Well, I’ve decided to make the effort to go Vegetarian again. I started this a little over two weeks ago, this’ll be the third time in my life I’ve tried, all these attempts have been recently in the last couple of years.
My reasons are for health and because of my Buddhist / Taoist views. It also feels right on level that I can’t articulate, I know that if I fail this time, then there will be a fourth attempt.
I’m trying a gradual change, my breakfast is already fully veggie, lunch is my next target and I’ve already achieved it. I just need to get my diet right to sustain my gym activity before I start to move my evening meals over.
It’s interesting that I seem to be eating a greater quantity of food and experiencing some light headedness. A vegetarian friend tells me that the greater volume is normal and I think the light headedness is because I need to get my dietary balance worked out fully, but this is exactly why I’m doing a gradual change.
Last time, it was my exercise habits that beat me, but from what I can see there’s no reason whatsoever that a Vegetarian can’t be a bodybuilding or triathlete or whatever.
I’ll keep my blog updated with the things I learn as I go along, hopefully my trial and error will come in handy for someone else!
Angela says:
Good luck…I cut out most meat about eight years ago and never felt better. I do still eat some fish, though, which I enjoy living here in Hawaii, and somehow I don’t feel badly about that…
13 February 2008, 11:37 pmPeter Clothier says:
Good luck with this. I think more and more often about the source of the meat I eat and what is necessary to be done to bring it to the market–and I don’t especially enjoy the thoughts. What about fish and dairy, though? I have been making the effort simply to eat more consciously myself, and have started a new blog called “A Diet of Choice,” which attempts to bring conscious attention to my choices on a daily basis. If interested, you can find a link on The Buddha Diaries. Best of everything to you, PC
14 February 2008, 10:59 pmLewis says:
I too have been bringing back discipline to my food choices lately, after letting all restriction go and indulging over the Christmas period. Just to take more of a look at it, to be that much more thoughtful about what I eat, is a powerful statement, and cutting out sugar has really improved my energy levels and centeredness.
My perspective would be to try not to make “going vegetarian” into something that has success or failure attached to it - diet is an unfolding journey, as our requirements change depending on what we do, who we are, and who we choose to be at any given moment. I remember when my dreams guided me into eating meat again after an 8 month abstinence. Flying bacon sandwiches in my workshop.
I hope it brings some good changes for you Richard, changing diet means changing our mind.
And to you Peter, I’d recommend an author by the name of Marc David, he has written some excellent books on conscious eating, and all the parts of eating APART from WHAT you should eat…. in effect, he speaks of the HOW and the WHY…
17 February 2008, 11:25 pmNick says:
I’m not a veggie but we have found a way of improving our eating. By ordering an organic veg box we make fewer visits to supermarkets, but more importantly we find that when a new box is delivered we make veg soup with the previous weeks leftovers. That increases the number of purely veg meals we eat.
20 February 2008, 1:08 amRichard says:
Thanks for the support everyone, I’m using an excellent book to assist me which is the Low-GI Vegetarian Cookbook by Rose Elliot. It covers GI theory and has lots of gorgeous recipes.
One of the things I’m learning from my veggie colleague is just how messed up the food industry is and how many places we actually use animal products in.
20 February 2008, 11:28 am