Day 25

Surprise, surprise. Day 25 was also filled with work. Luckily, it was a short shift and I have Sunday off. I'll be attempting to cook something for myself and possibly others as a change of pace from this week. Besides, eating out is getting stupid expensive.

I started off the day by having breakfast with my lovely girlfriend at our local farmer's market. I ordered the Eggs Benedict which I was a little ambiguous about. I don't eat eggs particularly often and milk aside, I've eaten no animal products at all for the last 25 days. So I wasn't entirely sure how my body would process it. I was also a little paranoid about the Hollandaise Sauce, for those of you that don't know...hrm..better leave it that way. Luckily everything seems to have gone well. I have no upset stomach nor do I have explosive diarrhea. I really can't complain.

After work I went over to my friend's place to fix her computer, she was quite the gracious host and offered me a plethora of things while I did so. She's vegetarian as well, so again, I didn't have to worry too much about what I was being fed. She offered me some very nice coffee to which she added added cinnamon (something I've never thought of, or done) as well as some -amazing- ginger and pistachio indian cookies. They were divine and so soft they crumbled in your hand as you ate them. Thanks Gabrielle.

I had my typical Huo Guo (Chinese "Hot Pot") from Zen Gardens after work. It's a delicious and nutritious way to end the night; plus I get a nice discount on them if we have any remaining.

Aside from that...hrm..nothing really. T minus 5 days.

Day 24

Nothing exciting today anyway.

I will post today's summary tomorrow.

UPDATE
Sorry about the late post, I know I'm notorious for it. I just had other obligations after work yesterday and those were my priority.

Friday was just another day at work, I had lunch with my girlfriend at lunch time at Cafe Maelstrom since they have a good selection of vegetarian options. My other meals were Zen Gardens based. Aside from that, nothing special.

My mood, energy levels and overall fatigue has been good. I've been taking my vitamins daily without forgetting too often. Which I did at the start of my experiment. I simply never mentioned it since it isn't life-altering of crucial.

That's all for now!

Day 23

Fairly boring day as a vegetarian, no special meals or events. I worked all day and my meals mostly consisted of Zen Gardens food. I got to work early since I needed to shovel and salt the outside of the teahouse. I didn't even have time to buy my typical coffee/pastry from Cafe Cognito. The cook (my boss) was kind enough to give me a large plate of dumplings; when I saw them I was sooo happy I could of nearly cried. They really hit the spot.

I've also had a mild headache most of the day, which I've kept mostly at bay with Advil Liquid Gels. I've been hungry for a good part of the day too, but I think that's due to the fact that I haven't eaten a whole lot.

Sorry for the short and mediocre post! I'll try to have something interesting to post about later this week.

Day 22

Nothing too exciting happened today. My energy levels are fine as is my mood. I ate Enchiladas at Calactus today, the meal was good, as I remembered, but extremely filling.

I also distributed my blog address to a bunch of girls sitting at a table at work today. Nothing like shameless propaganda.

One of them is doing a similar 30 day thing with Vegan-ism, so I gave her my address so that perhaps it would be helpful for her.

That's pretty well it for today!

Day 21

Day 21, it has been exactly 3 weeks to the day and with the final day looming ahead, I can't help but wonder whether or not I should return to my previous diet or if I should attempt to stick with this for an extended period of time.

I also am wondering more frequently about my weight gains or losses and whether I'd gain (or lose) it back if I started eating meat again. I definitely believe I could stick with my current reduced portions without much difficulty, but there are meals I miss more and more.

I ate vegetarian sushi today! It was delicious! I went to Pink Sushi and I found out that they have a few (very few) vegetarian selections. I think those will be able to sate me until after I (if) decide to eat meat.

Nothing too exciting happened today, so I'll keep it brief. Also,I want to ask my lovely audience what I should do once I finish my 30 days. Should I stick with my vegetarianism? Should I slowly ease myself back into meat-eating? Should I just dive right in? Should I make any changes at all? Should I start an experiment? I just need suggestions about what I need to do next. If you do leave a suggestion, pleaes do so in the comment section.

Day 20

Unbelievably tired. I actually had some questions to ask my audience and things of interest to write about. But I'm falling asleep at the keyboard as it is. I'll try to post something of substance tomorrow.

