7 weeks. Thats how long its been since my last post where I decided I would try out being a vegetarian. If you would have asked me that night how hard I thought it would be I would have probably told you after that first month I would most likely begin to eat meat again. Fast forward those 7 weeks and I have a very different answer.
I absolutely love being a vegetarian...and its one of the easiest and most rewarding things I have ever done for myself. I never in a million years thought I would actually be a vegetarian although the first time I thought about it I was around 12 years old. At that time my reason for not becoming a vegetarian was the fact that I loved skyline chili too much. And lets face it I am a Cincinnati girl at heart so the thought of giving up skyline was just too much for me to handle. (I guess someone should have told me about all the wonderful vegetarian options they have there...hellooo black bean 3 ways...you are amazing.)
I honestly thought that being a vegetarian was going to be awful...I mean the thought of not having chicken ever again made me a little sad. B/c lets face it the only thing I ever ate was chicken (BORING!). So I figured that within those 30 days of me trying out being a vegetarian I would stare at my husband while he ate all these amazing things that I couldnt have. I was so worried about our anniversary dinner planned at Ruths Chris Steakhouse b/c how am I supposed to go there and not get a steak?? So I figured I would cheat from time to time...steal a bite of my husbands steak when he was not looking...but quite the opposite happened. While my husband ate his steak at Ruths Chris I honestly thought I was going to be sick. He says it was one of the best steaks he ever had in his life 9and you have to know I used to LOVE having steak every once and awhile) but the thought of putting it in my mouth made me want to throw up...the smell of it even really grossed me out. Weird I thought...well I guess this vegetarian thing is going to be easier than I thought!
I have not once craved meat in these past 7 weeks. I actually forgot I was only going to give this a trial run of 30 days b/c it was so easy! My body feels amazing...I have way more energy now and have actually lost some weight as well. My taste buds have been opened up to so many new flavors that I cant believe all I ever ate was boring chicken...I was really missing out. I have been keeping a food journal even before I decided to stop eating meat, so here is just a taste of some of the new items I have fallen in love with.
-BLACK BEANS...yummmmy. Beans in general are pretty good for you but my personal favorite are black beans. I like to substitute them for meat in any dish and I actually end up liking the dish better than I did with the meat! I recently discovered black bean burgers...AMAZING. My personal favorite being the black bean burgers at the Rusty Bucket restaurant...they make them fresh in house and they taste amazing. Plus black beans have around 15 grams of protein for 1 cup! (And I'm pretty sure we all learned the saying when we were younger...you know "beans, beans they're good for your heart" I wont say the last part but the point is we've been taught at a young age the health benefits of beans lol.)
-ALMONDS...One of my new favorite snacks! Almonds promote a healthy heart, aid in weight loss and are a good source of protein! I personally like the Blue Diamond Natural brand of Oven Roasted Almonds. They have different flavors but I personally like the Cinnamon Brown Sugar ones...and I am actually snacking on them at this moment! There are 6 grams of protein in 1 oz, high in fiber, low in sugar...and they taste great!
-STRING CHEESE...I can remember these being in my lunch box at school...who knew how healthy they can be for you? I absolutely love cheese which is pretty much the number one reason for not being vegan (and I dont think a vegan diet is as healthy as a vegetarian diet but thats for another day...haha) I personally like the weight watchers brand of string cheese which is only 50 calories, 2.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein. PLUS lets face it...its fun to eat! ;)
-MEATLESS MEAT...sounds weird right? Well since you already know that I was afraid of losing chicken forever...I found these chicken nuggets that were not made with any meat. My favorite brand is Quorn which makes their "meat" out of mycoprotein which is an edible fungi (such as mushrooms) Sounds gross huh? I thought so too...I absolutely hate mushrooms. The weird thing is these "chicken nuggets" tasted like chicken nuggets, looked like chicken nuggets, and even the texture was like that of chicken nuggets....BUT BETTER! Naturally low in fat and high in protein they are perfect!
-PEANUT BUTTER...my personal favorite is the Skippy All Natural Brand. Its made with no hydrogenated oils like regular peanut butter...and tastes even better! I like to put it on whole grain bread which is high in protein, or on celery. The only down side to peanut butter is that it is high in fat...although its "good" fat I still limit my intake of it.
Alright well I wont bore you with any more food although I could go on and on...I'm having fun tyring new food. I have always been a picky eater so I love now being willing to try so many different things. If anyone is interested in trying out being a vegetarian peta.org has so much information and feel free to ask me as well! I honestly recommend everyone give it a shot even if its just for those 30 days...You will feel like a brand new you and its awesome! If you have any tips for me or questions feel free to comment. I am always looking for new food to try out or new recipes!
Being that the title of my blog is "living in love" I have come to realize that its hard to show love to other people when you are not showing love to yourself. That includes taking care of your body and making sure you are putting things in it that are healthy and not hurtful to you. I keep track of my calories, carbs, fat and protein intake every day. It is not loving to your body to stuff yourself full of things that you know are not good for you, and its also not loving to deprive yourself of food (such as those 500 calorie diets I have seen...crazy! Obviously you lose weight you are starving yourself!) So I am standing up for myself and loving myself enough to take care of my body and I encourage you to do the same!! (SIDE NOTE: I am not saying if you are not a vegetarian you are not loving your body...I dont think being a vegetarian is for everyone. I am only talking about making sure you get the right amount of nutrition and are aware of what you are putting in your body.) Questions, comments, concerns?? Feel free to let me know!!
Living in love,
Brittany
