30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 30 - And Scene

So here it is...30 days of not eating meat! Whoop. To be honest, I knew that I would never really struggle with this one. I'm educated enough to know that not every meal must have meat in it and for people who think that, you really need to broaden your horizons. Not saying become vegetarian but just not relying on having meat for every meal. Even once a week would be a great start.

So what have I learnt? I have become aware that the way animals are treated and killed for their meat is absolutely disgusting and barbaric. I have watched enough documentaries and seen enough visuals to really upset me and question the real reasons why I eat meat. And really, the only reason I could come up with would be because I love the taste. Nothing like a medium rare steak covered in garlic and some hot chips. Or a Coles BBQ Chicken. Or a BBQd sausage in bread with sauce. Even as I type this, I do not drool or yearn for the day I can have one. I go to restaurants and I skim past the meat options not even giving them a second glance. Why? Because I now know where that meat comes from and how it is processed. I remember hearing someone say 'if we had to kill our meat, almost everyone would be vegetarian'.

Since going on this challenge I have been eating healthier - still not as healthy as I would like as I find I am skipping meals and so forth but my junk food intake has decreased dramatically, in fact, in the last 30 days I have had Grill'd twice (vegie option) and chips from McDonalds once - and even that was a matter of starvation. I know there are health benefits from red meat and so forth but I am fairly certain I am getting these from all the other foods I have started eating these last 30 days.

The vegetarian challenge was supposed to be for 30 days. Today was day 31 that I did not have meat. I will continue to not eat meat but I may treat myself to a nice piece of chicken every blue moon but I will ensure that it is free range and not a battery chicken which is caged up in a cage the size of an ipad. Even though it is not the same thing as not having it at all, at least the chicken was not - for want of a better word - tortured all its life. But yeah, so I have said I may give in to chicken every now and again but we will see how long I can go without it...maybe I will never have it, who knows...but this challenge has certainly opened up my mind and eyes a bit more and given me the first step to leading a healthy mind/body and soul once more.

We'll see if the next one does the same thing!

PS> I didn't want to alter my original posting but when I went to add some pics I saw this horrible picture of a chicken and it just disturbed me so much I couldn't even look at it. Having just seen this I think it would now be near impossible for me to eat chicken. If you find it disturbing too and look away, I guess you need to ask yourself why? And what can you do to help stop it?

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 29 - The Calm Before...

The penultimate day...not much to report, had a busy day preparing things for the next challenge, which starts on MONDAY! But more about that later.

Tonight's dinner was ricotta and spinach tortellini with spinach and garlic - starting to develop a bit of a love affair with the spinach I must say. Broccoli still retains the title of being my favourite vegetable though.


That's about it for tonight...short and sweet...looking forward to tomorrow, not so i can eat meat again but because I will have completed my first of 12 "30 Day Challenges". Whoop!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 28 - Junk food!!!

It's amazing how your diet and food intake can be so much affected by what's going on in your life. When I'm nervous, anxious or stressed I don't eat. And that's what happened today. I won't delve into what or anything as that's not what this blog is about. It's about my experiences of not eating meat. So after a really long day, I was really exhausted and lethargic I decided to get a vegorama pizza from Domino's - yes, I hear you groan, Domino's. Not exactly the world's best food but it's close, cheap and convenient. Was actually pretty good but does not even come close to comparing to the pizza I made in the beginning of the month.

As I near to the end of my challenge, I felt it necessary to remind myself of the vast array of reasons why I should continue to be vegetarian. Especially as I seem to have fallen into that trap of  cooking the same foods and the laziness I have in preparing food - hence the pizza tonight.

I found this documentary online, Myth and Truth about Vegetarianism - For Earth, for Animals, for Yourself which its description states it 'systematically analyzes the scientific basis of claims thart vegetariansim is unnatural for humans and thart we require meat". Just a reminder as to the benefits of being a vegetarian.