Sorry all, forgive me!

UPDATE
So during Day 20 I went to my favorite coffee shop, Cafe Cognito, one of the employees there, aware of my new-found vegetarianism, offered me a "Lara Bar". It's a type of vegetarian friendly granola bar that is devoid of: dairy products, gluten, soy, added-sugar; it is also vegan, kosher, unprocessed and raw and has one serving of fruit.

I’ve come to realise, or rather, be extremely thankful that I have Zen Garden food so close at hand. I constantly get freebies which really help fill out some minor gaps in my diet. It’s truly fantastic.

I also had a falafel wrap from Megawraps, it was actually quite good and very filling, but it felt nice to have something of sustenance to go on for the rest of the evening. If it has not become apparent, I have a small penchant for falafel wraps. Sorry, if this seems like a remake of the post when I mentioned Pita Zone.

I was extremely, extremely tired today. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep the previous night and it definitely had a huge effect on me. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be due to my diet, which is a good sign.

Well, this concludes another late posted...uh..post, by Joel.

Day 19

Day 19 was fairly standard. Hunger wasn’t overly prevalent, but I think I was more aware of it than earlier this week. This is probably because most meals today were fairly light. I also worked a lot this week, which left me with less time to notice it.

I started my Sunday by going to Cafe Maelstrom with my friend Gabrielle; she’s pesco-vegetarian, so we eat at the same places, plus she’s pretty cool as well. We had a typical French breakfast which was basically coffee, haha. I had my usual, a double latte, which was really good, as they always are at Maelstrom. It was a pretty relaxing and fun way to start the day.

Later during the evening I went out with a good friend of mine, Pierre, for supper and a movie. Though he is not vegetarian he often eats like one. He had no qualms with going to a vegetarian friendly restaurant to assist me in following my dietary constraints. We hit up Asian Garden, an Indian restaurant. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful; she checked whether the soup had any animal stock. She thought it might, but after checking with the kitchen she informed us that it was animal stock free! I was quite pleased by this since I like soup. Asian Garden has a fairly extensive list of vegetarian selections and it was a little difficult choosing between the various dishes. It wasn’t my first time there and once again, I wasn’t disappointed. The food was delicious, the portions were a good size and the protein, vegetables, and carbohydrates servings were well really well balanced. I know this blog isn’t a blog about restaurants but the service was excellent and overall, I have to give this place a 9.5/10 if not 10/10.

After our movie, Pierre offered me some leftover cake from a party last night. I was actually quite good and vegetarian-friendly since they made it themselves. Hurrah!

That’s pretty well it for this Sunday. All in all, it was a good day. As you can tell, I took the day fairly easy since it’s my only day off this week.

PS: Look, I posted on time! Amazing!

Day 18

Day 18 was nothing special. I believe this is the most uneventful day I've had to date. My energy levels were fine, as was mood and hunger. I madea vegetarian meal for some family members this afternoon, which they all seemed to really enjoy. That's pretty well it though; I didn't even have any interesting thoughts, or qualms concerning the vegetarian lifestyle.

If anyone has questions concerning my experiment thus far, please feel free to ask.

Day 17

Sorry, I'm home later than expect and extremely tired...again. I was not expecting to arrive home so late. I should definitely have some time to post before my shift tomorrow afternoon.

UPDATE

Day 17 went fairly well. I am continuing my efforts to eat more often and relatively well, trying to balance carbohydrates, proteins and vegetables. However, I am not eating or balancing quite as well as I’d like; I would definitely prefer to increase my portions of vegetables and for less of my meals to be “quick”. Some more elaborate meals would be nice.

I definitely had some of the worst “meat pangs” I’ve experienced to date. My girlfriend and I went to Pink Sushi and met up with our friend, Alex. While waiting for Alex to finish his shift we sat at the sushi bar and had a drink. I can most assuredly say that I miss eating certain things that contain meat, such as (you guessed it!) sushi. Sitting at the sushi bar and looking at all the delicious sushi made me crave it terribly.

