DAY04

Thursday

So I’m told that even though I’m not eating meat, I’m not doing a very good job of not eating meat. I’m not quite sure what that means. I know I’m not a very good vegetarian. That’s why I’m doing this. That’s why its a challenge. But overall, I think I did good today. I had 9 meals today. Which is nuts but hey I’m satisfied and for the first time this week, I’m FULL.

“What?” You say? No PB&J today? That’s ludicrous! Damn straight. Changing the game. Bright and early, had myself a muffin. Lunch time, I had some of last nights chow mein. And around 5pm I had some Evil Fruit salad. Don’t ask. Let’s just say I had a gastrointestinal malfunction. Then I had an Egg tart to tide me over till dinner. So far so good.

My family had dinner at Honey & Garlic Cuisine in Markham. Every dish was very well prepared. I give it a thumbs up. I’d eaten there before during my Meat-eating days and its always been sensational. This time was no different even though I was only sampling their veggie dishes. Yea it was tough because 9 outta 12 dishes were meat dishes. I had some Peking Duck wraps without the duck. A ho-hum experience to say the least. Aside from that my selections were good. I had some great tofu dishes, lots of mushrooms and oodles of noodles. Quite content with my meals today. Have a look.

Muffin

Chow Mein, Red Peppers, Snow Peas

Evil Fruit Salad

Egg Tart

Oyster Mushroom, Baby Bok Choy

Tofu in Honey Chili Sauce

Mixed Vegetable Chow Mein

Tofu with Egg Noodle

Silk Tofu in sweet ginger

DAY03

Wednesday

Perhaps its all the blogging and photographing that’s making this week seem so very, very long. Or perhaps its the vegetarian lifestyle that’s bringing things to a slow simmer. It could be just that summer is quickly approaching and the days are getting longer. Mmm… Makes me wanna BBQ something.

Okay, have to admit this hump-day was a little more trying than the other days so far. I found myself constantly gorging on food endlessly. I Kept getting hunger pains. I started off with PB&J which was fine, nothing unusual here. Then I had a monstrous salad which I had thought would hold me over until dinner time but neope! 4:00 o’clock rolled around and hunger hit me like a pimp. Its like a thunderous hunger that’s impossible to ignore. So then I had myself a Samosa from the kitchen (Thanks Saks) at work. That was good. And just before I left, I polished off a bowl of fried rice leftover from yesterday. Got home and had some stir fry noodles sans any-kind-o-meat-whatsoever (thanks Mom) and a bowl of fruit. And I’m still hungry. Oh well.

PB&J yes, again.

PB&J other half

Salad with mixed fruit

Salad with mixed fruit

Samosa (meatless)

Egg Fried rice

Fruit cup

Stir Fry Noodles

Mmm… Paper steak.

Note: Learn how to make your very own Origami Tenderloin Steak and impress your friends. Thanks goes to Diem for the link. Visit his blog to find out how he plans to torment me for the rest of the week.

Street Fighter IV

Big news in the gaming community. Capcom’s Street Fighter IV will definitely be released to home consoles in the near future. Capcom announced Tuesday that they are working on home versions of the soon-to-be-release arcade game. Street Fighter IV is the forth major installment of the Street Fighter gaming series and is destined to appear on these platforms: Windows PCs, XBOX 360, and Playstation 3 consoles. Read the official story from Kotaku.

Can’t wait! Almost peed my pants when I heard a new Street Fighter was coming out. If you share in my enthusiasm come here and stare at this clock until its official release.

Until then check out this radool* SFIV trailer.

*radool is the latest thing in slang. rad+cool=radool

DAY02

tuesday

There’s definitely something strange about photographing one’s each and every meal of the day. It’s a good strange and a good ritual and I’ll tell you why. You become more aware of what it is that you’re actually putting in your mouth. More importantly, you’re likely to develop a greater appreciation for your food, where it comes from and also where it’s going. Certainly, makes you think twice before you hoover your next meal. I recommend anyone give it a shot. Helps you to step back and appreciate the origins of the food you’re about to receive. Didn’t mean to get all philosophical but there is a lesson to be learned here folks!

So what was on the menu today? Slighly different from yesterday and yet more of the same. Started off the day again with PB&J. (Really don’t see anything wrong here.) For lunch I had a bowl of fried rice and look at all those veggies!! Oh and I included a picture of my good pal Diem eating a slice of pepponi pizza in my face. Such a great pal, what would I do without him during these trying times. Thanks bro!

