the end of a (very brief) era

My 30-day experiment came to a joyous end yesterday at a baby shower for one of my closest friends.

Meatballs were had. Chicken salad croissants were devoured. And, most importantly, multiple mimosas were downed. And afterward, I didn't get sick. (Phew.)

But despite all that, my ways remain irrevocably changed. From now on, I will only eat meat once a week. (For clarity's -- and flexibility's -- sake, I mean one day a week, not one meal a week.)

With the fourth week of this project arrived physiological changes that were simply too clear to ignore. Vegetarianism bears with it a quiet lightness of being that operates subtly on multiple levels -- physical, ethical, mental -- and my hope is that allowing just a little bit of meat back into my life will allow me to maintain this feeling while occasionally still indulging that carnivorous primal urge. After all -- I may be many things, but Texan is and will always be first and foremost.

What follows is a brief assessment of this month's not-exactly-drastic-but-still-significant results.

How I look
Pretty much exactly the same. I didn't lose a single pound or inch from anywhere. I will say, however, that my nails are looking mighty healthy (when they're not covered in semi-chipped black polish).

How I feel
I know, now, what Mick Jagger meant when he sang about satisfaction: He must have been going vegetarian. Up until yesterday, I hadn't been full -- that busting at the seams, unbuttoning-jeans, need-to-pass-out-now type of full -- throughout the month. But I learned to adjust my expectation level from being full to simply no longer being hungry.


Weeks one and two were grumpy. Lots of jonesing, lots of craving, LOTS of smoking -- yikes. My desire began to subside in week three. And by week four, I barely wanted or thought about it at all.


I shaved 30 seconds off my average speed on my standard six-mile run, and that's only so far; I continue to PR every few runs. Last week's nine-miler came in at 1:15:41 -- definitely no Jeremy Wariner, but pretty quick for my long-distance norm and especially for a smoker of Marlboro Reds...kicking those is absolutely next up on the deprivation agenda. It's only a matter of when.

I also cut the time it takes to peruse a menu; for someone like my former self, who'd eat anything and everything available (so long as there were no olives in the mix), there's something to be said for only being allowed 20 percent of a restaurant's repertoire. Maybe, sometimes, less choice does equal more freedom.

And you know what? The whole thing was actually kind of nice. I was more productive, more focused and much less ethically compromised by the idea of consuming another mammal. It was a previously unbeknownst conviction, a guilt that I was completely unaware existed because it'd been so deeply ingrained in my lifestyle from such a young age.

I won't try to pretend that some thick veil has vanished, that I'm a whole new woman, that the heaviest of weights has been lifted from my soul. I will just say that I am different. Not dramatically different, maybe not even noticeably different, but most definitely not the same.

And now, a recipe, just in time for summer:

There was an abundance of tomatoes left over from the shower. I bought three one-pound containers of Camparis to make mini chicken salad croissants, clearly underestimating just how mini the croissants would turn out to be. So when I got home, after a five-miler fueled primarily by cakeballs and peach champagne (bad idea), I threw together this nice summery salad:

should have added red onion. was tired of chopping.

Yeah, I know -- it's not summer yet. But we live in D.C., and it's already insanely hot. (Probably because of all the sinners).

cucumber
tomato (I used Camparis, but romas or even grapes would be a good choice)
red onion (I was too lazy to put them in. don't be like me.)
reduced-fat Feta
olive oil
red wine vinegar
honey (just a little bit, hey baby, just a little bit...)
garlic powder
Italian seasoning (I used Penzey's Italian dressing base)
lots of salt and pepper

Whisk olive oil, honey, vinegar, garlic powder and Italian seasoning together. Cut up vegetables, toss with dressing and feta, season with salt and pepper to taste.