Once Alex finished cleaning we went out to The Pump House Brewery, located on Orange Lane, for a few more drinks as well as some food. This pub is somewhat famous for its locally brewed beer but it also happens to have excellent pub food. Something some of you may have noticed is that pubs don’t have a lot of vegetarian-friendly foods; pretty much everything contains meat. Being the non-meat-eater that I am, I opted for the “Roasted Veggie” pizza. It was fairly good and my girlfriend let me steal some her (vegetarian!) nachos too. The fact that nearly everything on a pub menu contains meat only makes you crave it more; probably in part because you can’t have it and because a lot of it is really good.

As a side note: Hurrah beer! I am extremely thankful that beer, wine and nearly all alcoholic beverages are meat/animal free (I’m certain there are exceptions, like the “Bacon Martini”, I saw some time ago). I’m fairly certain that I would go mad if I wasn’t able to participate in social events that involve coffee, tea or alcohol; or I’d drop dead from envy. Seriously, who wants to always be the designated driver?

Day 16

The usual night shenanigans have kept me from posting. So as usual, a normal post will follow in short order. I promise.

UPDATE
Okay, so...I did post, but it wasn't a normal post nor was it in the morning.

I've been trying to keep basic notes about my days and eating habits in my Mandarin notebook, since I haven't found a "proper" one. That’s working fairly well, which makes recalling a day past or two not excessively hard.

Since beginning this experiment I have not once felt extremely full or bloated from eating, until Thursday that is. I had a Falafel-Hummus wrap from Pita Zone and it was extremely filling (as well as delicious). I’m not sure why this had the effect of making me so full, but it did. It was a little strange. Prior to that meal I didn’t have particularly large amounts of food either, I had a light breakfast a number of hours beforehand and perhaps a small snack but nothing else.

Also, I was in a really bad mood that day. I’m not certain if there are any correlations between my diet or energy levels; or perhaps I simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Regardless, I was in a terrible mood all day.

I was once again somewhat tired until I ate later in the afternoon. Work was fairly slow, which didn’t help. Most likely a combination of low food intake and a slow work day increased my fatigue.

I had to admit that I’m quite curious about weight gains or losses. It really bothers me that I don’t have a scale to monitor this because it’s somewhat important. I have noticed that my clothes a little looser though, but that may just be my imagination.

Do I look healthier to anyone? I wonder.

Day 15

Today went much, much better than the past few days. I made a big effort to eat more and eat relatively healthy, balanced meals. I definitely was less tired than yesterday, though I did take a nap this afternoon and work was busier; which, as I said previously, keeps me more awake.

Something I've felt on a few occasions is a growing contempt for meat. Which is very strange. I know that I have no valid reason to dislike meat, but I feel as though I should. Perhaps these are the signs of early conformism or perhaps I'm simply embodying the role of my vegetarian-persona?

I love soup; particularly on cold winter days. So after my shift I headed next door to Cafe Archibald. I find that both Cafe Archibald and Cafe Maelstrom have excellent soup selections, often vegetarian. When I entered I was greeted by a waitress and asked her what today's "Soup du Jour" was, she replied that it "Vegetable Soup". I found the title a little generic but I assumed it would suit me fine. I was wrong. My newfound vegetarian meat-paranoia kicked in and I was prompted to ask her if there was any chicken stock used in the "Vegetable Soup". I've heard of certain places doing this, so I wasn't entirely shocked to find out that the soup contained "a little" chicken stock. After that, I wasn't really in the mood the peruse their entire menu for something vegetarian-friendly edible. I made my apologies and just left.

As I've said before, I haven't been vegetarian for very long. In fact I still ate meat 15 days ago, nonetheless I can't help but feel a slight sense of disgust at certain of the practices mentioned above. I mean, sure, the "Vegetable Soup" wasn't listed as vegetarian or vegan, but it still said "VEGETABLE soup" not "Vegetable-with-a-chicken-stock-base soup". If I were a slightly less paranoid/warry vegetarian or perhaps if I had not worked in the food industry, I would be unaware of dubious restaurant practices (microwaved steak, anyone?). I'm certain that in that case, I would have passed off the soup has automatically vegetarian/vegan. See? Paranoia does pay off.

Peanut butter! I forgot how awesome it could be! I ate...er..stole some from my girlfriend's apartment today and it was delicious. I haven't had it in a long time and it was nice to have some. I think I'll buy some next time I stop at the grocery store. It should help me fill some of my protein gaps and it'll "stick to my ribs" better than celery or iceberg lettuce.

