The first test of my no-red-meat pledge…
March 24, 2006, 10:12 PM
Today at work was the first real test of my will after having given up red meat (as a stepping stone towards vegetarianism) at the beginning of this month.
How was this different from otherwise?
Two words: free food. Work had a cookout for all the associates today.
Considering I’m working on paying off a Mercury Sable, I’m usually not one to pass up a meal that someone else is paying for. And what did I do?
I passed it up.
That took willpower. But I have crossed red meat completely off the list. That means no meats that came from a mammal whatsoever.
So what did I have? I went and bought a sandwich in the store. Everyone was like, what’s up with that? I explained, and people were pretty good about it. All in all, I think I did well there.
I’ve also worked to sharply reduce (meaning eliminate) my intake of junk food, and of soda. I can’t stand diet soda, so I just went straight to no soda. So what have I been drinking? A lot of water. I used to be a Pepsi drinker. Then I became a Coke drinker for a while. Now, my brand of choice is Deer Park. As in the bottled water. I like their bigger bottles. Why Deer Park? It has absolutely no taste whatsoever that I can tell, and thus it tastes most like water.
Of course, bottled water presents another issue altogether. Read: $$$. I’ve always been one to say that bottled water is a little much. Why buy bottled water when one can hit a tap and have basically the same thing for free? My use for bottled water is for a drink while driving, or any other place where I won’t have ready access to a tap.
I remember when I was in college, Mom would buy me a whole bunch of bottled water, and then after I finished it all, I’d refill the bottles, sometimes several times. I would, however, leave a few unopened bottles in their original state (as in with the original factory-standard water) for friends who stopped by. Others’ drinking from my secondhand water bottles would be unsanitary, after all.
Still, I think I did well today. Yay me.
Web site: Wikipedia article on red meat
Song: Theme to Fresh Prince of Bel Air, as seen on Nick at Nite
Quote: "I gave up red meat." - Me to coworkers
Categories: Food and drink, Myself