The Cantabrian Reversal!

I think the image says it all, really. But just to be sure, here's the full story behind what I've called The Cantabrian Reversal.

For the next two weeks, my wife and I are embarking on a culinary journey, wrought with unknowns, as we discover what it would be like to go without meat for a fortnight. Yes that's right: there exists in New Zealand a pure-bred Cantabrian (myself) who is prepared to slash all beef, Pork and Chicken from the household budget. And as far as eating out is concerned -- no excuse! Should we find ourselves out for dinner, the whole "no meat thing" still applies. If I have latched on to your attention, then please read on.

There are two reasons why we are eschewing meat products from our diet. The first reason is that we want to, well, save a bit of money off of our grocery bill. As a matter of interest, we both sat down one night and worked out how much money we spend on meat per grocery shop (as any good student of math would do). In the end, we calculated that, based on a grocery shop of X dollars, about one quarter (yes, one quarter of X) of our grocery bill is spent on meat. You don't need to be an accountant to realise that a quarter of a grocery bill is a lot of money to be spending. On the basis of economics, this is the first of two reasons.

The second, however, is for health reasons. To invoke common sense, there is nothing to lose by having a crack at a meat-free fortnight. Secondly, as I am quite sceptical over the health quality of our meat industry (for various personal reasons, of which I won't go into here), I genuinely believe that, over the course of this fortnight, we both will see and feel changes to our health and wellbeing -- for the better. I think that meat is actually an inhibitor, rather than a promoter, of good health. And like any good student of science (of which I am), I wish to empirically test this by proposing myself and my wife as test cases of this.

However, I wish to leave a word with my meat-loving pals. I assure you I haven't lost my mind! Rather, I am keenly interested in how a fortnight without meat intake will affect my health and wellbeing. And let's be honest: there is really only one way to find that out. I actually have to live it. I actually have to scrap meat from my diet, and see what happens with my body (both internally and externally).

If you have read this far, and are still genuinely interested, then stick around for two weeks. I'll let you all know how this experiment pans out. And hey -- perhaps you'd like to give it a go for yourself. I'll at least leave that decision in your hands.

I Apparently Return

Well, well, well...it sure has been a long time since I last posted to this blog. I guess before I launch back into the blog, I'll outline the reasons as to why I've been away for so long. Coupled with this will be how my healthy intake (or lack thereof) has been going, as the two are hopelessly intertwined.

University: I'll list the most obvious distraction to my blogosphere first. The fact that I am a student at University, studying Physics and Math (still), one doesn't have to stretch the imagination too far to see how a university workload can sideline somebody.

Motivation: If I had to be honest with myself, although I have for the most part been largely OK, I am aware that lately my motivation has been lower than what it has been. To an extent, this lack of motivation has stemmed from my university commitments; more specifically, when I did summer school (which effectively removed any chance of a real break). However, my lack of motivation hasn't stayed within the realm of university. Over the past few months, I have noticed a general lack of any real motivation and energy for most facets of my life. As a consequence, me blogging has been very sparse, as well as my commitment to nutritional awareness, which brings me to my next bulletpoint.

Health Level: When I first established this blog, I started it with the express purpose to get people thinking about what they eat, and also how they eat. I wanted to get people talking about health and nutrition, and ultimately to get people to question most of the foods that are commercially available today. With all the conflicting advise and clever marketing employed by food companies across the nation (and by extension the world), much of what really constitutes healthy and smart eating and real nutritional awareness has largely been crowded out of the general populace, leaving behind whose marketing can out-entice the consumer world.

However, I have not entirely succeeded as of late, as part of the credibility behind the original (and still current) purpose of this blog rests on how I dictate and model my own health and nutritional awareness. I have to -- regrettably -- admit that I have not been at all close to this. I have over these past few months been putting junk and crap and, for lack of a better word, poison into my system. By 'poison', I do not mean things like drugs or smoke or anything of a narcotic nature. On the contrary, I have been putting through my body poisonous materials like MSG, gross levels of processed sugar via fizzy drinks, deep fried food, other sundry fast foods, takeaway curries...I could go on. On the flip side of the coin, I have not been eating an adequate supply of fruits and vegetables, instead opting for more "convenient" replacements.

In short, I have been incredibly lazy, and this is the essence of the photo at the top of this blog. I have not had the motivation, the drive, or the sheer willpower to have what I should be eating. This does not serve my life well. Nor does it serve this blog well.

But all is not lost and of a depressing bent. I do not write this with the intention of ending on a low note. Instead, I write this blog with the intention to reignite the original passion of nutritional awareness and, once again, to reignite and promote the purpose behind this blog: to get people thinking about what they are putting through their bodies, and what they are putting their bodies through.

So please, watch this space. I do intend to be a lot more frequent with posts here. I certainly intend to return.