Tomorrow is my last day to splurge.

From an early age, I felt eating meat was wrong. Factory farming has especially disturbed me. But somehow, I was able to ignore this rational conclusion and go on eating meat. I would tell myself that I don't want to eat meat, but when I was hungry my animal side took over. (Interesting that my "animal" side enjoyed eating animals) At age 30, I'm making a lot of changes in my life, so it stands to reason this change happens now as well. After listening to an interview on NPR with Jonathan Safran Foer (author of Eating Animals), I knew my meat eating days were numbered. I've always loved meat: steaks, chicken, fish—I love it all. So, I'm going to document my struggles and triumphs in my new life of meatlessness.

I wanted to give myself a week of practice to see what it was like in my normal routine to change my eating habits. Well, I didn't make it 100%, but pretty darn close. On Friday night I had plans to go to a concert, and I had to stay late at work, and then traffic was horrible, and in my hurry to get home I stopped at Wendy's and got a 99 cent chicken sandwich. It was pretty damn good. Usually, I'd get a double burger, at least. But, besides that, 100%. And I think I had some shrimp stir-fry at some point. But it was healthy. I was expecting to have less energy, more cravings and fatigue. But, none of that.

So, tomorrow is my last practice day. My last day where I told myself it's forgivable to eat meat. Maybe I should eat a big-ass burger. Or splurge on a filet mignon. Or bacon wrapped dove wings stuffed with more bacon served on a bed of bacon. I don't think I will, though.

Tomorrow I WILL remember to buy the book that pushed me over the edge to vegetarianism: Eating Animals