Day 3

I live in a zoo.

In addition to four wonderful kids and a husband, I share my home with two dogs, one cat, two gerbils, one quaker parrot, a fish and two african dwarf frogs. I love these animals with all my heart. (Secretly, I think I always wanted to own a pet shop.) They are such pure, gentle spirits and they bring me joy every day.

That said, I have spent my entire life eating and loving meat. I made it an intentional act NOT to think about the poor creature who gave its life for that grilled flank steak on my plate. I'm not going to get all preachy vegan right now, but my eyes have been opened to the horrible treatment these animals face as well as the many health risks we take consuming them.

It's time to wake up and smell the problem. Millions of Americans now say no to meat. As they do so, their cholesterol levels plummet. Their coronary arteries open up again. Their waistlines shrink, and according to nutrition researcher Neal D. Barnard, M.D., their cancer rates drop 40 percent.

Have I gone vegan? I can't say for sure. The thought of eating meat grosses me out at the moment -- even chicken. Blech. (I shouldn't have watched some of those youtube videos!) Most likely I will significantly reduce the animal-based entrees that grace my dinner table.

Understanding that beans, nuts and vegetables offer more than enough protein eliminates the myth I always bought into that we need meat.

Anyway, I feel really good today. I am amazed that after an early dinner -- a light one, at that -- I feel full at 9 p.m. There is definitely something to this and I like it.

Here's what I ate today.


Breakfast:

Steel Cut Oatmeal with Blueberries
Toasted Rice Bread
Natural Chunky Peanut Butter








Lunch:

Polenta with Organic Pasta Sauce
Leftover Greens
Celery
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus






Dinner: I blew it! I don't have a photo because I remembered two bites before it was all gone. Dinner started out as a snack. I really liked my peanut butter toast I ate for breakfast, so I made myself a slice. And then another. At that point, I decided to make it dinner so I reached in and grabbed the celery and hummus. Dessert was a delicious red apple with cinnamon. But as I wrote earlier, it is 9 p.m. and I enjoyed my early supper at 5 p.m.

Exercise: 45 minutes on the recumbant bike today!