Today was the day: the first day I actually missed meat. Chicken, to be exact–the shredded chicken inside of the enchiladas at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

I went out to dinner with a friend and ordered the veggie enchilada. I really didn’t think anything of making this swap for my normal chicken enchilada. After all, I’m eight days into this experiment, and things have been going so well. I haven’t once had regrets or thought about saying, “Screw it, let’s rip open a bag of beef jerky.” So I was both surprised and disappointed when I tasted my vegetarian enchilada.

I think what it really came down to was texture. The chicken I normally eat inside of this enchilada is soft and tender, and full of flavor. Instead I bit into pieces of green pepper that were rubbery and probably could have used another five minutes in the oven. I guess there are just certain meals that you come to expect to taste a certain way, and substituting extra vegetables in their place just isn’t going to cut it. But did I go hungry? Of course not! I had rice, beans, and also ate my weight in tortilla chips.

I’m sharing this because I think it’s important to be honest with yourself whenever you are trying out something new–food, career, relationship–whatever. Sometimes you miss chicken. Sometimes you don’t. It would be dishonest to get to the end of January and declare, “That was such a breeze!” if it really wasn’t. Being realistic about our situations is what helps us learn and grow. So even though I missed sweet, sweet delicious chicken today, I’m sticking with my veggies for now. Onward!