Remember how I became a vegetarian back in May? I’m still going with it. I’m not super strict about “animal products,” but I don’t eat any kind of meat meat. I even survived Thanksgiving without eating turkey or anything! I think I was psyching myself out thinking Thanksgiving was going to be horrible without being able to eat turkey, but it was literally a non-issue.
I do eat fish and eggs still. I love egg white omeletes on stressful mornings and I can’t turn down Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish.
Since cutting meat out entirely, I seriously feel so much better. I don’t think this is necessarily because I don’t have meat in my body, but more so because I have to find “healthier” alternatives for meals that don’t contain meat. This means that 90% of the time when I eat out, I’m eating dark green salads with tons of vegetables.
{via}
At the beginning, the only thing I really “missed” was Chick-fil-a, but then I found out I was lactose intolerant after drinking half a milkshake from there… and I do NOT miss it anymore. (If you ever have the chance to throw up for 45 minutes while passed out the floor of a super disgusting gas station, I promise you won’t have much of an appetite for whatever you ate again. This gets good at 4:42)
The hardest part is having to do a little planning and research. Like googling the menus of restaurants and asking for changes in the food. It’s also really easy to feel like you can just eat tons of carbs instead of meat. Like breads and cakes and cookies and, basically, junk. Yea, technically there’s no meat, but it is not good for you!!!
At the end of the day, you really have to listen to your body. Typically, I start to “crash” by 4pm if I didn’t fuel my body properly throughout the day. My go-to emergency body recuperator? Almonds (or any type of nut).
Are you considering not eating meat? I decided to give up meat cold turkey (haha), but I recommend if you’re not willing to make the plunge completely to choose non-meat options whenever possible and slowly eliminating it from your diet. It takes time to build up “menus” of what you like to eat and what works for your body/schedule.
Anyone else vegetarian, or some sort of derivative of vegetarian?
I'm considering it. I've cut a lot of meat out of my meals and I'm pretty sure I could do it. Hopefully soon!
I don't eat red meat – never really have, and I only eat chicken/turkey one to two times a month. Like you I really don't find it to be hard to find alternatives to meat and I really enjoy the salads I eat most of the time.
xx Emily @ laughliveandshop.blogspot.com
I don't eat meat, and I haven't for over a year and a half. I do eat eggs and seafood also, though!
There are many reasons to choose a vegan lifestyle. Here are two uplifting videos to help everyone understand why so many people are making this life-altering choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE and http://www.veganvideo.org
I've been a vegetarian since February but, like you are, I'm not so strict with animal products. I've been trying to slowly phase those out though. Ideally, I'd like to be eating a vegan diet 6 days a week, and a mostly vegetarian diet with being able to treat myself to meat on the 7th day. XO
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I have been a vegetarian for the last 4+ years but when I moved to Florida I started eating fish and seafood and I've always ate eggs… I usually drink soymilk too! Nuts are a great protein source/snack and I also like to make protein shakes/smoothies. It's fun to try new 'recipes'! I'm happy to hear you're still doing well!
I've been vegetarian for 2 years. I don't drink milk either because it makes my skin break out badly. The only animal foods I have these days are yogurt, cheese, honey, and the occasional egg. I'm mostly vegan, I guess. I started getting bloodwork done every year to keep track of all my levels- see if I need to be eating more greens or nuts or supplement some vitamins. So far, everything has been great and I haven't needed to supplement at all! The first year I was vegetarian, my cholesterol went down about 20 points. This year, after 2 years of being a vegetarian and trying to eat with more variety, my cholesterol went down another 20 points and my iron went up 40!!! I was amazed! High cholesterol runs in my family, as does iron deficiency anemia, and it looks like I'm going to be very clear of those! Have you discovered any blogs or books you like, Carly? I love the Daily Garnish blog and the Oh She Glows blog- both of them make vegan meals and include recipes. I have Mark Bittman's book "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" which is about 1000 pages, and I love it. So useful!
Carly– check out Herbivoracious.com, it's an awesome vegetarian blog, and he has a book coming out this spring! Also that salad in a jar is too cool, will have to try that!!
