Seitan worship on Sunday morning...

Well, now...I'm seriously looking at my food. LOOKING at it. And, even though this has happened before, I'm looking more closely. I was grinding beef at work. I was looking at the trimmings, and aside from the MFA factor (mercy for animals movement: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/meet-mfa.aspx ) you really have to admit...it's kinda unpalatable. Think about it. Meat doesn't START in nice neat little packages, all shiny and plastic-wrapped, like you see it in the store. Meat comes in fur...on feet (oh, okay, dammit...HOOVES) with eyes and hearts and, to some extent or another, FEELINGS. I have a difficult time of it, sometimes. I try and justify it by comparing myself to Dr. Mallard, "Ducky," on NCIS. He doesn't like DEATH, but he loves his job. And, I like what I do. Really. But...it's part of the Machine. The farm factory Machine. And, sadly enough, it's not all 'ee-eye, ee-eye, OH."

I DO feel way better about eating veggies. Like, it's a CHALLENGE to get the daily requirement of calories and nutritional building blocks, without stopping a heart...mine, or some other animal's. Some scientific research indicates that plants have feelings, but I never HAVE had a plant as a pet. Well, ONCE. Meggie and I planted some orange seeds one time, and one actually SPROUTED. Yuppers, it did. Grew about four feet tall, shiny dark and green, with some SUPER thorns. Pretty, but I never wanted to sleep with it, like Mister Mittens, or Nanny-Cat. Anyway, I've been two complete days, now, without benefit of furry animal consumption. With the exception of a couple of tilapia fillets, it's all been vegetable based. Par example:

Friday

1. breakfast of milk, cereal and a couple apples
2. lunch of salmon with Mediterranean spices and light mayo, a spinach pie and a za'atar bread, both made from whole-kernel durum flour. 
3. dinner of Momma's vegetarian vegetable and Textured Soy Protein (http://www.bobsredmill.com/organic-textured-soy_protein.html)soup
4. a couple of cookies, and LOTSA skim milk during the day

Saturday

1. breakfast of a tilapia fillet LOADED with veggies and spices, (Dawn's recipe) hummus, an apple and skim milk
   
2. lunch of the REST of the tilapia and hummus, skim milk, an apple and an orange.
3. Dinner of seitan steak with sauteed mushrooms and onions, baked potato with some kinda smart butter-like spread, sauteed cabbage and bok choi with organic peanut butter/lime sauce, with blueberry tea. (I passed up a porterhouse dinner, on PURPOSE. I even COOKED it, for Mom and Dyll.)
   
4. night-time snack of a few cookies, with another glass of skim milk.

Now, see? I feel pretty darn good about all those menu choices, cookies and all, because NO blood was shed (save for that of the tilapia, and I'm seriously considering sea-life, too) and it DOES seem that I'm losing some kinda weight. What the hell, not grazing all night until I fall asleep HAS to have a benefit, nyet? 

Oh, yeah; I'm on a new medication, for sleeplessness. I take the usual Ropinerole for RLS, at 8:00 or so...or else I twitch like crazy, otherwise. But...this OTHER stuff seems to be working. At least, for now. Before I actually tag it, and have to recant my endorsement, I'll just wait and see. The IDEAL model is to remain on it, at lowest dose, until I get into an unaided sleep pattern, and then QUIT. Not quit sleeping, I meant quit taking the med. So, I'm sleeping almost all the way through the night, waking up for a fast biffy-call, because all that milk and water content has to go SOMEPLACE...and then pretty much immediately fall back to sleep. But I don't toss, turn, raid the icebox...OR, wake up with that damned 'food hangover' anymore! HOORAY! I mean, I gave up alcohol hangovers a few twenty-four hours ago...what the hell am I doing suffering from any OTHER kinda hangover, huh? Like I said, I HAVE the tools...one day at a time. 

One of my old online friends has been looking at my photo posts, on Facebook. She saw the seitan and said "Yuck." She said "Ralph!!!" Well, Kiddo, here's the deal: I have done SEVERAL things in my life, with which people may, or may NOT have agreed. When I quit my job at the hospital ($2.50/hour!!!) to become a medic...when I ETS'ed the Army to go to UTEP...when I left UTEP to go to the US DoD Language School...Sh%t, I've been raising eyebrows since 1957. And, I'm still alive. Now, not to hurt anyone's feelings, but I don't care if you like what I eat, or not. Each of us is entitled to our own opinion. Broadening of the horizons is an option, and if you choose to remain myopic, when eyeglasses are right there on the table, so be it. I'll send roses to your funeral. Mine is being postponed. 

I feel good. I'm taking steps to clean out my heart, my body. Maybe baby steps. It's PROGRESS, not PERFECTION. We are not saints. The point is, that we are WILLING to walk a straighter walk. And, can actually see my feet, without the help of a mirror. I started out, Tuesday, 5 January, 2010, at 236 pounds. Today, Sunday, 10 January, 2010, I weigh 230.5 pounds. Just from eating better. Maybe not smarter, I have to begin to actively track my calories and begin exercising to do all that. But, as I said, progress, not perfection.

Speaking of exercise, now it's time to go to Union Chapel. Every once inna while, yours truly gets Sunday off work, to be with the little lady, and it's my honor, my duty, my dream to be in church, singing the doxology with her.