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Saturday, July 4, 2009

I'll probably eat a hamburger next 4th of July too

I don't know why I am so exhausted.


Maybe because I have been doing a lot of this.
Well, that's actually Drew and our nephew Ollie. But still. I did it, too.

Just not as much as them.

And maybe that's why my ribs are hurting so much still.

But enough about the ribs, right?
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Drew is currently playing a cd that we bought on our honeymoon in California. We bought it because it's a classical artist, William Joseph (who has one of those names in which the first and last are interchangeable, making it really easy to mix up and call him Joseph William by mistake and yes, I've done it more than once), who happens to cover Muse, a band we really love.

The music brings me back to the Borders where we found it. And how excited Drew was to buy it. And how we immediately played it in our rented convertible red punch buggy complete with a flower on the dash that was supposed to have been a mustang convertible.

Turns out the fine print basically said that as long as the top comes down, they could rent you anything. And yes, Drew was a little sad that the mustang he thought he was gonna cruise around in was a girlie bug instead.

I didn't mind so much, though.

And red happens to be one of my favorite colors, so...

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It's the 4th of July. I ate a cheeseburger with friends. I watched some fireworks with more friends and family. I unintentionally wore a blue tank top and white shorts.

But even though I considered throwing something red into the mix, I changed shortly after, so it didn't last long.

The thing is, I really enjoyed the cheeseburger. It was delicious. And another thing is that I have a great amount of respect for vegetarians. A lot of the time I wish I could be one of them, I really do. I like the idea of not eating animals. Of eating tons of vegetables and Not Dogs and Boca Burgers. Of ketchup smothering it all so I don't hardly notice a difference anyway.

But.

I think everyone has a different journey and I fully believe that mine involves eating meat.

I. Just. Need. It.

Sometimes I get so hungry that the only thing that will satisfy me is meat. Chicken. Hamburgers. Steak. Ribs. Whatever, but something that is chock full of protein and will not leave me waking up at 3 am in search of something--anything!--to tide me over till morning.

Cause it happens, believe me.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Like I said, I have very admirable friends who are vegetarians and I would love to join their club. But I can't. Not now, anyway.

Not unless I can eat a hamburger while I take minutes for them.

10 comments:

Michele said...

Sorry Jessica, fat people like me don't wake up in the night hungry. We eat enough to keep us full throughout the night :)

Jessica said...

Uh-uh, Michele. i don't let anybody talk about my friends that way!!!!!!!!

AND it's a GOOD thing to sleep through the night;-)

kathiek said...

I am glad you had such a wonderful time with your family, Jess!

I am not a fan of the convertible, I just don't get the attraction. I rode in one once. My eyes wouldn't stop tearing, The exhaust from other cars made me cough repeatedly, and my hair (which was longer at that time) kept blowing all over the place. I did not enjoy that ride at all. It was a pretty car (a white Sebring convertible), but not pleasant at all.

I eat a lot of meatless meals, and I know very well how to properly combine food so that I get a complete protein, but sometimes I just need the meat. I have rarely woken up in the middle of the night hungry, but when it has happened, I don't eat. I just drink some water (which I usually keep by my bed), and ignore the hunger pangs. They always go away after about 10 minutes or so, by which time I am able to fall back asleep.

John said...

i used to be a vegetarian for 6 years (i think it was six). now, i'll kill the cow myself! eat a cheesebuger for me!!!

ClaudiaC said...

I'm with you Jess on not being a vegetarian. I have woken up many time not being able to sleep because I'm hungry. It's usually after a light dinner that includes fish, or rice. It I don't eat some protein (meat or cheese and crackers), I'll lay there for hours. That and the fact that a vegetarian diet is very gassy, makes everyone around me glad that I eat meat :') !!!

Unknown said...

There was a point in my life, when I only ate fish and Chicken, no pork or beef. But like you, I love meat, that only lasted for a year!

And I know your pain with the ribs, it took me three weeks. Don't rush back if it hurts...Get worker's comp! There is nothing you can do for the rib, but let it heal..Take it easy..Love ya, and can't wait to see you soon.

Emily said...

oh, I do love meat... and I also love the idea of being a vegetarian, but I am such a meat and potatoes kind of girl. But on the whole, I try to buy only organic, or at least free range meats, because it seems like a nicer way to go (but I still eat them... kind of lame, but delicious!).

josh said...

i love animals.
I dont wanna eat them.
Pretty simple.
I never "hunger for meat"
blech...and meat eaters have meat in their colons...some pretty sweet farts too...

joshua Latshaw said...

Red-Meat Eaters Risk Colon Cancer
Eating 3 Ounces of Red Meat Per Day May Beef Up Cancer Risk
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Jan. 11, 2005 -- Bad news for beef eaters: Red meat really does increase your risk of colon cancer.

It's not exactly news. Many studies suggest that people who eat the most meat get the most cancer. Now a huge, 20-year study from the American Cancer Society confirms these findings. The bottom line: Those who eat the most red meat -- beef and/or pork and/or processed meat products -- get colon cancer 30% to 40% more often than those who eat these foods only once in a while.

The news is particularly bad for those who favor lots of lunchmeats, hot dogs, and sausages. Eating lots of these processed foods raises colon cancer risk by 50%, reports Marjorie L. McCullough, ScD, senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. McCullough and colleagues report the findings in the Jan. 12 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The bottom line is that the people who were eating the most red meat had higher colon cancer risk than those eating the least," McCullough tells WebMD. "Very few of these lower-risk people ate no red meat. It is not that we are saying people can never have red meat. But this shows it is important to limit the amount of red meat you eat."

The researchers collected detailed information on the diets of nearly 150,000 men and women aged 50 to 74 living in 21 U.S. states. They collected data in 1982 and 1992-1993, and followed them through the end of August 2001. In that time, 1,667 of the study participants developed colon cancer.

The study accounted for factors that are known to increase colon cancer risk, such as smoking, being overweight, little physical activity, alcohol use, age, and low fiber intake as well as factors known to decrease risk, such as daily aspirin use.

How Much Red Meat Is Safe to Eat?
The findings are sobering, given the amount of red meat Americans love to eat.

"For Americans, estimates of per capita red-meat consumption come out to a little more than 5 ounces per day," McCullough says. "That is a little higher than the highest level of red-meat consumption in this study."

People who ate more fish, chicken, and turkey than red meat had a lower colon cancer risk than those who preferred beef and pork.

"Those consuming higher amounts of poultry and fish, especially for the long term, had about a 30% lower risk of developing colon cancer compared to those who did not eat much poultry and fish," McCullough says. "People who had red meat two to three times as often as white meat had about a 50% higher risk of developing colon cancer."

So how much red meat is too much? Burger lovers, fasten your seat belts. In the study, high red meat consumption was 3 ounces a day for men and 2 ounces for women. That's right. Barely enough daily hamburger to cover your palm raises cancer risk.

Jessica said...

Interesting article-and I can see how that is true. I actually don't eat a lot of red meat; I eat mostly chicken if I am going to eat meat. But I will have an occasional burger. To be honest, I mostly eat PB&J (at least on tour)!

BUt I do crave meat sometimes--not necessarily RED meat, but meat...