During class, I had a sandwich which tasted much like a western omelet with cheese. It was yummy. And by the time I got home it was much too late to have anything substantial so I opted for a fruit salad with a spoon of strawberry ice-cream.

Just wanna say thanks to those who have offered their support, ideas, comments, condolences and what have you. Thanks and keep the comments coming as you can see I need lots of help.

Fruit Salad with daub of strawberry ice-cream

PB&Jam & Ginger Ale

Fried rice and Baby Bok Choy

Diem with Pizza

Eggs, Green Onions, Marble Cheese

DAY01

Monday

It’s been a long day. Can’t believe it’s still Monday. But I made it! Just barely. Still alive.

So I started off the day with my favourite… PB&Jam. Can’t really go wrong here and it’s not any different from what I would usually eat. Smooth sailing so far. Lunch time rolls around and its time for my Eggs & Cheese sandwich (times 2). At this point, I’m starting worry a bit because I’m not sure how many times I wanna eat eggs this week. Better come up with a better game plan… Soon.

7:00pm rolls around, I’m hittin’ the books and suddenly, hunger strikes. I reach for some brain food and I grab the Crunchie bar I snagged from work. Long ways to go as class doesn’t end until 9:30. I finally get home and fix myself a quick bowl ‘o’ noodles with egg and baby bok choy. Yes, more eggs. Oh and lots and lots of water. Super sticky weather today.

Hopefully I’ll have a little more variety tomorrow. Sooo tempted to grab a thick juicy cheeseburger from Charlie’s down the street. So satisfyingly quick and easy. But I ain’t givin’ up that easy!

PB & J Sandwich

Egg & Cheese Sandwich

Egg & Cheese Sandwich

Crunchie Chocolate Bar

Instant Noodles

Rules

Okay here goes. The start of my 7 day veggie challenge. The rules, I’m told, are as follows: Must survive 7 whole days without eating any animals. That is, specifically, animals with a face. Oddly enough, I can have eggs. But hey, I’m not complaining. All my meals will be documented and photographed here. So if I’m eating, you’ll know about it. Even if you don’t wanna know.

And if when I win this challenge I will be rewarded with a feast fit for the flesh eater that I am at Phil’s Original BBQ . So guys if you’re reading this, I’ll have the BBQ Combo (that’s Ribs, Chicken and Brisket). Mmm… The losers in this challenge will be met with whatever turmoil my sick little mind can come up with… Haven’t thought of it yet. I’ll let you know when I do. It’ll be sweet.

So as you can see from the photo, I’m a featherweight but I can definitely pack away the meat. Hopefully this new diet doesn’t throw me off too much.

Quick note, so you have something to look forward to is that I’ve also got a wedding to attend this weekend. So that is definitely going to be a challenge to end the week. And its a asian wedding so you can be sure that there are no veggie alternatives. Sigh…

Aside from the whole challenge, i’m also just doing this to see if I can survive and maintain the same physical fitness levels that I usually go through as a meateater. I mean I usually workout 2 or 3 times a week if I can but I don’t always make the gains that I want even as a meateater. So we’ll see how my body responds to this sudden change. And… just maybe… I wanna save some animals.

P.S. Any food and recipe ideas are more than welcome. Please post in the comments and help this veggie newbie out. Thanks.

Hello!

So let’s get to the meat of the issue here and why I keep over-using these “meat” puns. I love meat, have always been eating the flesh of animals and can’t think of any valid reason why I should stop. I can’t even begin to fathom the idea of life without sirloin steak, baby back ribs, korean kalbi shortribs, honey garlic bbq chicken and the list goes on… And after years of eating meat I simply love it and can’t imagine life without meat (more specifically, red meats). However, recently I was challenged to go 7 whole days without touching any red meats. So here lies the irony of this blog. The next 7 days will chronicle my adventures in “No meat land”. *shivers* Now, I know some of you may say that 7 days is nothing and that you can do that standing on your head. But for someone who’s been a flesh eater all his life; this could be extremely traumatic. I will be photographing each and every meal and providing status reports. Wish me luck!

Stay tuned. My 7 day challenge starts Monday, May 26th, 2008 12:00 am.