Ironically, those who say we need meat in order to stay healthy, I came across this news article today; A spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill - a burger place with burgers names such as "the triple bypass' died of a hear attack. Whilst sad, it is also ironic. What's even more frightening is that they offer "diet plan eating" to customers with items such as the Double Bypass Burger, Flatliner Fries and Full Sugar Coke - although I am genuinely hoping they are having a laugh. Anyway, I may have digressed a bit from the vegetarian thing but it's just a reminder to me that eating meat is not always the best thing for a person.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 27 - Tivall

Mock schnitzel

Coming in to the home stretch. For dinner, I have sampled another mock-meat company; Tivall - founded in 1985, is the world's leader in ready-made vegetarian food products. In their website it states: 

"Tivall products are specifically designed to be a complete source of protein and to provide all the amino acids necessary for a healthy meat-free diet. They contain natural sources of egg protein, soya protein and wheat protein."

Having learnt to be a little sceptical of the healthiness of vegetarian meals, I have done some research and from what I can see egg and wheat protein are good for you as the support each other in storing and using protein. I know about soy but again, it's not like I am having massive amounts of it. So I think this might be a good one, but again, in moderation.

Also got a response from Grill'd regarding my Vitamin C question. What do people think? Is this all above board or are they just talking it up to make it seem like it's that great? How much vitamin C can you actually get from a few slices of tomato and tomato relish?

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 26 - Vitamin C burgers?

Today was a much better eating day than yesterday. Started off with a great breakfast of home made pancakes; Haven't had them in so long and I was secretly not looking forward to them but I think it's because having tasted these, I realise my mum was just really bad at making pancakes!

Headed to St Kilda Festival for the day. I knew there would have to be a vegetarian stand somewhere but I was getting pretty hungry so decided that I would go for some Grill'd again. This time I got the Garden Goodness, a premium quality veggie pattie beetroot, tasty cheese, avocado, salad, relish and herbed mayo. Was pretty good, as far as burgers go. The thing that got me interested was the tag that came with the burger, that said the following:

I am not quite sure where exactly the vitamin C comes from in a burger so I have tweeted/facebooked Grill'd with this question and hopefully they will answer it.

Then I managed to score myself some vegan ice cream from a Zebra Dream stand. Not that I can't have normal ice-cream but I had heard of these guys through some vegetarian forums and so I thought I would check it out. I went for the Super Berry Yum Boost (coconut cream, agave nectar, acai berry, blueberry and raspberry) and I was not disappointed. Clearly, there was a difference in taste but not to the point I wouldn't have it again.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 25 - Bad Day for Eating

Breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Stayed away from meats, so no fretting there, but it was a terrible day for eating. I was extremely lazy and up until 8:00pm, all I had to eat was a banana and some nuts, which are considered to be healthy for you but when that's all you have...not so good. Just an extremely lazy day. Dinner was quorn and pasta again, so not an exciting food day.

However, in my day of laziness I did find a website called 100 thoughts and facts on vegetarianism. It contains facts about animal welfare, sustainability, environment and health reasons as to why being a vegetarian can be good for your health.

With five days to go, I am pretty certain I will not go back to red meat or fish. Chicken, I am still torn over. If I do go back to chicken though it will only be free range which is a step better than eating for battery hens and so forth. Unless anyone out there knows of where I can get some mock chicken products!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 24 - Quorn and Micoprotein

I had quorn mince and pasta for dinner tonight. Was pretty much like mince, the taste wasn't the same - that I can remember - but it was still very nice. Mixed in some garlic and onion tomato sauce and filled up my stomach.

I did look into quorn and what it actually is. I just assumed it was something like tofu that was made to be mince. Then I found out this bit of information; Quorn is a micoprotein and quorn is just the brand name like kleenex for tissues. So then of course I had to go looking into what micoprotein is and this is where I get confused.

Micoprotein is produced by a fungus called Fusarium which is provided with nutrients and then produces the protein rich Micoprotein. This micoprotein is extracted and flavoured to taste like meat, as micoprotein does not taste of anything.

Another site stated that mycoprotein (don't even know which is the right way to spell it!) is an ingredient common to all Quorn products. It's a health, meat-free form of high quality protein and is also a good source of dietary fibre.

So, this makes me believe that Quorn is healthy to eat. Unlike tofu. Until someone proves me wrong with quorn too. Then I'l be all confused again.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 23 - An old favourite

Spent the day at the Werribee Open Range Zoo today - was so much fun and great to hear how the zoo was helping these animals survive. I can't remember the exact name of the horses they had there, but they mentioned at one point there was only 20 of them in the world and they have helped to prevent them fro, becoming extinct. Lunch was a boring cous cous salad that was bland bland bland! YUCK!

