Day 3

Good evening, this is Albert reporting on the third day of the new diet. Once again the meal plan has me surrounded with meat (not fish unfortunately), but the resistance is still strong. That's not to say that these three meatless days haven't had me wonder about the feeling a recovering addict might experience facing withdrawals. But to all those who choose to live by a vegetarian lifestyle and watch others around them eat their hunk of steak, I applaud you. I'm left wondering, will my desire to eat meat just eventually disappear eventually after a long abstinence from it? Surely those vegetarians previously mentioned do not look at his or her neighbor's plate in jealousy. Perhaps like any cycle, parterns can be changed, and new ones formed. That being said, let me walk you through today's courses.

This particular day did not start until noon. Lunch was a combination of ceaser salad with crutons paired with a side of french fries. It actually did well in holding me over until dinner, which was at 5:30. For dinner I had steamed broccoli, bread rolls, and a Boco burger. Before today I had never ate a veggie burger, nor did I know what it was made of. A boco burger is made chiefly from soy protein and wheat gluten. It is amazing to see the many uses of soy products. On a final note I'd like to address the comment on Alberta's post concerning an iron deficiency. One way to offset this problem would be to be like Popeye and eat more spinache. Look at this site. www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

Day 2

Alberta here!

Let me start by introducing myself as well! My name is Alberta, like I said I am a college student at UF and will be graduating in about a month (scary how time flies)! The class we are doing this project for is a writing class. I am not the biggest fan of writing and put off taking my last writing requirement until my last semester! When picking a class, "Writing about nature" stuck out to me and I decided on a whim to sign up for it. I am SO glad I did! I have gained so much from this class so far. We have looked at many environmentally geared problems, one of which is the food industry.

If you haven't seen the movie Food, Inc yet... GO SEE IT! It will shock you and open your eyes to some of the negative aspects of our food industry. I am an avid meat eater and this movie really made me stop and think about what I was purchasing and putting into my body.

Anyways enough of that. It would be true to say I am doing this diet because I want to challenge myself personally and see what it is like to live this lifestyle. I honestly in the past haven't had the best views of people that were vegetarians. I wasn't rude to them or anything, but I definitely frowned upon this diet. So for me, after 22 years of meat eating bliss, I decided it was time for me to "Put up, or shut up" so to speak and try this diet for myself. I am a very active individual. I have always played sports and always eaten healthy. I am still active and workout everyday. I want to see if this diet can still allow me to workout rigorously while not eating meat.

So for the past two days I have eaten pretty much the same thing.

Breakfast: eggs (I LOVE eggs)

Snack: Luna Bar

Lunch: Tuna sandwich with carrots and pickles

Dinner: Veggie pasta (yellow squash, mushrooms), with a spinach salad (with tomato and cucumber)

Snack: Apple and organic peanut butter

I have to say I felt full all day. I worked out around 11am and then played soccer for 2 hours at 4. I felt good but was starving by the time I ate dinner!

please feel free to leave comments or meal ideas! I'd love feedback!!!

Day 1

Good Evening. It is the evening of the first day in our journey through a pescetarian diet. My name is Albert, and I am pleasantly surprised with how well this new diet integrates within my lifestyle. I am very much so a carnivorous person, and at first thought of the idea of changing my eating habits, responded with much reluctance. But upon taking this course, the implications of my dietary habits have been brought to my attention, and I have challenged myself to make a change. My will to complete this goal is only limited by the fact my meals come from a meal plan. Let me walk you through a food log for today.



This morning began around 9:00 a.m. with a homemade egg and cheese sandwich on an English muffin. Egg is one product I am thankful to keep due to its high protein and calorie source.. For lunch I had a salad with ceaser dressing, carrots, cheese, and cucumbers on top. To compliment one healthy meal, I garnished it with a rather helping portion of fried onion rings. It was not until dinner that the intense desire to cheat rushed through me. The dinner menu called for lasagna with ground beef. However, the vegetarian lasagna substitute composed of noodles, various vegetables, and cheese was on my menu. As well, there were several slices of garlic bread and cooked squash and zucchini on the side.



It is pleasing to have completed this first day. One concern of Alberta's and mine was that this diet would not sufficiently sustain our active lifestyles. Fortunately this was not the case and all exercise was as normal. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to make a difference. Here's looking forward to then.

What is this all about?

Hi Everyone!!

We are two college students at the University of Florida. Over the course of our lifetimes, our diets have consisted of a large array of food items, but most days, we consume meat at least once a day. For people that may be more food conscious, this may be seem like a shocking amount of meat. Quite honestly, we agree. Though had you asked us this a few months ago, we probably would have thought nothing of it.

You see, we are currently enrolled in a writing class here at UF called "Writing About Nature". As our final project, we have decided to put what we have learned in motion. We have been taught about how a diet consisting primarily of carnivorous meals can be detrimental to our planet. We also know that a vegetarian diet is not always the answer. We have decided to take on the challenge of cutting meat completely out of our diets for the next few weeks. This is a personal challenge that we are fully committed to. We will be trying the pescitarian diet, a version of a vegetarian diet. This diet excludes the consumption of all meat, but allows one to eat fish, eggs and dairy.

Follow us as we challenge ourselves throughout this journey. We are interested in seeing how adopting this diet will changes our lives, and we will both be examining a number of different aspects of the diet throughout our journey.