Continuing in my reflection theme started earlier this week in my reflections on six months out of Africa… installment parte dois! Running (or lack thereof) and injury update tomorrow. I’m feeling optimistic! Anyways… moving on.
It’s been half a year since I had a burger. I love burgers.
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It’s also been half a year since I had a chicken wing, a pig in a blanket, a shawarma, or any of very many delicious things.
Six months ago today I ate a little slider at my parent’s house and decided that was it… for a while, at least. I dubbed my temporary no-meat existence “The Pescatarian Project.” In that blog post, I detailed why I wanted to cut meat out of my diet post-world-travel, for a variety of reasons, including basing my diet around vegetables and eating healthier overall. I decided to include fish in my diet not just because I couldn’t imagine giving up raw ahi tuna once in a while, but also because I thought it would be less intimidating (and a guaranteed easy source of protein). I committed myself to eating lots of veggies and just in general being health-conscious and awesome.
It’s been six months. How do I feel?
First of all, I call myself a vegetarian. Yes, I eat fish sometimes, but for normal life it’s too annoying to non-nutrition-nerds to talk about the particulars of my self-imposed dietary restrictions because let’s be honest, nobody cares. Also, in the last few months, I can count the number of times I’ve eaten fish on one hand and I never really order it or buy it, so it’s become much less relevant.
So to be completely honest: going vegetarian has NOT changed my life.
Backing up. There are many good things about being vegetarian. One, a lot of my unhealthy splurge foods are now off-limits. I don’t have the most discriminating tastes with meat, so in college I would gave pretty easily to Panda Express orange chicken and In-N-Out burgers… and don’t get me started on Chili’s boneless buffalo wings.
I gravitate towards healthier menu options. I usually don’t order salads when eating out, because they are either complete calorie bombs and generally unhealthy OR they are overpriced and don’t fill you up. I look for veggie entrees or combine side dishes.
I have also reduced my menu-induced anxiety. (Read: it takes me two hours to pick something to order off a substantial menu. Being veg has not only cut my options and thus my decision time drastically, but has also made me more pleasant of a dining partner.)
It has made me more aware of my diet and nutrition needs. When I was training for my marathon I frequently mentioned my weird obsession with protein. (Continues.) But in general I am more conscious of my daily balance of what I’m consuming.
I spend less. Not buying meat or buying meat dishes at restaurants has definitely reduced my expenses, considering. I have learned to cook a lot of easy vegetarian dishes.
It is freaking easy to be a veggie in SF. Not only are you mainstream and normal, but I can walk into a Sausage Grill and know that I’ll be able to get a tofu dog. Legit.
I have reduced my environmental impact by a ton (cue Whole-Foods-induced “conscientious shopper” flood-of-pride-slash-moral-superiority HERE).
But what about the other side?
I am not convinced that the vegetarian diet is “right” for me. I don’t believe there is a right diet across the board—everyone’s body is different and while there are general nutritional guidelines that apply to everyone, one person might feel great as a vegetarian, another on an Atkins-type diet, another vegan… we’re all different.
I don’t feel “better” as a vegetarian.
There are things I really like about it, as mentioned before. When I say “better” I mean purely from a health standpoint. I did not feel more energetic, lighter on my feet, better digestion… any of those things. My hunger didn’t increase a lot either. My body seemed to take vegetarianism in stride, no problem, but wasn’t thrilled and ecstatic either. It was simply a new way of eating and everything else carried on as normal.
I gained weight, probably. I don’t know—I also was marathon training at the same time that I went veg so I can’t speak to that. I CAN say that carbs are my favorite food group (seriously, I could eat just carbs all day every day and be very happy) and also that I DO lose weight when I cut the carbs. Being veg has definitely made me eat even MORE carbs as many great sources of protein (like beans) also contain a decent amount of carbs. And who wants to eat faux meat products without rice or a bun? Not me, really.
So after six months, am I healthier? I feel like I’m wired healthier in that way that being a vegetarian creates (basically, you think about nutrition more). But I don’t feel better or look better.
So now what?
Here’s an interesting thing about all of this: I don’t miss meat. I haven’t eaten any minus an accidental bite of a chicken burrito (which was SUPPOSED to be curry paneer… thanks for nothing, Curry Up Now!) and I don’t miss it. I am still attracted to the smell of meat—not eating it anymore doesn’t mean that walking by the sizzling bacon-wrapped hot dogs doesn’t intoxicate me! But yet, I don’t really give it a passing thought. It’s more like “oh, that hot dog/chicken wing/pepperoni pizza smells good” and then the thought leaves my head. Whatever.
In addition to not eating meat, I do believe I have fully shifted to vegetarian mentality. Though I like the smell of some meat, and don’t think it’s wrong to eat meat if it’s done sustainably, I’m just so in the “I don’t eat that!” mentality that I think it would be REALLY hard to take that first bite again. (Especially after I teared up reading Fast Food Nation last week during the part about how they kill the cows…)
So part of me wants to be a vegetarian forever. The other part of me really wants to seriously pursue my passion of being a food blogger or a restaurant reviewer/food critic/food writer etc etc, and to be honest, vegetarian is a niche and I’d need to eat meat if I wanted to do anything mainstream out from under a vegetarian umbrella. And of course, I’m “missing out” on a lot of really awesome food.
