Sober + Meatless January

Ah, January 1st. The time for resolutions and new beginnings, and usually a bit of a hangover. We’re typically not ones to make serious resolutions and get angry when we don’t achieve them, or gloat when we do keep them. Instead, we typically make small goals and try our best to stick by them. If we don’t, we reassess and make a change.

This year, we decided to shake things up in our lives. Now, we don’t drink every day or even a lot, really. About a year or so ago we cut out weekday drinking, with the exception of an event or special occasion. Generally, we’ll split a bottle of wine with dinner on Friday and maybe head to our friends’ house or out to a bar/brewery for some beers on Saturday. When we prepare for a vacation we usually curb our drinking a few weeks before. We always end up feeling our best before those trips…but then go a little nuts eating and drinking during them and kind of feel like garbage when we get home.

So what we have really wanted to do is take a significant break from alcohol, honestly just to see how much of an effect it would have on our bodies. Would we lose weight? Will we sleep better? Would our skin look better? We don’t have a lot going on in January so we figured that would be a great time to take the break.

To make it even more interesting, we decided to double-down. We’ve also wanted to eat only vegetarian foods for a significant amount of time. Why? Again, just to see what would happen and if we could do it. We’re not carnivores or anything, especially during the week, but we do love a good steak. So, Broad had the bright idea to go vegetarian for the month of January along with no booze.

We already enjoy a lot of meatless meals. Those include a wide array of grain bowls, seafood, lots of noodle dishes, and many things with kimchi. We’re excited for the challenge of making some of our favorite meat meals without the meat, and also discovering some new favorite vegetarian recipes!

So what are the rules? It’s easy. No meat and no booze the month of January. That’s it. Ok, to be honest, it will be until January 28. We’re heading to Indianapolis for a few days and like experiencing the food and booze every new city has to offer. At the end of the experiment, we will report back to you.

Have you done anything like this before? Do you have any tips for us? Any vegetarian recipes to share?