We Made It!!!

1 whole week of vegetarianism and we finally made it! Towards the end I was getting a little worried about Daniel but he pulled through in the end. I think Ben and I could've gone longer but negotiations with Kris broke down. After the 3rd or 4th day I think it gets much much easier. Now I'm excited to watch another go through a similar journey and I will give him access to the blog.

Since we made it Gildas agreed to trying gluten free for a week. Yesterday was supposed to be his first day but he already cheated and ate an Eggo yesterday. He was supposed to start right after we finished at 12:01am Wednesday so now we'll need help coming up with a special punishment for him. I'm thinking adding no mangoes, noodles, or rice to his 1 week of no gluten.

I've noticed Ben and Daniel stopped posting. They're probably too busy eating meat. My first meat meal yesterday was with Ben and that steak and chicken drumstick tasted more tender and juicy than I ever remembered it. It just melted in my mouth and the satisfying feeling I got after eating it was amazing. After that I went to Iggy's birthday dinner and I had a hamburger with a fried egg on top. Eggs and meat has to be one of my favorite combinations and this was no exception. It tasted magical.

Just reading this makes me hungry for more meat. Thankfully tonight I'll be going to http://www.mikabuffet.com/sushi_gallery for the rehearsal dinner tonight and I'm going to eat the crap out of that fish. I still haven't had fish in a week.

Worst time ever to be vegetarian

This one week challenge has been especially hard on me. I've been a little under the weather lately and haven't really eaten very well. It's not because I don't eat vegetables, it's because I'm lazy. When work is tough, I'm grab whatever I can. Instead, it's going down to the lunch room and figuring things out.

This weekend, we took a trip to Portland for a wedding. We had breakfast at Mother's and the vegetarian options were pretty limited. I didn't eat much during the day, not trying the food trucks. For the wedding, thankfully it was mostly vegetarian. I ate a lot but still never felt full.

On our way up to Olympia, Tukie's mom had snow crab and crawfish. That looked pretty good.

Now, I'm still feeling sick, hungry, and tired. I've been working a lot lately and have a lot of events going on in general. I'm not getting enough rest and not eating as well.

I think being vegetarian is stupid. It makes sense if you have a moral, economic, or religious reason for doing so. If you're doing it for health, use your brain instead. It doesn't make sense to deprive yourself arbitrarily on certain food items.

If I offended any vegetarians out there. Good... I'm very hangry right now!

Cookfest

Staying vegetarian over the weekend was not easy. I tend to eat much more meat over the weekend then I normally do. On the weekdays I try to eat a healthier lunch and we have soccer and rock climbing so we have less time for dinner.

Sunday happened to be our turn to host our monthly cookfest gathering and I had to make slow cooked carnitas and some seasoned ground beef for tacos without tasting it. Even worse everyone just had to tell me how delicious it was. I've never made carnitas before and when it came out of the slow cooker and just fell off the bone I couldn't help but drool as I pulled it apart and broiled it. We almost finished the 4.5 lb pork shoulder but thankfully there's some left for our day of salvation.

For myself and the other vegetarians I made a barbecue sauced tofu. I haven't prepared very much tofu in the past but this was surprisingly tasty and very easy to prepare. Eating it was another story. I think my whole life I've been conditioned to savor the middle of the taco since that's normally the meat bunches up with all the sides and where all the flavors come together. With tofu there just isn't that same texture and sensation reaching the middle of the taco. I got the crunch of the cabbage, soft velvety texture from the guac and sour cream, but it was missing that tender and juicy piece of meat in the middle to bring it all together.

I was also thankful that my girlfriend thoughtfully prepared me some vegetarian potato leek soup that I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, as I approached her she drinking (literally) the last drop of soup and had forgotten to leave me any! Hsu Han! Hangry!!

Writing this makes me feel hungry again but at least I can find some solace that we are 2 days away... Unless we extend it.

Still alive...

The three of us survived the weekend. It was not easy...all three of us were at events that we originally planned on going to and the events all had delicious meat dishes at them. The reality of the situation is it's only a week, but it's amazing how different your eating habits can change in this short period of time. I don't think you realize what you are eating daily until you take out a major food group. Once you take something away you also realize what you are missing on a regular basis. I was never really the biggest fan of vegetables, if I could I would wrap all vegetables in bacon and eat it that way. Now I have to plan my meals which then gives me visibility into what I am eating. Yup that is a good thing but man so much work just to eat!

With two days left and midnight on Tuesday coming closer, there is a possibility I might choose to extend this and go another week or try and shoot for the end of the month. Daniel has said he can't do it but he would do it if he could have seafood. That actually does sound enticing. Two days left though anything can happen. For now I just need to get to midnight on Tuesday and then make a decision how to proceed. Yes we sound like we are whining but comeon...three meat eaters removing meat from their diet immediately without any real prior planning on how we were going to do this and with people waving meat in front of our faces it's not that easy to deal with =).

Also I've never had so much tofu in my life...i like tofu but man I am eating the crap out of tofu right now. Steamed tofu, grilled tofu, spicy tofu, pan fried tofu, tofu strips, firm tofu, soft tofu...so many tofu options!!

Daniel's nightmare

We are in Olympia having lunch with my parents. I forgot to mention that Daniel isn't eating meat.. or crabs.. or crawfish.. My parents just came back from Alabama with all these delicious seafood, but Daniel can't have any. It is a sad day.

Day 5? Is it Really Day 5 already?

I feel it would be easier if I just wore a sign that said "I'm Vegetarian what can I eat?" Seems like everywhere you go, you have to ask what is in that? Unless it's a vegetarian place of course.

When I spoke with Kris our resident vegetarian he said after reading the blog we are eating like chipmunks or some other type of rodent. He recommended we eat more throughout the day. It's so tiring to eat! I just want to be full and happy! I guess I will try his recommendation.

Yesterday for dinner there was left over steak...how is there leftover steak at a dinner??

Day 4 Recap

Had Indian buffet lunch at spice route in Bellevue. I have to admit Indian people know there vegetarian food. It had variety and was filling. Day 4 so far though has been much much better overall then day 3. Day 3 I felt the meatdrawals all day which mostly amounts to me feeling hungry and drunk all day. Today I finally felt like I'm getting over the hump and on my way to victory. 

However, tomorrow provides a new challenge as we host cookfest and I must provide meat for our guests.