The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.

"Studies have shown that producing one kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat causes the emissions equivalent of 36.4 kilos of carbon dioxide."

"In addition, raising and transporting that slab of beef, lamb or pork requires the same amount of energy as lighting a 100-watt bulb for nearly three weeks." (source)

Gallons of water required to produce one pound
of various foods

Meat production requires so much water it's hard to comprehend. As the chart shows, a pound of potatoes takes 99.6% less water to produce than a pound of beef, and 97% less than a pound of chicken.

Number of people whose caloric needs

can be met on 2.5 acres of landfor the following foods

Raising animals for food requires lots more land than growing crops. That's because animals eat a lot more food than they provide as meat. It takes 16 pounds of grain to make one pound of beef. That's 94% more land. And 94% more pesticides. All told, livestock eat 70% of all the grain we produce. They're food factories in reverse.

The information above can be found here.

But of course my primary purpose is to get my cholesterol down to healthy levels without the use of drugs, being a better steward of our environment is a welcome benefit which serves as a great source of motivation for me.

And now I move forward to a different subject. Dairy.

Oh man how I am missing cheese. What I would give right now for a hunk of tangy blue cheese. But for now, cheese is out. One thing is for sure, while I will re-introduce a limited amount of cheese back to my diet at some point, I will certainly savor it more than I used to and I will try to eat much less of it. I have been hearing about cheese substitutes but I have not tried any yet, I am a little iffy on the idea. But at some point I will experiment, it is in my nature.

Milk. I remember years ago the challenge of moving from regular homogenized milk to 2%. I thought I was pouring white water on my cereal. This only got worse as I tried 1% and non-fat. As it turns out none of these lower fat milk options is all that good for you anyway. A group of proteins in milk called caseins appear to be bad for you, and low fat milks are not necessarily low in casein.

Good news. Turns out I really like some of the milk substitutes out there. The Brand name Silk makes some really good soy based milk that is rich and as heavy as the old homogenized milk I used to drink. Almond milk was a great surprise, I really like that too, although the stuff flavored with vanilla can be a little much for my taste, but I liked the unsweetened kind very much. Coconut milk is also a nice consistency but the flavor is a bit overwhelming. I have found a great use for the coconut milk though in my morning oat meal; rather than using water to make the oatmeal I used the coconut milk and it was very good.

So, I think I can safely and happily do away is milk as a beverage and cereal soaker. But of course I LOVE ice cream and other baked goods that have no other option than regular milk and cream, but at least I will be able to limit my intake to just those types of things.

As always if you have any tips or advise for me, feel free to leave a comment. The 18th is drawing closer and I will need to have the Dr. poke me for more blood soon. I will be interested to see how my cholesterol levels have changed.

"Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something." - Carl Sagan

Spoiled

I am still on the diet :) I have had a few indiscretions however. Stephanie and her father share a birthday week and so a couple days ago Tom, Steph's dad invited us over for a wonderful bar-b-q. It was delicious, but completely off of my diet. I enjoyed a fantastic steak, a special potato salad and asparagus. The good thing is the meat I believe was of a premium local grade, so I don't think factory farming was an issue at least. I enjoyed every bite.

On the ship, the dining situation has changed. We now must go to our sister ship which is also at the dock and eat there. Hard to believe but the reports I am getting is the food is worse there than on our own ship. I have not yet made the journey to test it out.

Back on my vessel we can prepare our own lunches with some items provided by the Stewart. I have been eating a lot of instant oatmeal, soup and peanut butter banana sandwiches. The salad bar has been taken away.

At home we had Mexican week. It has mostly been enjoyable food. Stephanie has really made things easy for me and has volunteered a few time to make dinner. She is the best, and her food turned out pretty good too. I do need a better more diverse cookbook though than just relying on the E2 book.

I have found the most challenging thing is menu planning. I am normally fairly good at throwing a meal together with what ever I can find in the cupboards and fridge. But on this diet I have not learned how to do that yet. I feel like I have to really plan things out, and if the plan changes then the whole deal is thrown out of whack. I have fruits and vegetables that have gone bad, and breads and wraps that have gone moldy all because of poor planning or sudden changes.

If I forget a key ingredient of a recipe then I make something else, but that leaves other ingredients purchased for that original recipe unused and subject to spoilage. I know once I get my skills together this will not be such a problem. Learning how to shop and cook all over again is perhaps the biggest challenge of all. I am sure with practice I will be able to toss together a meal on short notice like I used to.

Oh, and one other thing. (whispering) a few days ago, before the ships galley was closed... I stole a piece of bacon. Oh that was so good. Except for a few minor transgressions though, I have been a very good boy.

"We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons." ~Alfred E. Newman