Dry July

Consumption experiments are a relatively easy way to get a glimpse into the lifestyle of other people. Eating and drinking are one of the only things that all humans experience on a daily basis and taking on someone else's ideals about that daily habit can foster at least a minimal understanding of how they interact in society to fill their basic need. One month is a nice round consumption experiment time. You get past the ease surrounding the excitement of the first few days, over the hurdles that you didn't even know were there -eating out, going to a potluck, needing a snack on a long car trip, getting comfortable enough to feel a sense of controlled accomplishment and the experiment is over before another wave of cravings comes crashing down on your adopted ideals. Socially, it is much easier for friends and family to understand that you are doing a closed experiment rather than changing your habits and for some reason become much more accepting and even supportive. I'm not sure whether it is because they are more confident that you will succeed for thirty days or that they don't have to feel pressure to re-examine their own ideals, but that is a conversation for another time. 

Over the past three years, I've had forays into vegan, Bolivian (by proximity) and 100-mile diets and came out alive with a refreshed arsenal of recipes and a new respect and friendly awareness for those who consistently follow those principles and it is time to do it again! These past experiences were relatively easy because they were within reach of my daily habits anyway. What I have embarked on today is transcending the general one month time period into two because it is a little further away from the path I have been eating along for the past 6 years. It should not be out of my comfort zone, considering it is more similar to what I was raised on than my current diet- but with every move further away from the ocean and my dad's hunting skills, I eat less and less like the hunter-gatherers our bodies evolved to be. The goal here is to eliminate items the food industry has gotten me used to eating one at a time until I get to a full month of paleo. 

Dry July is a quick response to anyone who asks me if I want a drink and the kickoff to shedding the industrial fuzz covering my idea of food. Cutting all alcohol first probably emerged from the sore throat that I can feel approaching thanks to the series of goodbye dinners and parties and dancing that young adults tend to indulge themselves during when something like college or AC comes to a close. Next on the list is pasta since I just ate the last of it. Tomorrow I'll decide whether to cut one specific item a day or wipe out an entire category every few days. That probably just depends on the inventory in my kitchen. 

Happy Hunting!