni and let everyone make whatever kind of pizza they wanted. This way the veggie people could pile it on and the non-vegetarians had their choice of meat as well. They were delicious and a big hit with everyone :) No one felt segregated or out of place and it was awesome!

It was also so awesome that our guests brought appetizers of their own to share that were vegetarian and yummy. It meant a lot to me to know that they cared about my new quest and supported me as well. We had some tasty bean salsa and a dish of goat cheese and spinach with sun-dried tomatoes too. In the end I had nothing to worry about. We spent a wonderful evening with our friends, filled with laughter, good food and did I mention the amazing Martinis!

So it is possible to throw a dinner party even as a vegetarian and I proved it to myself! :) So to Carrol, Larry, Hillary, Lucas and Katy, Mike and I thank you for a wonderful evening and great friendship!! We can't wait to do it all again!

Day #4: Frustration

Ok so I am over half way through the first week. By far the hardest part has been the new recipes. Trying to find ones that we like, things we would not mind eating again. We don't have old favorites we can fall back on here, we have never eaten this way. It is a very odd experience. We have to rebuild the palate in some sense.

At the end of a long day when you just want to go home, relax on the couch and eat a delicious dinner, this is where the frustration can creep in . We try something new every night, this can be a fun exhilerating experience, but it does not always pan out. So when you drag yourself home after that difficult day and that dinner doesn't quite work out, it can be sorely disappointing.

I think part of it is also the withdrawals from eating my comfort foods, getting away from what I know. I think we all have inside of us that stubborn 2-year-old child who wants to throw a tantrum and rebel at the mention of change. I can feel that rebellion boiling up inside. I knew it would be coming at some point, but I will prevail. I won't give in, I will exercise that will-power I have kept locked away for this very moment. Darn you, Spaghetti and meatballs, for creeping in my stressed out mind and taunting my rebellious child inside, Darn you I say! Change takes time.

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Ok, so normally I like to put up a picture of what we ate, but unfortunately there were some camera issues and I was not able to get the pictures. We had sweet potatoe burritos with salsa tonight. Like I said, we weren't thrilled with dinner tonight. It was ok, but nothing I would run to do again.

Day #3: Reactionary Life

Here we are at day number three and I'm not tempted to throw in the towel yet. I enjoy the feeling of doing something good for my health. I feel accomplished everyday that I stick to being a vegetarian.

It is a new world though to me. People look at you differently, at least when they hear you say you are a vegetarian. It seems just uttering the word brings out passionate opinions from everyone you speak to. I must admit that this quirky detail took me aback. This is a personal choice I am making, it is not a decision that I took lightly. It certainly is not an easy lifestyle choice at all. I have done this for myself and I don't expect anyone else to conform to my thinking, and yet some people act like I have raised a personal afront against their way of life.

It is amusing to me the need that arises in some to talk to me and help me see the error of my ways and come back to the light. Some have been humorous and others passionately serious. I had my first restaurant experience as a vegetarian today. I ordered a very yummy lunch and asked that they hold the shrimp, a very short time later the cook came out and asked me if I was sure. She said "You always get the shrimp when you come in ." ( I swear I have only been there a few times) I explained that I was a vegetarian now and she asked me why. Now, she was very nice and sweet and meant no harm, but what a reaction.

I get asked the age old question all the time as well; "Where will you get your protein?" I think vegetarians have been asked this for years. I am trying to be healthy and take care of my body. I am fully aware that I need protein and vitamins and iron. There is no need for a lack of these things in a vegetarian's diet and many staple foods in this are filled with protein and iron.

It is funny that no one seemed nearly as concerned with my eating habits when I was killing myself with fast food and sweets, but now that I am eating healthy people can't seem to "help" me enough. I get it though. Change is uncomfortable even to watch in someone else. There is a deep, underlying urge when we see someone who's path is different than our own, to reach out and try to pull them along side us. Maybe it is a need to feel validated and right about our path and choices in life. I really don't have the answer, but at 34 there is one thing I finally learned. Life is never black and white and I am so happy about that. There are so many colors and differences and I have no control over any of them.

There is a word made popular in Yoga and used in Napal and India; Namaste. Literally it means "I bow to you". It is a show of respect to another. It has come to have many different meanings today, but the basic idea is, "I respect you and recognize the worth in us both." What a beautiful sentiment. In the words of the great Maya Angelou, "We are more alike than we are unalike." So walk my path or have another way, but just remember that in the end we are all in this world together.

Namaste

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On the dinner plate tonight: I made a spanish rice in the slow cooker today. It had bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, chilis, tomato sauce, brown rice and cooked in beer (yes, I said beer). For the main course we had hot portobello mushroom sandwiches with spinach. I loved the sandwiches and enjoyed the rice. It was a bit rich, but good. I will admit that Mike was not a huge fan of it at all so we will not be seeing a lot of it in our future. Hey, we are learning as we go right? :)

Day #2

Ok, so day 2 down now. I tried to up my food intake a bit today to try to curb the hunger that comes in now and then. I do want to make clear that it is not severe hunger by any means, I am not torturing myself. I just notice that I am hungry more often. I have always heard that you should eat snacks and small meals throughout the day, but I never imagined the need for it.

