Being a vegetarian in an omnivorous society is tough. Trying to be one sucks fat nuts.

I have tried in the past several times, for one reason or another- it never stuck because I never did it for myself- that was the problem. Recently, I decided that it would be better for me, and I feel great by comparison. Unlike many others, I didn't just drop off the edge of the meat-eating planet, I transition foods out of my diet. First that had to go was drive thru beef, so I had a "Last Supper" for In-and-Out. Two double doubles and animal fries. I was sick for a fucking week, and it was goddamned worth it. FUCK, it was delicious. Next was pork, which was a surprise as to how painful it would be to let it go. Sausages, hot dogs, bacon- sweet JAYSUS, letting bacon go was worse than losing a first born child. I would rather spike a baby than have to go through that again.

Excluding red meat from my diet did a real number on me. Including but not limited to:

Granting a more acute and developed sense of taste.
Average American makes their meals with the majority of the focus on the meat; the vegetables and sides are afterthoughts. Consider for a moment what it means if the main focus of the meal is the vegetables. While cooking, one would have to take serious consideration in the preparation of their food. Spices aren't just window dressing- they make and break a meal.

A significant decrease in muscle mass.
I saw this one coming, it just happened way faster than I thought. I dropped about twenty pounds in a month, and with the fat, a lot of muscle went as well. Partially because I changed my workout habits, and stopped power lifting, partially because I was a bit B12 deficient. That, and I wasn't making up all of the animal proteins that I was losing with the cow and buffalo. In fact, I wasn't replacing them with green leafies, either. In short, I got lazy, which is a murderer of young vegetarians. I started supplementing properly again and I upped the fish proteins and veggie intake. I'm still much weaker than I was before, but after some serious consideration, I realized how little I needed THAT MUCH MUSCLE. It's fun to have, but there are very few practical applications in my day to day life.

I became intolerant to poor ingredients and preparation.
I'll get into in a minute, but if the food sucks, I gag. I can't eat poorly made food. This means that I only have maybe three friends who can cook for me, and if I am too tired or lazy to cook a proper meal, I just go without (such a bad idea). There is also a shrinking list of restaurants that I can go to eat. Wanna see? Of course you do.


Here is a list of my favorite fast food places
In-and-Out
Carl's Jr
Taco Bell
Del Taco
Jack in the Box
KFC
Wendy's
Long John Silver's
Samurai Sam's
Kyoto Bowl
Panda Express

List of fast food places that I can still go to.
Samurai Sam's
Kyoto Bowl

...fuck. Note that Burger King and McDonald's aren't on there. I haven't been able to eat from there in years.

Getting a quick meal isn't as easy as it used to be. No worries, I don't feel as if my colon is a septic tank anymore. I mean, if I have a hamburger now, I'll miss two days of work, and if I find myself back on the east coast and within a day's drive of White Castle, I don't care if I would spend a week in the ICU, I am down with a 10 sack with two extra orders of chicken rings. MUST. HAVE. IN. BELLY.

Next time, I'll go over a few recipes.

-jack