59) Go without meat for a month

Vegetarians and vegans have always been something of a curiosity to me.
I suppose as a man, meat plays an integral part to my diet.
However, I wanted to see what would happen
if I took it out completely, without warning.

Now, I asked my vegetarian and vegan friends beforehand
about proteins alternatives besides peanut butter and beans.
They told me a few good things, like kale and such.
One suggested tofu,
but I've tasted tofu and it isn't for this negro.
I planned to stock up on different items,
cook different vegetarian dishes for myself
Neither happened.
Nevertheless, on October 1,
I embarked on my meatless month.
[Yes, many gay jokes ensued
the moment I mentioned it on Twitter.}

I basically continued to eat the same campus food minus the meat option:
pizza with no topping, burritos/quesadillas with black beans as the star, salads with no chicken.
At the time of consumption, I would feel perfectly satisfied. However, within an hour my stomach annoyed me with hunger.
As I figured, peanut butter became my best friend: the perfect anytime snack on a cracker, bread, or spoon.

There were often times when I wanted fast food.
But the thing about fast food is... it's all meat.
Yeah, there are salads, but if you buy salad from a fast food joint
you may want to reevaluate your life.

During my stint refraining from meat,
I may or may not have had slip ups.
When you've been eating meat repeatedly for 15+ years, it's a habit that dies hard.
For instance, October 2nd I ate a friend's dip sparingly for an hour after she said it was buffalo chicken dip before I realized the buffalo taste was coming from chicken.
A week later, at 9 am, I came across an opportunity for free bacon.
You don't pass up free bacon, unless you're (a real) Muslim.
I was chewing up the dead swine before I realized I couldn't eat meat.
That's was the hardest thing I've ever had to do:
spit out that delicious meat that made my mouth water.

However, I trucked on...
until I said f*** it two weeks in.
That's right, I only made it halfway.
I got tired of being hungry and cranky everyday.
Ultimately I asked myself what others had posed to me: why are you doing this?
I wanted to see the effect it would have on my body; I felt sluggish.
I wanted to see how vegetarians did it; by smiling through the tears.
I wanted to show off and be able to say I did it; two weeks is more than most Americans will ever put themselves through by choice.

So how have I felt being back on meat this past 2 weeks and a half?
A bit more content after meals, for sure.
At the same time, I've noticed a sluggishness afterwards
that wasn't there during those two weeks.

Overall, I've determined I don't need meat with every meal
for it to actually be consider a meal in my mind.
...I just need it with most of them.
Word.