Oh, also, I made it through half a month yesterday, congratulations to me, I'm still alive.

Day 14

As a short summary of Day 14: Holy fuck am I tired.

All day I felt extremely tired, even now I'm forcing myself to write this for your pleasure(s). If my diet yesterday was sub-par, today's diet was sub-sub-par. I definitely did not eat enough according to my weight/height and energy demands. In fact, I think I ate less than yesterday.

I asked my boss to give me the night off to take care of something and he was nice enough to fufill my demand, which gave me a small reprieve. He's leaving tomorrow, so I'll be working long days. Which means I'll have to eat regularly. I really wanted to cook something when I got home, but I had to leave shortly after to go get something fixed. Regardless, someone was nice enough to leave me some simple, but delicious, spaghetti, when I got home. I can't thank them enough.

I think I might be coming down with something. My head hurts and stuffed up and my body is really achy. I'm not sure whether the aches are from Jujutsu or because I may be catching something. It's a little irritating.

I can't help but wonder whether my terrible eating habits lately are the cause of my possible-but-unsure of sickness. If so, that would really suck. I am definitely going to make extra efforts to eat enough and properly. I think the worst part about becoming ill is that I will HAVE to work. I cannot call in sick, because no one else can take my shifts. Zen Gardens has one employee: me. There aren't any other employees to cover for me and the only other option is closing the restaurant, which isn't fair to them. I know that the owner is counting on me to do a good job and keep the tea house running smoothly. Which is why I shall redouble my efforts to eat properly. Just in case this is the cause of my feeling crappy.

Day 13

Sorry for the very late post guys. I was unbelievably exhausted yesterday and I wanted nothing but sleep. I, also, only got home a short time ago.

As a resume yesterday's events, I was quite tired all morning and early afternoon. It was fairly slow at work which tends to not only bore me but tire me as well.

In all honesty, I haven't been eating as well as I should the last 3-4 days and I can definitely feel a drop in my energy levels. Yesterday, my meals consisted of light breakfast, a light Zen Gardens lunch and I essentially had to forgo supper because I had Jujutsu class at 8:00pm.

For those who aren't familiar with Jujutsu. It's a contact Japanese Martial Art which incorporates strikes, grappling take-downs and throws. It is fairly well rounded Martial Art, in comparison to others.

Attending Jujutsu class with an empty stomach is not a very good idea; however attending class with a full stomach is -really- bad idea, in the I-feel-like-I'm-going-to-vomit sense. We stopped at a nearby convenience store and I decided to purchase and scarf down two protein/meal replacement bars shortly before class. They were actually pretty good and gave me that light-meal feeling; though I still felt as if I had eaten something of substance. I enjoyed them, truthfully. I can guarantee I won't solely substite on them but I'm glad to know they're not awful or made from animal materials. Speaking of which, on a number of occasions I've been requierd to check labels because many items, including some candy, contains "animal gelatin", a product made from animal fat. Luckily, the meal replacement bars were made from wheat and soy.

Day 12

Day 12 was extremely boring. With nearly nothing of note. I used it to relax and well..that's pretty well it. I had a coffee this morning and ate small snacks here and there, mostly fruit and nuts. Made myself a stir-fry with mixed veggie, chick peas, curry sauce and rice. It's something I've made before and it's always delicious. I've gotten pretty good at making it and it's also fairly fast to make.

My brother seems to have taken a great dislike to me being a vegetarian and often makes fun of it. He constantly tells me to "stop being a hippie" or "don't become a hippie". He's not the only one that I've encountered that finds becoming vegetarian quite strange. Whether as an experiment or not.

I'm working tomorrow and the rest of the week for a period of 3 weeks. So I will try to keep things updated now that I've caught up to my posts. Hopefully something of interest will happen.

Day 11

Day 11 is fine. I still don't have access to a scale, so I might drop the whole weight thing. But if I do get access to one I'll make certain to let you know.

