Without much fuss, at the beginning of this week I made the switch to vegetarianism. This may shock some, who know me as a guy who can put away a big steak. At those restaurants where they have a "eat this giant thing and it's free" contest, I'm your go-to guy to get that done. However, I've been eating less and less meat lately and wanting to get healthy, lose weight and keep a good quality of life for a long time. I've approaching 40 years, and I want to make sure that I'm vital and active for the next 100. I've also become more interested in sustainability, and wanting to eat more locally produced food. In part, this is to reduce the fuel consumption in getting food to me, but also to keep more of my food money inside my community. I happen to be fortunate enough to live in a place where within a 3 mile drive of my house are about a dozen roadside produce stands from local farmers, a few actually on their farms. If they are out of something you want (and it is ripe/ready), they run out and pick or chop some more for you while you wait.

In an odd way, this very simple post from Will Shetterly helped push me over the edge. It just hit me at the right time, and I decided to go for it. Last weekend we cooked up all the meat in the house and had "meaty gras". Since Monday, I've eaten no meat. I'm not vegan, which means I'm still consuming dairy and I suppose eggs although I haven't actually eaten any. I'm not a hard-ass fundamentalist on it, and in a pinch with nothing else to eat I'm not going to barf at the prospect of downing a hot dog. As a guy with impulse control problems, I need to set up systems that make it hard for me to do the wrong thing. It will be a challenge to eat enough broccoli and tomatoes to become a problem, although I'm sure I will try. Wish me luck.