Just so you know, as you eat fish, you;re technically pescetarian 🙂
Also, @r, vegans don't eat ANY dairy
I did the exact same thing about 2 years ago. I completely agree that it's so easy to just drown in junk food– the key is to have a balanced diet. I make a lot of stir-fries with vegetables and tofu 🙂
i was actually considering it for the new years. any good resources or recipes to share?
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I have decided recently to stop eating meat, but it has been hard! I started to feel really tired and sick last week and was wondering if it was due to lack of protein in my diet. I have been eating fish and eggs, but I might start eating chicken again.
I've been a vegetarian for two years and I'm recently eliminating dairy and all animal products to become a vegan! The only bad thing is that I'm scared of what will happen when I have to go out to dinner with people… for now I'm just a college student who is too broke to have to worry about eating out!
@Cara, yes, I know vegans don't eat any dairy- they don't eat any animal products at all. I was just saying that my diet is mostly vegan- I rarely eat dairy products and most of my meals are vegan.
@Sylvia- I've found that most restaurants have a few veggie or vegan options. If they don't you can always ask and they can usually whip up something special for you 🙂 I know that's happened to me a few times, but usually restaurants are quite accommodating. What I did find interesting, though, was that I recently was at a hotel and I was ordering room service for dinner. They had no vegetarian options at all! I was shocked! I would think that hotels, where people are coming from all over (and this was a pretty nice hotel that hosts people from all over the world) would have a few vegetarian meals to choose.
Hi Carly, I'm so glad that you've kept with this lifestyle… welcome to the green side!!I've been a vegetarian for nine long years, and before that I used to eat everything! And when I say everything, I really mean it! but after watching some videos I started feeling bad for the animals so I left it from one day to another! It has been hard, I was a vegan for just 5 years, and then I started having memory and calcium problems… not good for a med school student.. so now I eat fish and cheese but no eggs, and I love trying new recipies and show them to my non vegetarian friends! Keep going and good luck!!
It's cool that you've kept up with it for so long! I've been toying with the thought for a while now, mostly because I don't really like meat too much, but also because it would be fun to see if I feel different.
I've been a vegetarian for almost two years and now it's just part of who I am. It's not a big deal at all and it's just kind of one of those, "it is what it is" things. I do have the problem of eating way too many carbs and it's something I have to watch, but it's one of the best decisions I've made and I've never looked back.
I went Vegan from July until about mid-September and have since been Vegetarian! I really enjoy it and don't miss meat at all! XO
hmmm…. if the only meat you missed was chik-fil-a, i'm guessing you had not had decent foi gras, or filet, or duck, or cornish hens. sigh. i would not survive! my boyfriend has tons of food sensitivities, and i feel awful for him. some people eat to live, though.
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carly, considering you still eat seafood, you would be what is called a pescetarian. same thing as a vegetarian just with the exception of fish.:) due to stomach problems, i became a pescetarian around 7 years ago but because of those health issues, i can't eat certain things (like dairy even though I'm not L.I.) since they end up making me sick and miserable. back in april i passed out and was getting headaches everyday because my anemia became so severe the hospital nearly had to give me a blood transfusion! thankfully my iron is at a healthier level, but make sure you take daily vitamins with all your fruits and veggies so you don't end up like me! haha congrats making it this far, a lot of people can only do it for 2 or 3 months and then give up!
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carly, considering you still eat seafood, you would be what is called a pescetarian. same thing as a vegetarian just with the exception of fish.:) due to stomach problems, i became a pescetarian around 7 years ago but because of those health issues, i can't eat certain things (like dairy even though I'm not L.I.) since they end up making me sick and miserable. back in april i passed out and was getting headaches everyday because my anemia became so severe the hospital nearly had to give me a blood transfusion! thankfully my iron is at a healthier level, but make sure you take daily vitamins with all your fruits and veggies so you don't end up like me! haha congrats making it this far, a lot of people can only do it for 2 or 3 months and then give up!
http://www.thegingerwhimsy.tumblr.com/
I've been a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian since age 9, so going on 10 years now! I record my daily protein intake to ensure I'm getting 50g/day. I do think it's important to identify yourself as a pescetarian instead of a vegetarian, however, since you eat fish and aren't too concerned about by-products 🙂
Good for you for sticking with it even through the holidays!