Also, I've heard some strange things, on occasion, concerning vegetarianism. I've been told they become ill more often, with colds and flus. One person (a Doctor) even told me that he once saw a cancer ward filled mostly with vegetarian and said that he'd never seen anything like it. I realise that if done incorrectly, being vegetarian can be quite unhealthy for you. Though, I'm a little disturbed by these strange tales.

I can safely say that I've had a few cravings for meat. I've nicknamed these cravings my "meat-pangs". However, it's not meat itself crave but certain meals that contain meat. For example, I kind of miss eating the occasional burger, or all-dressed pizza (I dislike all-meat, yuck!). One thing in particular been wanting to eat, is Thailandese/Vietnamese food from a restaurant named "Saigon Thai"; they have the most amazing Tonkinese soup and really good Imperial Rolls.

Nothing noteworthy happened yesterday, though I did get a leftover Huo Guo from Zen Gardens :D

Day 10

Another boring day with little to report, sorry! I'll make more detail notes about both yesterday and today on Saturday(tomorrow). My brain is mush from this week and I'll function better in the morning or early afternoon anyway.

Sorry for being the terrible blogger that I am.

UPDATE
Definitely worst blogger ever. I've just been so tired the last two days when I get home. I`ve barely been able to form two coherent thoughts, let alone a writing a blog. My Day 9 events and thoughts are a little fuzzy and far away, I'm combining Day 9 and Day 10 into a single post. Though, it should be known that both Day 9 and 10 were pretty mundane and uneventful.

My experiment is going..somewhat well. I ran out of cooking essentials recently: garlic, ginger, green onions, etc. My fatigue also hasn't given me enough strength to cook anything decent. My diet has been fairly boring over the last few days and frequency of meals at home has definitely been reduced, especially since Zen Gardens has been near at hand.

I've kept a particular comment/question for a day such as this, when nothing interesting happens."PassedEnglishFailedExamen" asks:
"How many "meals" are you eating a day? Intake of energy drinks / coffee?"

It really varies quite a bit. I try to have meals at least 3 times a day, preferably 5 smaller meals. Though, my schedule has been a little irregular lately, so it's more like 2 meals sometimes 3. It's quite horrible and I should/will try to monitor that more. Typically I don't consume energy drinks anymore, though I still have coffee, which I very much enjoy. My usual is a double latte, which is two espresso shots and steamed milk. I try to limit myself to one per day, because often I begin feeling funny after two, especially if they are taken back to back.

Sorry for keeping you comment unanswered and "on hold" for so long, there hasn't been an abundance of comments or questions. Bunch of slackers!

Day 9

So very tired. Will update tomorrow. Sorry for being a terrible blogger.

Nothing interesting happened today anyway.

Day 8

Day 8, it’s been a week and a day since I started this experiment. I’ve gotten progressively more use to the whole lifestyle. The starvation still hasn’t entirely disappeared. It comes and goes, honestly. Some days I’m freaken starving, regardless of how much I eat (like right now), while other days I barely eat and I’ll be fine all day.

One very nice side effect of working in a restaurant, particularly one that caters to a select group (vegetarians) is all the small freebies I receive. It drastically cuts down on the amount of cooking I need to do. I get closing-shifting left overs, order fuck-ups, cooking mistakes, etc. All of it feeds me and for free! For example, we can’t really keep sushi for more than 1 day. So our options are to either throw it out or eat whatever’s left. They usually give it to me and I get a few free pieces, like I did tonight.

I had another strange event tonight; I actually told someone I was vegetarian. I didn’t explain to them this experiment, which I've done up to now. To a certain extent, I was simply telling him this so we could relate and wring tips out of him (it kind of worked), but I was also being honest at the time about it. Whether or not I’m plan on sticking with this long term, at the moment, I am a vegetarian. And telling him that, without any other info felt really...weird. Almost like I was coming out of the closet, “Hey mom, I love you...but...I’m a vegetarian...”.

It might just be me, but I get the feeling that people regard you different when you eat differently than them. You’re suddenly “one of them” not “one of us”. I’m not sure how clear that is, but it’s the feeling I’ve gotten from strangers and acquaintances.