And my friend finger flirting

Dinner tonight was back at Madame K's Vegetarian Cafe. I actually had the same meal as last time because I found it that great. It was pretty much the same except the miso soup this time was pretty bad, almost as if they had left out the miso paste. I still finished mine but my mate couldn't deal with it. Luckily he loved his main, which was the Massaman curry; a slow cooked mushroom made lamb curry topped with cashew nuts and mashed sweet potato. Despite the poor miso, this is still my favourite establishment I have been to in the last 23 days!

A twitter friend linked me to this photo as well with the following caption..now, it hasn't come from what a reputable source, was just posted on someone's Facebook but we've all heard enough horror stories of what's really in a chicken nugget or a sausage for me to believe that this may actually be real. And that's enough to turn me off my beloved McDonald's chicken nuggets forever!

Can you guess what McDonald's food item this is????? Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It's what all fast-food chicken items are made of. It's chicken nuggets, patties, and the meat in fajitas... In addition the processed frozen chicken in stores is made from this.. Basically the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve... bones, eyes, feet, guts and all. It comes out looking like this... There is more, because it's crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, and soaked in it.. Then because it taste gross it is re-flavored artificially. Finally since it is weirdly coloured like 'Pepto Bismol' pink, it is dyed with artificial colour.. This is what people eat and feed to their children... Enjoy !!!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 22 - Hare Hare!!!

Lunch at Crossways

So today I went to a Hare Krishna vegetarian cafe in the city, Crossways. Was all you can eat for $5-7 and even though there's only one item on the menu, it changes daily. Today was chickpea clinch curry and basmati rice with date and orange halava with custard for dessert. Really nice place, very relaxed and thankfully you don't have to put up with their annoying music. Haha...

Veggie burger BBQ

For dinner I was invited to a vegetarian friend's house for an impromptu BBQ. I just assumed everyone would be vegetarian but no. So there was still free flowing meat, (kangaroo sausages!) and my ultimate temptation, BBQ chicken - drool to the power of two.

But again, once we sat down, didn't notice the smell and was more than happy with my beet root and lentil burger. Genuinely. And lots of salads.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 21 - Maximum Tolerated Dose

Day 21 was a very confrontational day mainly because of two things I watched.

Firstly, courtesy of the Humane Research Australia, I had the privilege of seeing a documentary that looks at animal testing/experimentation. The difference with this one is that it interviews people who have previously worked in animal labs and their experiences with that type of work as well as looking at a few animals' stories and where they ended up.

Shot from Maximum Tolerated Dose

The documentary is called Maximum Tolerate Dose and although the website is not that great to look at, the film is pretty intense. Fortunately, it does not get too graphic, aka Earthlings, but then I guess that is open to interpretation.

I was discussing it with a mate, and his reply was 'but that doesn't' happen in Australia" WRONG! We are the FOURTH country that kills the most animals each year for scientific experimentation. Every year, 6,000,000 million animals are killed for scientific research. And of that, only 10% are considered successful? Furthermore, when you consider how small Australia is compared to the top two countries of USA and China...well...that's even more disturbing.

I am not aware of when any future screenings being held are, but I've got one of the three trailers linked so have a look at it as an idea of what to expect.

My second viewing was a YouTube video by Animals Australia called "Make It Possible" which is a short video that looks at the horrors of factory farming. Pigs constantly impregnated and unable to move  and the pain and torture they go through just for our desire for meat. There is also a Make It Possible campaign to raise awareness for this issue and you can raise support by making a pledge of the following:

A) Refuse to eat factory-farmed animal
B) Eat fewer animal products
C) Go meat free
D) Donate

Needless to say I have chosen C. But to choose any of these would help in making these animals' lives that little bit better.

Both these things have pushed my belief that animal cruelty is a far too common occurrence and something people need to be aware. I've never felt more passionate about something than I have for this cause, and that's saying something.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 20 - Not Eating Meat Is Easy...

The not eating meat part of being a vegetarian is so easy. In 20 days, perhaps I have been tempted three times. All were fleeting moments and it's not like I was face-up to a piece of steak, salivating and inhaling it's scent. However, and I think I have touched on this before, I am finding it incredibly hard to maintain a healthy diet. Ironically, since I became vegetarian I have halved my junk food (choklit, candy, crisps) intake too. I guess when you start making a conscience decision about what food you can/cant' eat, it easily rubs off to others too.

