Starting off: In the Raw

I haven’t eaten beef or pork in over 12 years.

I haven’t eaten the flesh/meat/organs/etc. that come from an Earthling that has a face and can run away from me if I were to try to chase it down and murder it with my fork in 3 years.

Three  years of no meat whatsoever. Never in my (previous) life would I have ever imagined  being able to make that statement.

Truth is, however, that I have actively taken part in the daily ritual of consuming dairy products. This has caused me quite a bit of grief, both mentally and physically, lately.

Mentally because I know that dairy cows aren’t any better off than other cows. Mentally because I honestly don’t think I would walk up to a nursing cow momma and suck from her teets, so why do I keep consuming products created by the same process? It’s kind of disgusting, when you think about it.

But cheese is my downfall. I have to admit it. I love cheese. Sharp cheese, muenster cheese, pepperjack cheese, brie cheese, smoked gouda cheese —- my mouth waters just thinking of them.

Physically because lately I’ve noticed that the more dairy products I consume, the more my stomach bothers me. Now I’m not sure if I am lactose intolerant but I’m thinking it would be a very good way to stop eating it if I just convince myself of this.

If you took the time to read over the ABOUT page (I highly recommend this, by the way) then you’ll know that I have been doing some serious research into going vegan/raw. I’m pretty stoked about it. After proving to myself that I would not just curl up and die without eating meat, being successful at it for 3 years, and now reaching the point where the mere thought of it turns my stomach – I think I’m ready to tackle the next phase.

It just so happens that Sara, from Happy Foody, is starting a 30 day Green Smoothie Challenge next week. This is GREAT because I just so happened to buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies at the store this past weekend in an effort to increase my green smoothie consumption. So I look at it as a way to kind of get in a trial run before the real competition starts. Some may call that cheating, but I don’t listen to those people.

Here are the rules for the challenge, from the page:

We will begin on August 17 and end on September 17. Here is what you are committing to:

• Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
• Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
• Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
• Stop drinking pop
• Cut out all white sugar.

Doesn’t that sound exciting?

16 ounces of green smoothie a day — This is going to be challenging, indeed, but fun. I look forward to coming up with all sorts of combinations and maybe even finding a couple that I really like. Experimentation is where it’s at, baby!

Activity every day — What awesome timing! I just started a new workout routine last week and still in the midst of tweaking it to fit. But this will be awesome. By next week, it should all be lined up and ready to go.

Add Salads to lunch/supper —  This should be fairly easy in that we all love salad (well, except my son) and we have a lot of homegrown tomatoes that are about to ripen and be ready for eating. I foresee lots of good, yummy salads in our future for sure.

Stop drinking pop (or soda, or coke, or whatever you call it) —  Dr. Pepper is one of my weaknesses. I confess. They are awesome and I love them. And up until six days ago, I was drinking ONE (I only allowed myself one) a day. But now I’ve gone six days without one and am holding up fairly well. If I can just resist temptation, this one should be totally doable.

Cut out white sugar — This one will be the trickiest of them all, believe it or not. While we have done everything within our power to never purchase items with High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, we often do so at the expense of purchasing items with regular sugar in them. After reading about all of the nastiness that is HFCS, I surrendered to the extra calories a good while back. I don’t regret doing so and I still to this day will refuse HFCS if I possibly can. But the white sugar will be hard. I’m thinking if I stick with vegan/raw as much as possible, though, it should be easier. We’ll see.

So there you have it. My first entry on this blog and a quite courageous challenge to accompany it. It may be hard to top this one. Stay tuned to find out.

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