I definitely need to start cooking at home more. I can’t eat at work or elsewhere all the time. Which, I admit, I’ve been doing too much this week. But, I just haven’t had much time to do so lately because of my working hours. I don’t feel like coming home late at night and cooking nor do I want to do it between shifts. I also am sometimes short on ideas, so I might spend a night doing a bit of research or spend a bit of money on a good, yet simple, cookbook. We have a few vegetarian cookbooks here but I’d like one of my own that would suit my tastes better.

I think my post is long enough for now. Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has supported me and giving me advice so far, it’s much appreciated.

Day 7

Temporary post until I can get something real up.

UPDATE
Sorry that I didn't get a real post last night. I got home late and then my friend came over. By the time he left it was late and I was tired. Nothing special really happened yesterday and I didn't take any notes so I didn't have a whole lot to write about.

However, I've mostly been by myself all week so my meals have been fairly simple and when they aren't it's because I'm eating either at Zen Gardens or somewhere else.

Speaking of Zen Gardens I was SOOO happy I had some of their food yesterday. It was delicious and totally what I needed. My hours have been increased for the next few weeks, which is good because I'll be making a lot more money and most of my meals are paid for or discounted.

Day 6

Day 6, energy levels and mood are fine. However, at the moment, I feel like I have a sack of quarters sitting in my stomach. This is because I tried the Tofurkey sausages I bought the other day. It wasn’t anything fancy; I simply baked some baguettes, cut them in half and cooked the Tofurkey sausages. I ate them a little after 2:00pm and I still feel like crap. Furthermore, Jujutsu was fairly strenuous which certainly didn’t help my brick-stomach.

As far as taste, the sausages weren’t a great gastronomic experience; at most, I rate them as “okay”: nothing special at all. I was really disappointed with them overall, since they were slightly above-average in price. I realise these are tofu based and they’re not meant to taste exactly like their original counterpart, but I was just expecting more from them.

Also, they felt and tasted really processed, and I mean...they were because tofu doesn’t come in turkey- flavoured-sausage-format but I didn’t expect them to taste and feel so artificial. Vegetarian lifestyles/diets are usually healthier than “regular” or heavy-meat diets; however the extremely processed taste and texture felt decidedly unhealthy.

I think I’ll be sticking to a diet with more beans, nuts, dairy and eggs. It’s simpler and I think it will suit me better than using meat substitutes which are just...weird (and kind of gross). I wanted to have the experience though; and now I have. Though, I may still use the remaining sausages in a spaghetti sauce, they should blend in(and/or be covered up) a little better. At least, that way they won’t go to waste.

Day 5

Day 5 went well. Starvation has overall diminished although I’m not certain if it’s because I’m eating more frequently or because my body has gotten used to the different diet. For a long time I never really liked Yogurt but I’ve recently started eating some and I’m finding that I really enjoy it a lot. I find it suits my vegetarian diet really well. It’s light and sweet not to mention nutritious and it usually keeps me until my next meal.

I went into the vegetarian/natural section of my local supermarket today to peruse their various goods. Something I noticed is that realistically, you can’t buy a large amount of items from that section unless you have a lot of money. Most items are significantly more expensive, for example a frozen pizza, usually 4-7$ was 12$. Something we did buy in the Vegetarian section are Tofurkey sausages. We haven’t tried them yet, but I’ll let you know how they go.

Instead of purchasing a frozen pizza, my girlfriend and I opted to make our own pizza. We just bought a set of frozen pizza crusts, threw on veggies, added cheese and voila! Home made vegetarian pizza!

Speaking of girlfriends, I want to mention how much I love mine and how incredibly awesome she is. She’s supporting me in this crazy experiment, even though she isn’t vegetarian or vegan and quite thoroughly enjoys her meat. Nonetheless, she went out and bought a frozen vegetarian pizza that we both like, just in the event that I ate at her place this week. That way we’d have a quick/lazy meal and I wouldn’t starve to death!

I’m working a lot this week, so chances are I’ll be eating a fair amount of Zen Gardens food, which is fine since it’ll make my meals very easy.

Only another minimum of 25 days to go! Again, feel free to comment and ask me questions concerning how things are going.

Day 4

So I tried to make an temporary brief update post yesterday, but it was late and Blogger wasn't letting me log on.

As a summary, everything went well. I wasn't overly hungry nor did I have too much trouble finding things to eat. I'm eating rather simple meals, overall. It was extremely busy at work and afterwards I bought a bunch of Zen Gardens food. I purchased two Huo Guo, which is a Taiwainese stew/fondu. It was delicious and quite filling.

