Farewell, Meat. It Was Nice Knowing You.

It's now three full weeks into Lent and I've succeeded in sticking to The List. Among the four items, the most consistently significant sacrifice for me would be giving up meat altogether (instead of only on Fridays) and eating only seafood. It's something I do every year. And I'm happy to report that I've been largely true to my word, annually abstaining from burgers, steaks, chops and wings until a massively gluttonous Easter Sunday lunch.

But somehow it's different this year.

A couple of days ago I mentioned on Twitter that I was considering giving up "land meat" for good. After all, I'd basically been doing so every year for weeks at a time. So I put some serious thought into it, weighed my options, played some more Sushi Cat, and decided to officially become a pescatarian. From eHow:

A pescatarian is a person who refrains from eating land animals and birds, but includes fish, mollusks, and crustaceans in addition to fruits, vegetables, plants, legumes, nuts, and grains. This is a common form of "vegetarianism" and is generally considered a very healthy diet ... Pescatarians can enjoy low-fat protein sources that are high in fish oils, which contain Omega 3 fatty acids -- the "good fats" that reduce inflammation.

People become pescatarians for several different reasons, whether ethical, environmental, political or health-related. I subscribe to a combination of all of them, but I'm doing this mostly to improve my health and physical well-being. Plus, I love love LOVE seafood.

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Don't get me wrong ... I will definitely miss eating certain pork, chicken and beef dishes (Kobe steak?! Say it ain't so!) -- not to mention the multitudes of delicious Filipino meals I've eaten my whole life (adobong manok, we had some good times, didn't we?).

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The good thing about this is that I can almost always substitute seafood for the meat and it'll taste similar, so I won't be missing out entirely on the flavors. That makes me feel better.

So. There you have it: Come Easter Sunday, I won't be carving up any rib eyes or filleting any chicken. Most likely, I'll be digging into some succulent, moist salmon and sautéing some jumbo shrimp. Bon appétit!