Vegetarian Challenge - Conclusions

Tomorrow will be my last official day of my self-enforced diet habit, but I won't have much time to blog about it throughout the day. I've managed 6 days without any meat products, though I have not banned eggs and dairy.

As a health experiment, I'd say that the personal challenge here was very successful. I've managed to eat healthy, well balanced meals, everyday. I've also noticed increases in energy, easier time sleeping / better sleep, lack of muscle cramping / feeling of muscle cramping during tough work out, and have managed to loose a couple pounds. Also, I'm relatively certain my blood pressure has decreased back to my original good levels from the slightly elevated levels I've been stuck at for a while. As a health choice, it's forced me to avoid fast food, and convenience foods that filled my stomach but only provided questionable nutrition.

Now, that said, I think I could have achieved all of the same effects simply by watching my diet more as an omnivore. The thing is, I don't know if I constantly watching my diet is something I'm capable of doing. Not eating meat makes life a lot easier, as you remove whole groups of unhealthy and easy options. (Note: I'm aware it's very possible to eat an unhealthy diet as a vegetarian.)

I attribute the slight but noticeable health impacts to the following -

1. Pure placebo effect by changing things up.
2. Lower calorie intake
3. Less refined sugars from fast foods
4. Much higher potassium / sodium intake ratio

Of all things to be aware of, the fourth I did not really know about before starting. Yes, I'd heard 'keep the sodium down'. I had not heard that how important potassium is in your diet, that the average American gets much lower than the recommended potassium intake daily.

Insuring a solid decent intake of potassium (a daily minimum of 2000 mg), and lowering intake of sodium has benefits for hypertension, osteoporosis, and kidney stones.

So, overall, a positive experience. It also helps me to realize how difficult it can be to order meals as a vegetarian when everything seems to involve beef, chicken, or fish. Still, the overall moral of the story?

Eat your fruit and vegetables.

...

I still want a steak.

Edit, Forgot the links...

K-State Article
USDA Article
CO State Article

Things to think about

Worth remembering.

Vegetarian Challenge - Day 3

I could really go for a hamburger now, preferably with bacon. And a steak. Maybe finish that off with a nice ham. Then polish the day off with a turkey sandwich.

3 days so far, and still successful at avoiding meat. The change in diet does seem to be doing some good, but it's really too short to know. I'm realizing now that I don't get nearly enough vegetables in my normal diet.

It's odd, that my 'challenge' to myself is basically to eat a diet that a great many people are forced to eat - simply because meat can be a luxury when you have little at all to eat. We take meat granted, largely due to an enormous amount of industrial know how and ability.

Actually, we as a society take food granted. There are groups of people that live here, yes, that have difficulty obtaining good food. But, those challenges are small compared to what can be found in other countries.

Still, I'm in the mood for a steak.

Vegetarian Challenge - Day 2

I've decided to be a vegetarian for one full week.

I'm not going the vegan route, so milk, eggs, and cheese are still on the menu. Fish, however, is not. Why do such madness?

Well, basically, I'm trying to start better watching what I eat, and further trying to eat healthier. I'd argue there is little about a vegetarian diet that is inherently "better" than an the usual, but I'm hoping that the attempt here will result in something better. Also, a couple of people are of the opinion I'm not going to make it.

I figure one week should be easy, so I'll be logging my progress here. So far, so good. Lunch today consisted of a olive and mushroom pizza with a small salad. So far, so good.

Things Fundi's Say - "I wouldn't know because"

In most contexts, a lack of knowledge or ignorance is a bad thing. Not so with Fundi Christians! I introduce you to a new phrase - "I wouldn't know because". When hearing this phrase, it's a clear indicator of a coming insult.

Example uses -
"What'd you think of that new movie?"
"I wouldn't know because I don't watch R rated movies"

"You know that corner of A and B streets where the drug dealer hangs out?"
"I wouldn't know because I don't do drugs"

Now, to truly show yourself as a fundi, you can't just say these phrases reasonably - a mistake I've made in a few of the above. The proper use of the phrase requires the ignorance and ignorance cause to be rather unrelated to the topic at hand. Bonus point if the phrase is in response to a statement and not a question.

"That restraunt had really good cocktails"
"I wouldn't know because I'm not a drunk"

Completed with a snear, this "I wouldn't know because" phrase is perfect for the budding fundi.

Denial

So, I'm watching TV a couple months ago, just after my nice 30" HDTV went out of warranty. I bought it a while back. It's a CRT, one of the last HDTV CRTs made. Compared to LCD screens, CRTs had (and still have) higher image quality. So, I was a bit concerned while watching the TV to hear a "pop" and watch the picture flash off and back on.

Not a problem, I thought to myself, probably just a signal hiccup, right? Yeah, that's all, I won't see it again.

A couple weeks later, "pop". Now, I'm thinking - ahh, not really an issue, it'll sort itself out.

Not so lucky.

It's now popping about once every 3 or 4 seconds, which makes watching TV near impossible - as soon as the picture comes back, "pop", bye picture.

How is it, I buy a cheapo TV that lasts over 10 years, my parents have a TV that recently hit 20, and I have a TV that craps out after 2?

So, now, I've joined those without TVs. On the plus side, that means more blogging, and I've read a good chunk of "Stranger in a Strange Land".

Of course, now I have a 150 lb CRT to figure out how to get rid of.

Friends don't let friends buy broken software

I'm shocked that EA is continuing it's current scheme of copy protection, after all of the consumer issues already reported with The Sims. Even more frustrating to me, is that I really was looking forward to purchasing Spore, which would be one of the first computer games I've bought in a couple years. (The last being Half Life 2, nothing new is interesting me it seems....)

However, EA is currently continuing it's draconian tactics of copy protection. Tactics that in the end serve to do little against dedicated pirates and directly harm consumers.

http://www.simprograms.com/?p=692

I'd ask that you seriously consider the attitude of EA towards its costumers, with this software. I'd ask that you consider that EA is charging you money for essentially broken software.

I will no longer be purchasing EA games and I encourage everyone to do the same. Limiting a user's ability to install a game, move it to another computer, is wrong.

I think the time has come for a class action suit against EA for selling broken software.

EA - if record companies have finally begun to understand the benefits of selling without DRM, what's stopping you?