I'll keep this brief since I also have Day 5 to write tonight as well.

Day 3

Too tired to post tonight. Will update tomorrow. Sorry!

PS: Really need to get a notebook and take notes.

UPDATE
Sorry I didn’t get a real post up last night. I was extremely tired from a busy day at work and when I got home I had to make something to eat, which means I only really started relaxing at 11 or so. Anyway, enough excuses. Here are yesterday’s events.

As I mentioned previously, I am definitely hungrier now. Even when I eat similar sized portions, I get hungry faster and I’m fairly certain that my stomach has begun shrinking because smaller portions are filling me up as well. I had lunch with a pesco-vegetarian friend yesterday, she says that she eats every few hours or so. I could see that being somewhat difficult to accomplish at times. Nonetheless, I will attempt to eat smaller portions more often to keep myself from starving.

“Rice Mastah” commented on Day 2 and asked me about tofu. In all honesty, I don’t really like tofu. I know it is a good source of protein and blah blah blah, but I also find it extremely bland. Yes, I know it takes on the flavour of what you’re making; I don’t need a lesson on it. Regardless, I am still not a big fan of tofu but I will add it, on occasion, to spaghettis and stews since it can crumble it up.

I believe that I have a growing paranoia or distrust concerning my meals being prepared in restaurants (And it’s only Day 3!), I keep wondering if they’ve been prepared or contaminated with meat or animal products. I often now double check food labels and check with the server to find out what’s in my meal. I could certainly see how a mild distrust could escalate into full-out paranoia or extremism, which (to an extent) is what I see veganism as. There are even more extreme cases of veganism (Raw Fruit Vegan, etc). Then again, I see those people as fucken looney anyway.

Moving on; my cooking skills are coming in quite handysince without them I’m certain I’d starve.I’ve come to realise that unless you are quite wealthy, you are definitely are required to cook a fair amount. The only three “real” options in Moncton for vegetarian dining are Zen Gardens (my current workplace), Calactus (my previous workplace) and Cafe Maelström. I realise other restaurants have salads and other vegetarian options but as I’ve mentioned before, I find their selections quite lacking. Perhaps, I’m just needy and self-centered because I want an ENTIRE menu (or at least a large portion of it) dedicated to my food choices?

A final issue I wanted to approach is that due to my lifestyle, changed eating habits and limited monetary budget, I feel somewhat trapped and confined. I can’t eat or go just anywhere if I want to be social. Quite a few of my favourite eating places are no longer available due to their limited menus and saying “Oh, but...I can’t go there because I can’t eat there” really sucks. You end up being the “guy who makes eating out really difficult for everyone”. I’ve been pretty lucky that I have an extremely understanding girlfriend and group of friends, but still it kind of sucks.

Day 2

Before I get started on today’s events though, I want to mention that I enabled the option that allows anonymous posts, rather than only registered users. So if you attempted to spam before and couldn’t, you can totally do so now!

Day 2 went...okay. Not quite as well as Day 1. I can definitely say that I am consistently hungry even though I am eating quite frequently. Even now, after eating a large portion of rice, vegetables, and hummus I am still quite hungry. My friend also said that I have to be certain to eat similar sized portions and not starve myself. Apparently, starvations was quite frequent in people who only ate bread in the medieval times.

Energy levels are still good and I’m glad that I feel “lighter” after my meals. My stomach may end up shrinking since I am eating things that digest quite quickly. Overall, I think my stomach will spend more time empty due to quickly digesting meals.

I essentially ate the same things as yesterday which means I am in great need of learning quick and easy vegetarian meals. I’ll make that my homework for this weekend.

I’m really tired so I’ll keep this post short.

Sorry for the late post (again). I got home from Jujutsu and made something to eat then I came downstairs to update. I’ll to be better! Honest!

Day 1

Day 1 went fairly well. I didn’t feel incredibly hungry nor did I have difficulty finding or making meals. Of course, I did not go into this experiment blind. I am used to low-meat meals or vegetarian meals; this is due to the fact that I have worked in two vegetarian restaurants.