Based on a "readers comments" I have looked at some health sites about the best foods and stuff I should be eating. It is quite overwhelming and am struggling of a way to slowly make the switch. So beans and legumes - and that word alone is weird - are two of the best foods I cna be eating. Yet, I am clueless as to how to use them, what beans are the best and what to make with them. It seems, that everyone and everything disputes everyone and everything. Black beans or red beans? Lentils or peas? They all do different things so how do I pick the best?

I know broccoli and garlic are great foods, and i try to incorporate them a lot. A friend of mine would cover a clove of garlic in honey and eat that every night. Is minced garlic still got health benefits? If I make a broccoli pizza in the oven, is it still healthy? All this makes me head hurt!

However, despite all this, I have found I am eating more, almost at three meals a day! :) And filling ones too. Lunch was a gnocchi with greek salad from a food-court in Southbank. It was actually really good, and might even surpass my falafel salad from the same food court. Dinner again was the tofu/tomato/mushroom sauce with pasta and even though tofu isn't even healthy for you, it must have some health benefits to eating it. Especially if I eat it twice a week. I guess it's just not the super food I thought it was.

Is it weird that I am thinking about all this 20 days in? I am two thirds of the way in to the challenge and only now starting to think about the food I eat and what it's actually doing to my body. Although, I guess this is something I should have been thinking about for 30 years. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it is easy to cut meat out of your diet. It is hard to maintain a healthy diet without it.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 18 - The Great Aussie BBQ?

I was supposed to go to a Save The Pigs Rally but I - for want of a better word, chickened out. With the research I have done, I am becoming anti-meat but I still don't think I feel that strongly enough where i can go to such an event. And without giving out any negative vibes, I don't want to be surrounded by people who are such strong activists about animal rights and think they are holier than thou that they end up turning me off a cause I am trying to ease myself in. Because those people do exist and I have come across them already and I did not appreciate it.

However, what I did do was research more into the problem and how pigs are raised and it was an interesting/disturbing read. Yet again, it saddens me that we can treat animals so cruelly and without a shred of compassion. Even if you are going to continue eating meat, I think it's still important to know where your food is coming from and making an informed decision from that. I don't believe there is a right or wrong choice here as long as you're choosing to remain ignorant.

In the evening I went to a mate's BBQ which was filled with meat...and sausages. And nothing beats a sausage in bread with sauce. Am I right!?!? Fortunately, I had my vegetarian garlic sausages with me which I "wacked on the barbie". I personal wasn't really fussed if they touched the meat ones but when I did see them resting on the cooked ones there was a part of me that felt a little bit dirty. Like, somehow I had cheated and had a morsel of meat that had rubbed off onto my veggie snags.

They were actually quite nice, and really, there wasn't a world of difference between them I must say. Fortunately there was a lot of salads too so that filled me up.

But guess this is another example where a vegetarian can be seen as an "inconvenience" to big parties and so forth. I wonder what would have happened had I been a strict no meat contact vegetarian...

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 17 - Bad Food Day

Firstly, I have not had meat today but I have had a horrible day of food and eating loads of crap. Breakfast was two pieces of toast with honey. Lunch was back to the falafel salad which again, nice and filling.

I had all these grand plans of coming home from work and cooking tofu for the first time ever. Did a grocery shop and everything. And then when i came home, I ended up eating three packets of life savers, packet of liquorice and a packet of crisps. I have not moved from my bed in three hours! Bah, so many good intentions! I need a chef!

Whilst I was walking past the butchers, I did look at all that meat and think of all the animals that had been killed for it and the conditions in which they would have been killed. Just kept walking past it and got myself my mock schnitzel instead!

I have however  bought quinoa, nuts and flaxseed and B12 vitamins so it feels like I will be keeping this thing going just a little bit longer than 30 days!

Also watched this clip of Ellen talking about being vegan and although I'm not that extreme I stand by exactly what she say...

