Yesterday marked the first day of the experiment. I started the first day by eating a bowl of cereal. Immediately afterward I turned on my computer to check the weather so I would know how to dress. After that I found my self out of reflex go to log on to Facebook. I stopped just before hitting the enter key. I scolded myself: “Remember the experiment!” It was only the first day, first thing in the morning and I almost blew it. The going without meat part was easy but surfing the web was going to be difficult for me.
That day I had two classes and was done by noon. I ate another meatless meal. Personally, I actually think that the last two weeks of not eating bread or any bread products were more difficult than this meatless week will be. We’ll see what happens. After lunch, I returned to my room. Knowing I couldn’t surf the web, I decided to be productive. By 1 o’clock I had already finished the work that I had for tomorrow. I was able to then work on stuff that was not due until later in the week. It is amazing how productive I can be when I am not spending time on Facebook or aimlessly surfing the web. Sadly, if I wasn’t doing this experiment I would have wasted the time I was doing homework or just looking at Facebook and watching youtube.
Transportation was not an issue since I stayed on campus and took an enjoyable walk through the neighborhood. When I got back to campus I stopped at the Eagle’s Nest to see if I could get a snack. Everything was packaged in a wrapper. So I walked away without having bought anything. That moment was an eye opening experience. Before I didn’t think about throwing packaging away but now through this experiment I noticed that disposable packaging is everywhere.
After that I checked on my friend and made sure they were doing their workout for the day. And since I had extra time because I finished my homework early I was able to be a part of our floor community by hanging out and interacting with everyone.
As the day drew towards a close I went through the mental list of things that I had to do with the experiment. One more thing remained to check off the list: meditation. So I found a quiet place and sat down to meditate. I worked towards clearing my mind off all the thoughts swirling around in my head. I’ve discovered that it is much easier said than done. I was having difficulty so I decided to try and focus on my breathing. And then, for a brief moment, my mind was clear. Immediately afterward thought returned and I was back to square one. I tried again and repeated the process for the rest of the half hour. It was an incredibly relaxing experience. After that I brushed my teeth and went to bed. I slept surprisingly better than I had in a long time. After last night I’ve decided to include meditation as part of my regular routine.
Hey there, first of let me just say that I applaud the fact that your taking this experiment seriously and making real changes within your life. Meditation was something I found interesting for you to include in your routine, from the blogs I've read a lot of people have found pleasure in walking but since you seem to already do a lot of that I guess meditation would be the next best thing. I really wanted to hear more about the training schedule you're working on with your friend and also a bit more about your food choices and how exactly they've impacted you. I also want to know if in the next few day you'll find not eating meat just as easy. For me personally my limit was two days then I began to think about meat periodicly. I hope you can last without it and I wish you luck with the rest of your experiment.
ReplyDeleteStay Strong, Stay healthy :)
Hey, Sorry that I haven't been able to get back to you until now. I've been unusually busy this week and didn't check for comments. I applaud you as well for going without meat for a few days. It's not easy when there are so many meat food options. I know the experiment is now over, but I count myself lucky that I not eating meat remained easy for me. I was able to complete the week as a vegetarian. In terms of what I ate it was a combination of a lot of vegetables, fruit and a little pasta. Since I was still able to consume animal products I would have an omelet every morning for breakfast and mix a protein powder shake at night. That way I still got the protein I would normally have gotten from meat. I found that Fire Wok had the best and healthiest options in TDR. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I'll make sure that I address your questions in my reflection post.
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