Meat is Delicious.

A strange title for the first post of a so-called vegan blog, huh?

But it's true and I'll say it again: 
Meat is delicious.

A juicy steak done just right. A cheeseburger topped with all the fixin's. Barbecue chicken cooked on the grill. Pepperoni Pizza. Turkey Clubs. And bacon..... Oh sweet Jesus, the bacon!

I was raised just like most American children are these days. We'd get the meat-toppers pizza on a Friday night and the Fourth of July meant burgers and hot dogs. Lunches would consist of a packed ham and cheese sandwich with a crock pot full of pork chops waiting for dinner when I got home. A meal was not complete unless there was some kind of meat at its center.

So with a history like this and what appears to be a love of all things meaty, why did I start a blog called "Experimental Vegan"?

One word: Health.

When I was in college I started paying more attention to the food I was putting in my body. Forced to cook my own food for the first time in 18 years, the whole process of putting together a meal suddenly became very interesting to me. Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals show was very popular at that time and watching her whip up delicious, and often healthy(ish) meals inspired me to try all sorts of new foods. Cooking became Art. 

Around that time I also taught myself to run via the Couch to 5K program. I fell in love with running and ended up losing about 25 pounds during the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year.  I felt beyond great.

I kept up with things for a while but after graduation I got a full-time office job and things started to slip. Fast food and take-out became easier after a long day of work and going out with friends took priority over running.

Life happens. 

When Kyle and I first met in March of 2010, I was right smack dab in the middle of a healthy routine. I lived at them gym, obsessively counted calories, and was on the ball! I was also still in school for Massage Therapy at the time so every Monday and Wednesday I got to sit in my Anatomy class and soak up some great holistic health information from my teacher (who also happened to be a nutritionist).

As Kyle and I got further into our relationship, we got "comfortable" (i.e. lazy) and I stopped thinking about how many calories a meal had or how it would make me feel after eating it. We were in love and nothing else mattered. Fast forward a year and a half and while we're still very much in love, the laziness has caught up with us and we're feeling it-- in our poor sleep patterns, our frequent headaches, our overall lack of energy... It's time to do something.

So what do we do?

Over the past few months we have been exploring the "documentary" section of our streaming Netflix account and have found some great films that have had an impact on us: Super Size Me, Food, Inc., Forks Over Knives, Dying to Have Known, and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. All of these movies show an eye-opening look at our relationship with food as a culture, the politics of the food industry, and the impact processed foods and factory farm products have on our health. Unlike some extremist groups they do not use over-the-top shocking images nor a fear-based approach, but rather show real people undergoing real life changes, along with scientific research and statistics.

All of that evidence seems to prove the same basic idea:

A plant-based diet is the best approach to preventing diseases and staying healthy.

And so, I'm ready to become what I call an "Experimental Vegan"

As an Experimental Vegan I intend to:

• Explore a whole new world of fruits, veggies, grains, beans, and even-- dare I say-- seaweed.
• Taste-test the myriad of meat-alternatives out there.
• Document my ups and downs during this learning process.
• Record the effect the plant-based diet has on my health and my appearance.
• Write as honestly as I can about thoughts and opinions of the foods I try and the vegan lifestyle I will embrace.
• Share with you the reaction I get from friends and family about this new way of eating.
• Embrace the fact that I am not perfect.

On a final note, I want to emphasize the fact that my expectations and goals are not to become a 100% All-Or-Nothing Vegan. It is not my intention to never eat an egg, bite of meat, or piece of cheese ever again for the rest of my life. It is my intention to experiment with the vegan lifestyle, eat clean as much as possible, add vegan foods/recipes to my everyday diet, and overall, to just see what happens. To some die hard veganites out there, that may not be good enough. Or maybe it seems like a cop-out. But for me, it is more of a "baby steps" approach to a potential full-time lifestyle in the future. I am testing the waters so to speak.

I am excited for the journey.