Needless to say,”Meat”less to stay – EVST 100: Intro to the Environment

I must be honest I am having much more difficulty than I expected with my sustainable behavior change. I can’t even tell you how many times I have been sitting down for a meal and only realized as I was halfway through that I was eating meat. I am always on the go between my classes, coaching, and work; I quickly grab something to eat without even thinking. That is a huge barrier I have been running into. My time is very limited during the day so for the most part I eat on the go and don’t put much thought into it. When I first started the challenge I payed very close attention to what I was eating but somewhere along the way I resorted back to my bad habit. I think one thing that may help me is making a bunch of signs and hanging them around my room, in my assignment book, and definitely in my wallet. I’m a very visual person and need to write post-it notes to remind myself of things I need to do. Placing many different reminders around my room will implant it into my brain and I will eventually adopt it as second nature. I am also a lover of quotes. I think I am going to try searching Google for quotes related to giving up meat and put some of those up around my room as motivation. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I’ve been having difficulty thinking of a benefit to give myself. Honestly I love the satisfaction when I go a full week without any meat. It makes me feel like I am making a difference for animals out there. I think an incentive for me would be giving myself salsa. (this may sound very strange but bare with me) I absolutely love it and I think if I take it away and use that as a reward for myself at the end of every week that it may increase my success. It’s delicious and always has been one of my favorite foods.

Since beginning my sustainable behavior challenge I have done research on meat and the numerous negative effects it has on us. I’ve also watched countless documentaries that my cousin has sent to me. The things I’ve watched and read I can’t get out of my head. At this point I do want to continue implementing this behavior change even after this semester. I’ve noticed that when I am consciously thinking about it I have no trouble sticking to it but when I let my guard down I struggle. It is going to take a lot of discipline, especially with the holidays coming around the corner, but this is something I strongly believe in and want to continue.

Alexandria Sousa says:

November 25, 2013 at 9:35 pm

I love that we ran into each other today and were able to talk briefly about the contrasting experiences we’ve had with our sustainable behavior challenges. We’ve had completely opposite cravings and experiences, especially since you’ve had to balance allergies to animal byproducts for a long time, whereas cutting dairy products is an entirely new experience for me. Alternatively, as a past vegetarian, cutting out meat seemed to be the simplest aspect of a vegan diet for me, but this was the most difficult part of adjusting your diet. It was interesting to find out that you also had different levels of energy at different times than I did when first adopting this sustainability challenge. You mentioned that at the beginning of your diet adjustment, you felt a surge of energy, but now feel drained of energy without meat as a central part of your diet. I also felt drained of energy, but only for the first week of adopting my new diet. Now, I feel energized in ways that I never have before. I wonder how much of these differences has resulted from the starkly different diets we had before the Sustainable Behavior Challenge, since meat was central to your diet, and animal byproducts were central to mine.

It seems as though you are having difficulties overcoming some of the barriers to eating less meat. One large incentive that has helped me to overcome barriers to veganism has been social pressures from family and friends. A lot of my relatives and close friends have gone out of their way to criticize my new diet, and challenge me by reminding me “that it won’t last.” This has incentivized me a lot to maintain my vegan diet, because I want to be able to prove them wrong, and prove that it is entirely possible to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

Shawn Hogan says:

November 26, 2013 at 2:47 pm

Continue with the propaganda! Brainwash yourself to make avoiding meat habitual. Definitely keep up with watching documentaries, it will give you serious purpose to your quest. Convenience is definitely a tough part of sticking with a diet change like this one. I’ve found myself option-less more than once, and at that point it’s ok to realize that you’re not realistically going to make all your friends or family leave a restaurant simply because there isn’t anything vegan on the menu.
Also, great job with the small reminders. Giving yourself small bits of motivation and visual stimulus is a great idea to keep yourself in the empowered mindset. Maybe include pictures in your post-it notes? Possibly a picture of a happy cow?
For the benefit, might I recommend the vegan bakery in Bethlehem? (www.vegantreats.com) You can get delicious, completely vegan personal pastries!
My last recommendation is to enjoy being disciplined. I know that sounds weird, but expressing restraint and power over your own immediate desires is incredibly empowering. Revel in the amount of control you have over your own habits. It’s difficult, but if you go into being disciplined with a positive attitude, you will have great success.
I hope you enjoy your tofurkey!

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