I keep meaning to add a FAQ page to this blog to provide a place to capture answers to all of the great questions I get when people learn that I am doing this nutty challenge thing. But I have to say the most frequently asked question by far is, “What about bacon?” Almost always said with a tone as if I just told them that I was going to spend 30 days under water and they were asking, “What about oxygen?”
I think that this is because most people would sooner give up breathing than face even 30 days of a baconless existence. And honestly, I can’t blame them.
When I first came up with the “no red meat” rule, I wasn’t even cognizant of the fact that I was giving up bacon. In fact, I even had a “what about bacon?” moment. I briefly considered keeping it as an allowable food. I mean, it is pork, and pork is “the other white meat.” (God bless that ad campaign). But I just couldn’t do it with a straight face… The whole idea is that I am adopting a healthy lifestyle for 30 days, and no self-respecting health nut would consider bacon consumption acceptable. Maybe turkey bacon or veggie bacon, but not good old-fashioned delicious bacon. So I struck all of pork from my allowable foods list (which proved to be a bit of a limiting factor on my last Dim Sum outing, but that’s neither here nor there).
Anyway, I bring this up today because this morning I watched a dear friend of mine make BLTs for his son’s birthday party. A tray full of crispy bacon, nice thick slices of tomato, fresh green leaf lettuce, and mayo on white bread…
…. and I would have given anything, in that moment, to have a chance to re-answer that question. What about bacon?
Image by sidereal via Flickr, used with a creative commons license.
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