My First 48 Hours as a Vegetarian

I wish I were a vegetarian. I’ve read many great books about the personal benefits and the benefits for the planet that becoming a vegetarian has the potential to bring. Diet for a Small Planet keeps being mentioned as the first time meat eating was exposed for the exponential water and food consumption the animals need to consume to feed humans. I haven’t read this book yet but it is on my to read list. Despite all the benefits I’m aware of for vegetarianism, I have an addition to meat, and hadn’t been able to stop, until now.

I haven’t been diagnosed but I have some very of IBS/GERD/my belly hurts.If I had to be more specific with my stomach I’d say I have an anxious stomach, high anxiety with gut related issues, traveler’s stomach, and an allergy to some, most, or all food. Because of the stomach issues I suffer from, I’ve had them since 2nd grade or even before, I’ve been trying all sorts of weird cures and medicines for years: Rolaids, Nexium, Zantac (which my doctor prescribed not a year before they were pulled from the shelves for being dangerous), Chaga, FODmapping, intermittent fasting, Little Ceaser’s Pizza Diet, apple cider vinegar, massage, a vast array of healing herbs, and eating meals every four hours, to name a few.

I’ve usually achieved some level of success at least at first with these cures, a few of the more far fetched cures that worked at least temporarily were petting a dog and soft belly breathing (taking deep breaths). Something always works eventually and I go back to normal. My version of normal is…