It’s been a crazy week of flip flopping among the pundits in Washington regarding food.  We have the first lady trying to set a world record to raise awareness for childhood obesity,  and just days later the government goes soft, refusing to castrate Tony the Tiger.

Ms. Obama seems all about health on camera, but Paula Deen ratted her out.  She apparently got her gnosh on during the commercials.  Makes you wonder what the White House chef is serving up these days.

I guess it’s one step at a time.  If the history of my own relationship with food proves anything, it’s that fitness is a journey rather than a destination.  Exploring my curiosities has made it a roller coaster of an adventure, from mending my unhealthy relationship with food in my teens, to the trials of The Abs and The Warrior diets.

I didn’t give vegetarian more than a passive pondering until Jenn and I were planning to celebrate our 1st anniversary by exploring  Portland, OR  on foot.  She’s never been a vegan purist, but lived largely on produce by default until I came along.  I don’t remember whose idea it was, but vegetarianism was an eating -ism I’d never tried, and that alone made me willing.  The fact that my wife was eager to participate made it that much more enticing, since my evolving menu had been known to induce rolling eyes and exasperation on her part.

We decided ahead of time to go at least a month without meat after our trip, seeing it as a way to detox from all of the restaurant food eaten during our tasty tour of Portland.  It could possibly speed up our financial recovery, too . . . I mean, spinach is cheaper than steak, right?

On one of our first nights in the trendy city, we went to a Living Room Theater and watched the documentary Food Inc.  It points out a lot of ominous disease-breeding/animal-abusing/migrant worker oppressing/poison-spreading aspects of our nation’s food system.  The rhetoric was good motivation for someone already planning to shun meat for a time- so much, in fact, that I got started then and there.

Portland is a very liberal, organic, Petavegan-friendly kind of city.  Almost all of the vegetarian food joints we went to had meatless lasagna, veggie burgers, tofu tips, and other specially designed ‘plates’ to appease the herbivores-  even Deschutes and Rock Bottom, a couple of the coolest little microbreweries on the planet.

I soon found myself ordering meat-free meals, and they were delicious!  The early start was enjoyable, and I continued to handle our month of meatlessness well after returning home.  Dagwood salads with lettuce, tomatoes, almonds, carrots, spinach, feta cheese, jalapeños, sprouts, and more helped see me through.

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Vegetarian, Raw and Vegan with Bill & Sheila