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 16 - Spoiled for Choice

So today I had my first chicken burger at Lord of the Fries and I must say, I was not overly impressed with it. Filling wise, appearance and taste - just didn't do anything for me. To be honest, I have never been a fan of LotF but being vegan and me vegetarian, I thought I would give it another go. And just not taken in by it. I might keep it as my equivalent to a drunken kebab after a night out though.

Dinner was at Yong's Green Food in Fitzroy. Big selection of vegetarian and vegan food with various Asian influences (and Italian and Mexican). My friend suggested the rawsagna, but being Melbourne and suddenly getting cold, I opted for the Pho Soup with mock-beef. My friend got the same but with tofu. It was a very big portion but again, lacked a strong taste for me. Just felt like a bunch of veg thrown into water, I don't know if it's because it was vegetarian but I doubt it as even my friend was not happy with hers. However, she did rave on about the rawsagna so next time, I will have to try that. Oh, and the liquid I am drinking, is a blueberry and banana smoothie - also, subpar :(

For dessert, we decided to go back to Madame K's Vegetarian Cafe so I could try their Banana Roti with ice cream and berry syrup, which I had craved last time I was there but had no room in my stomach. Glad we did, because it was absolutely divine. Just perfect, felt sorry for my friend who is gluten free and couldn't have any. The ambience was much nicer here and overall, I would recommend it over Yong's - based in first impressions of both.


 So three meals, three places with three very different verdicts! (and the picture above is the way that Madame K's present their bill! How awesome is that! Another reason to return!)

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 15 - Halfway!

So today marks the halfway mark of my 30 day challenge. I have to say I have not felt tempted very much at all, even today when I was at a market research session and the light refreshments they offered were 90% meat. I didn't look at them twice and was more than happy with my fruit and vegetable wrap which was pretty crappily made as well...Literally a bunch of vegetables in a badly wrapped wrap.

However, I did end up chatting with a fellow vegetarian there and I was surprised to hear he has never had meat in his life. Vegetarian since birth. Interestingly, his girlfriend was a massive meat eater when he met her three years ago and now she is vegetarian. Which made me think, I am pretty fussy about who I date and if I don't think I could date a meat eater as I think that constant temptation would be too much for me to handle. So now I would need to find an attractive, successful, funny vegetarian gay guy! I mean, the options were already narrow to begin with - now I need to add vegetarian to the list? Might as well start investing in cats from now!

I was looking at a vegetarian friendly group earlier and someone posted this "ice cream" recipe with just using bananas! I love bananas so super excited to try this out! Have posted the picture below if anyone else is interested in making it!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 14 - Happy Cow...Happy My!

Today has been a big eating out day, lunch, snack and dinner.

Lunch was a falafel wrap at Trios where I discovered I do in fact love falafel but have no love for hummous. Really not my cup of tea. I sampled the 'chicken nuggets' at Lord of The Fries - which I don't know if it's obvious to people is strictly vegetarian and vegan 'fast food'. I am quite tempted to try their burgers next time I am around one.
However, both these meals did not really satisfy me. So I don't think I will be visiting them anytime soon. It will be more of a necessity than a desire.

For dinner, I used the Happy Cow app on my phone and discovered Mr. Natural Vegetarian Pizza in St Kilda. Happy Cow is a pretty good app; it lists all vegetarian, vegan or vegetarian friendly food places nearby with reviews, directions and links. Kind of like Urban Spoon but more suited to my needs.

Going on to the food, I was torn between the pumpkin pizza and the broccoli pizza. I ended up choosing the broccoli one which was a mistake. Not that it was bad, but the broccoli and rocket pizza I made last week was by far more superior and delicious. I will say the pizza was so filling I couldn't even finish it!

Tomorrow is my half way mark and feeling pretty confident. Hopefully these are not famous last words!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 13 - Bullseye!

So this goes where and then I...

Today involved my first social outing with the Vegetarian Victoria group and it was a two hour archery session in Kew. It's funny, I started feeling a bit nervous as I approached as I knew absolutely no one. It felt like being the new kid at school and figuring out which table you should sit at. Fortunately, everyone was very friendly and there was a mixture of vegetarians, vegans and the in-betweens with various years practising. Needless to say, I was the baby of the group.

The archery was a lot of fun. Managed to score four bullseyes. Of course, I shot about 70-80 times so not a great ratio. Few arrow burns and sore fingers but fun overall. I found the irony of a bunch of vegetarians aiming for a bullseye worth a giggle or two.