Most people are shocked when I say that I rarely would even eat three meals a day, there were days when it was just dinner that I ate. So many seem to believe that if you are overweight you must be eating a lot of food or excess calories. Our bodies are very intricate and complicated machines and so many factors can play into weight gain. Eating too little can be just as damaging to your metabolism as eating too much.

So this is me trying to learn a new way of life. Learning to eat to live and not live to eat, as they say. When I try to explain this experiment to the more skeptical of my friends I compare it to a computer needing to be hard booted and restarted. I am hard booting my body, taking things down to the most simple and healthy they can be in order to install a new program of healthier eating and living. I don't know what lies beyond this 26 days, but I will have a very healthy base point in which to build from.

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Ok now I seem to have a lot of interest in the dinners that we choose to make here in my house, so I have included another picture above. Tonight, Mike made a lentil soup with celery, tomatoes, carrots, and onions with basil and a side of whole wheat roll. It was actually very yummy and filling. I didn't feel deprived at all. :)

Healthy Snack: I am originally from Washington state where at every Mexican restaurant they serve what they call Cabbage Salsa. I love this stuff so much that years ago my sister tracked down a recipe and now I make it all the time. It is healthy and good for you with cabbage and tomatoes, red onions, jalepenos, and cilantro. I can fill up on this and not feel guilty at all. If you want the recipe let me know!

Day #1

So it's 9:36 pm and I survived my entire first day of being a vegetarian. Now I am not going to lie and tell you that it was easy, it was not. I will say that it was not impossible and that is a very big deal indeed. I have a feeling I will be learning a lot in this first week.

What I learned today is that I am hungry a lot more often in the day than usual. I will have to learn ways to curb that or eat enough that I am not famished. I do well in the mornings, I eat breakfast (oatmeal or organic cereal), I have a snack I bring to work which is a mixture of soy nuts, pumpkin seeds, Almonds and dried cranberries that really keeps the hunger at bay until lunch. At lunch I had some whole wheat pasta, tomatoe sauce and steamed broccoli and then at dinner we had roasted bell peppers on whole wheat rolls with pesto and melted cheese with a side of seasoned quinoa. Dinner was really good and satisfying (pictured in this blog). I guess it just seemed that the food burned faster today leaving me a bit hungry a lot quicker than usual.

I am excited that I have begun this journey and thrilled that I made it to day #2. I am more than happy to hear from anyone out there for suggestions or just plain moral support. If you notice a meal that sounds yummy let me know and I will be happy to share the recipe with you all. Here's to a bright tomorrow and continued health!

And So It Begins.......

And so it begins........At 34 years old I have decided that I need to take an active, aggressive role in taking back my health. I am tired of being on one pill after another and looking the other way hoping it all just works out.

I am not a healthy man at 34, maybe it is part genetics, maybe it is lifestyle, but I am running out of time for excuses. For a decade I have been on blood pressure pills and cholesterol, baby aspirin, and now for 4 years it has been pills for diabetes. Reading the labels on these is enough to scare Stephen King. I am so tired of putting things into my body that I do not understand, waiting for the blood work to come back and tell me if I still have a liver from it all. I knew something had to change, but in the middle of it all I was too overwhelmed to even know where to start.

The Decision: My good friend and co-worker, Hillary, talks to me everyday about wellness and health. She is a vegetarian and we both believe in being the best that we can be. She told me about a documentary where six people go on a journey that reverses their diabetes. I was able to find it online and sat down to watch it with my partner that very night.

These people went on a strictly raw diet for 30 days. No food was even cooked past 118 degrees, there was no caffeine, no processed foods and no dairy either. After 30 days their blood sugar stabilized without medication and they were off all other meds all together. It was like a dream come true for so many of us out here. I was intrigued, my partner was skeptical.

After talking about it together we came to a compromise: The Vegetarian Experiment. In real life there are things to consider: budget, time, relationship, and health. As for budget, lets face it, in this country it costs a lot more to eat healthy. It is easy and cheaper to hit the drive through for their .99 cent menu, or pick up a boxed dinner to throw together after a long day. Things have got to fit into our busy lives as well, it cannot take hours to prepare one meal.

I knew that I would also need the support of my partner or else I could not make it. He loves his steak and burgers and I did not want to impose my decision on him, but I needed his support. We made a compromise; he could eat whatever he wanted away from me (at work, out with friends) and when we were together we would go vegetarian. He didn't have to, but he loves me and wants me healthy as well.

Finally, as with any huge life change, be careful. It is highly recommended that you have a doctor to talk to through it all. I am going to monitor myself closely; blood sugar levels, blood pressure.

This is it though, I have to do something. I don't know if it will help at all, I have no idea what will come at the end of such a short time, but I hope for better. I don't expect a miracle, a cure of it all, I just want better. Better than where I started, a step closer to living longer, a new approach to living my life. I lost my father at 57, an aunt in her 50s and a cousin in her 30s. The time is now. ..........And so it begins!