That being said, I did make some interesting observations. I never noticed prior to today, that most restaurants and eateries have very limited vegetarian choices. It’s strange, I was always aware that most places had vegetarian selections and I found that “cool and considerate” of them. I also assumed that these “cool and considerate” options were “enough”. I never quite grasped how limited they were. When I ordered my wrap from Ed’s Sub today there was only one vegetarian (not vegan) option that was not a salad. (And on that note, those that aren’t aware that vegetarians don’t only eat salads, seriously get a fucken clue.)

I believe, the reason we may not notice the limited selections is because we aren’t solely restricted to it. Rather, it simply gives us further options.

Secondly, avoiding animal products (meat, in this case) may be harder than expected. I noticed that the person who made my Grilled Veggie wrap at Ed’s Sub used the same spatula for the meat as for the vegetables. If I had been a total vegan I would have probably freaked out! A friend of mine refuses to eat anything exposed or possibly contaminated with animal products. (This means she won’t eat a veggie burger cooked on the same grill as a regular burger.) I realise mistakes can occur, nonetheless I also know that contamination is to be highly avoided. I didn’t freak out, of course. I mean, technically I had only been vegetarian for less than 24 hours. Though, as far as I could tell my wrap didn’t have meat though (Yay!).

As I ate my Grilled Veggie wrap, I couldn’t help but think about that fact that the cook had used the same spatula. I kept wondering how a long-time vegan or vegetarian would feel about this and whether I should feel sickened or disgusted at the thought that my food may have been contaminated with animal products.

Moving on to more physiological effects; I do seem to be hungry more often, though in a slightly different way. I have experienced this before as I have on occasion eaten vegetarian for a few days at a time by coincidence. It’s a strange dull non-profound hunger, it is difficult to describe. It’s not as if you feel as if you haven’t eaten enough but you don’t exactly feel really full or stuffed either. I could also be paying more attention to my hunger since I am putting myself through an experiment though. My energy levels seem fine, though I was a little tired earlier but I chalk that up to oversleeping. I have yet to weight myself because I do not own a scale. I know my weight is approximately 220 lbs (100 Kilos) but I’d like to know exactly...y’know, for science!

I definitely need to procure myself a notepad since I realised that there were a lot of things I could jot down during lunch to post tonight. Luckily, I made a few mental notes and put them to paper immediately after getting home. That worked for today but a more permanent solution is in order, it could boost my efficiency!

Ugh, there was one more section I wanted to touch upon but it’s late and I’ve put off posting this long enough. I can mention it in my post tomorrow.

PS: Gah! Sorry for the lateness. I should have started this post way earlier. It’s also much longer than I expected. I’ll be more prompt from now on. Also, it’s technically Day 2. Doing well so far!

Day 0

This is my very first entry into my month long experiment concerning vegetarianism. I have, for some time now, been curious about adopting this lifestyle, not because I dislike eating meat and animal products, but because I wonder would it would be like to be vegetarian. How is it different from everyday-meat-eater life?. I’m certain some of you are curious as to why I’d put myself through this, truthfully I find experiments such as this fun. Also, this gives me the opportunity to write a blog about a subject that I've been wishing to explore

During the course of 30 days I will, to the best of my abilities, consume NO animal meat products, however I plan to continue consuming eggs and dairy. In part, this is because I believe eating meat is not like eating their products (which I will not justify or explain in this blog) and because I do not wish to become the “Monthly Vegan”. I may, at some other point in time, decide to experiment with that notion.

Furthermore, I will keep track of which difficulties surface for me and I will monitor the following:
- Weight gains/losses
- Energy Levels
- Mood
- Physiological changes
- Psychological changes
- Overall experiences
- Difficulties in suiting my diet

I will also mention what I am consuming as part of the experiment, though not in detail (That would be kind of boring). Updates will be done frequently, most likely daily or bi-daily at worst. Once the experiment is complete I will give you a summary of my feelings and experiences as a whole.

Finally, for those of you may be wondering what was my “Last Meal”. It was the “Burger that ate Moncton” from the Barnyard Barbecue located in Moncton, NB. It was delicious.

If you have any questions or comments, please do so through comments section and I will answer you to the best of my abilities and as promptly as possible.

Wie Jie