I did manage to get a few tips on places to eat at and stuff, and a very useful website called Happy Cow which shows you all the vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants wherever you are. Quite a few of the people there swore by it so have downloaded the app and will be using it over the next few weeks and see how we go!

Dinner tonight was Florentine Tortellini with spinach and garlic. Quick and easy and although not pleasing to the eye, it was very filling and delicious.

Meat cravings have been minimal. It's funny, the amount of times I had declared no more junk food in the past and literally two days later, I would be back at KFC. I take it a step further and say no meat and I have no problems doing it - maybe it's the fact I've gone public with it and there is a lot more invested. Either way, I am beginning feel better so that's a positive.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 12 - The Brilliant Madame K

So in the last 12 days I have been doing a lot of reading and research into vegetarianism and checking out the vegetarian communities. On a whole, it has been good and interesting but there is that small group of people who believe that being a vegetarian makes them better than other people and the holier than thou attitude does not sit well with me.

The offending photo

A fan reaction

For example, there was a photo of a North Melbourne football player eating a kangaroo burger as part of a Grill'd campaign. One vegetarian decided to get rid of all her North Melbourne FC memorabilia (with "Kangaroo Killer" scrawled all over it) and throw it in the bin, then take a photo of it and vent her disgust. Yes everyone is entitled to their opinions but don't start preaching your cause, especially to those who are converted or borderline converted. It's a sure fire way to make people turn the other way.

For dinner today I went to Madame K's Vegetarian on Brunswick St in Fitzroy and it was by far the best vegetarian place I have been to. Went along with a friend who has been vegan for a number of year and we chatted about a few animal rights issues and stuff. She has also referred me to Fry's Vegetarian non-meat meat products like....popcorn chicken!!!! My one weakness has been battled and won. Although I have to try it first but she said her husband loves it so I have high hopes!

But anyway, going back to Madame K's; taking all things into consideration, including price, variety, ambience and quality of food it was amazing. I had the Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, which was stir-fried mushroom made lamb with snow peas, onions, shallots and bean served with brown rice. It was absolutely to die for and so filling. I sadly didn't have room in my 'pudding stomach' to try the Banana Roti with berry sauce and ice-cream :( But next time for sure.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 11 - Temple Grandin

Going on a friend's recommendation, I watched Temple Grandin (movie) last night. Temple Grandin is a doctor of animal science at Colorado State University. She also has autism (when Dustin Hoffman was researching his role in Rainman, Temple is who he spoke with). In a time when autism was still 'the great unknown' Temple was able to use the anxieties of feeling threatened by her everyday surroundings to create better welfare for animals.

She believed that the worst thing you can do to an animal is to make it feel afraid and how animals use their emotions, including how they use them to predict the future. She used all the above to introduce designs for sweeping, curved corrals which intended to reduce stress in animals being led to slaughter.

Temple has received some criticism about her work, especially as the animals are still killed for their meat. But let's be honest, brutally honest; these animals will be killed. As much as people would like it, I do not believe we will ever reach a time when everyone stops eating meat or stops wearing leather. But to be able to help lower the anxieties these animals have and attempt at giving them a better "life" is the next best thing. And no one seems to have done more to help this cause than Temple.

If anyone is interested more about this inspiring woman and the work she has done on livestock behaviour, design of facilities and human slaughter of animals, click here.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 10 - Falafel Love

Sadly, not much to report on today. Obviously I kept my distance from any meaty substances. Found a place in Southbank food court that makes an awesome felafel salad. Haven't had felafel in many many years, forgotten how awesome it can be! Although I did find it annoying that there was so much tomato in it. I hate tomato. I can eat it when it's mixed in with other vegetables but I probably had the equivalent of a whole tomato left when I had finished the salad. But if that's my only food gripe today then I think I am doing very well.

I'm quite surprised by the misconception a lot of people - including myself - have about vegetarians thinking they can only not eat meat, when in reality, a proper vegetarian stays away from all animal derived products - eggs and dairy. Vegans on the other hand, include this but also make it a lifestyle choice with cosmetics and clothes and the rest. If I am wrong, someone correct me!

That's it today folks...officially one third of the way and feeling pretty good about it!