Going Vegetarian for March

Garret and I (and some other family members) have decided to try out being vegetarian for one month and see how it goes. A recent death in the family due to cancer has caused us to reexamine our lifestyles and to see what we can do to live healthier, better lives. I'm in no way saying that our family member died because of her lifestyle- we actually think her cancer was caused by certain environmental factors or exposures- but regardless, I have been reading a lot of articles on health and lifestyle lately and have learned:

• About a third of the 12 most common cancers in high-income countries could be prevented through diet, exercise and weight control.
• A study in the UK proved that 13,000 cancer cases in the UK were linked to being overweight or obese, and even more were linked to poor diet, drinking too much alcohol and not doing enough exercise.
• The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association currently recommend that if you do drink, you should do so in moderation, meaning one drink (12 oz. beer, 4 oz. of wine, 1.5 oz. of 80-proof spirits, or 1 oz. of 100-proof spirits) per day for women and two for men.
• Obama and his brother are "nuts" about improving Americans' health overall. The administration has put an unprecedented one billion dollars into the economic stimulus package toward expanding community prevention programs.

Sources: Health Magazine via CNN.com, BBC News Health, wbctv.com

For the next month, we will feature more articles on lifestyle, vegetarian recipes and updates on how our experience is going.

Here are some guidelines we have set for the next month:

• 4 hours or more of exercise per week
• Drink more water
• Drink no (or less) soda
• Drink less alcohol
• No meat— not even fish
• Don't replace meat intake with just a bunch of cheese and refined carbs
• Corned beef and cabbage will have to wait until April
• Eat local and organic when possible (yay farmer's market)
  

You are welcome to join us in this one month "challenge!" Keep us posted on your progress and we'll keep you accountable.

*As another update, I created a recipe last night for Cooking Light's Annual Reader Recipe Contest, stay tuned!