For my final self-intervention, I chose to go vegetarian for a week. I chose this because I realize the environmental impact of a diet that contains meat, and how removing meat from your diet can help curb carbon emissions related to global warming. I also thought that it might be a move in the healthier direction for myself, because I eat too much meat and not enough veggies, so this intervention would almost force me to eat more vegetables.
This intervention turned out to be a lot harder than I was expecting. Not because it’s hard for me to change my consumption habits, but because it was during thanksgiving break. And I love thanksgiving food–Turkey, gravy, ham. However, I’m proud to say I was able to tough it out and stick to my goal and chose not to eat these foods during thanksgiving dinner. I did get weird looks from my family, mostly because I usually eat these foods (and because they spent a lot of time making them). After explaining to them my self-intervention, they seemed to understand for the most part. After thanksgiving I was tempted to submit and finally eat some meaty leftovers, but I finished the week without them.
This self-intervention taught me that changing your diet can be a challenging experience, but it’s not impossible. It also made me realize how much darn meat I eat. Do I think that I could fully commit to being a vegetarian? Maybe for a year or two if I really tried. But even if it doesn’t become my main diet, I think that at least trying to eat less meat would be a step in the right direction.