Conclusions? I really have no idea what the future holds for me and my previously-beloved fried chicken. I know that for now, I’m going to continue down my quasi-vegetarian path, and see how it goes from here. I’m happy where I am, and I know that at any point, the decision to go back is always mine. I’m just not convinced either way.
Have you ever gone vegetarian/vegan or tried any other significant dietary change? How did you know if it was/wasn’t right for you?
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I decided to cut meat out of my diet back in August 2010. I did have turkey at Thanksgiving and a random chicken sausage here and there, but I eat vegetarian about 95% of the time. I’ve also found that it is SO much cheaper to eat veggie meals! Sometimes I get a really odd craving for pork-chops (weird, since I hardly ever had them even when I was eating meat!), but other than that, my body doesn’t really miss the meat.
so funny. i crave hot dogs more than anything. and i pretty much never ate hot dogs! so random.
My sis has been vegetarian for 5 years now and she said all she ever craves is a hot dog!!! lol so funny you would mention that!
Funny that I ran across this post today..today I decided to challenge myself to being completely vegetarian next week (will post about it tomorrow morning).
The past few months I have been vegetarian, but like you I have been eating some fish. I’ve found that while it may not be the most popular choice amongst my friends and family, it makes food choices much more simple and I actually do feel a lot better. I have always had pretty bad migranes, and since I cut back on my meat consumptions the migranes have occurred far less often. It also gives me a reason to try new fruits & vegetables and use them in different ways.
Thank you for this post! I like that you’re not swaying towards either side, so we’re hearing both perspectives, reallly interesting! Being vegetarian and swaying towards vegan is right for me because I just feel better in all aspects eating this way. I don’t eat perfect and just go with what I feel!
I cut back on my meat consumption last year due to a variety of reasons….partly due to environmental impact of meat, partly due to feeling pressured to do so by my coworkers last year and some of the blogs I read, partly due to a desire to lessen my grocery bill. And now? I now eat more meat than I did last year just because my body feels better when I do have it from time to time (especially since I’ve been running a fair amount over the past year). Now, my diet is mostly pescatarian with a few random helpings of turkey thrown in for good measure every couple weeks. I’m just trying to listen to my body and do what makes it feel best. That includes eating lots of vegetarian meals, but it also includes having a turkey burger when I want one. I really do enjoy the taste of meat, so I’m making the effort to indulge in it in moderation. I do sometimes feel like a bit of a weirdo in the blog world for not having a huge problem with eating meat. Different strokes for different folks I guess…
thoughtful post. I agree that being a vegetarian is very easy to do in our neck of California…berkeley must be 50% vegetarian food! I’ve been veg (with fish 1-2 times a month) for 15 months now, and I haven’t noticed a difference at all, except that salads are more boring with grilled chicken (I hardly eat salads anymore, strangely enough, unless shrimp is offered).
I have been having an influx of dreams lately about eating meat lately…and they are so vivid. I was eating ribs and the texture was spot on! don’t know what it means, as I haven’t been craving it at all. I have put thought into occasionally eating it…I just can’t decide what is “worth it” to break by streak for.
Don’t believe we officially met and chatted today, but still nice to have you on my radar!
*without* grilled chicken. sorry.
That burger looks amazing. I want it. I’ve never given vegetarianism a real, honest try (though I have many friends who are, or were at some point, vegetarian or vegan), but I don’t think I want to. However, some of the points you made are still ones that I’ve adopted in my approach to eating.
Curbing impulses is a really big one – I do eat meat, but I’ve managed to cut back a lot on fast-food and such. Helps that the lunch places near my work are mostly organic places, and that I generally cook my other meals for myself. I try to incorporate a good amount of vegetables with my dishes, and like you mentioned, a big thing is being aware of what (and how much) I’m eating.
For me, eating healthy means eating what makes me feel good (physically & emotionally), and being conscious of the health benefits (or detriments) of these things – and then adjusting portion sizes appropriately.
HI love!! I read your post + we should chat in person about this! I’ve been vegetarian for about 7 months, and I have actually never felt better (this is from someone who once considered In n Out a primary food group). BUT your post was really interesting to me because while I feel this diet has done a lot of things for me, it also HASN’T done a lot of the things you hear it will.
I feel like saying I’ve gone vegetarian is somewhat of a misnomer for me because it really oversimplifies the changes I wanted to make. I got mildly obsessed with reading about the food industry, and the political/environmental/nutritional/health implications of my former diet (and the standard American diet). I gradually started to make changes to every aspect of what I ate to think more about nutrition, sustainability, organics, chemicals, additives, etc, and the more you read up on this the more fascinating it is — plus, everything I read was reinforced by the changes I noticed in my skin, energy, eyes, mental clarity, etc. Glowing reviews aside, though, what interested me about your post was how upfront you were about what DIDN’T happen, and on a lot of the points I agree: my weight didn’t change — but I had way more energy and like you, my workouts were dramatically increasing, so perhaps I lost fat/gained muscle? Or maybe I’m just the same? Remains unclear, but I’m not sure that I look dramatically different in the sense you hear you will.
I agree with you on it being easier in a way at restaurants and to eat healthier (most of my favorite junky foods just aren’t an option, so they don’t cross my mind anymore as anything more than a passing thought). But I disagree w/ you when you said you are missing out on foods w/ meat — I of course know what you mean, but the weirdest part for me is that by giving up meat, I was forced to try about a million new vegetables, fruits, grains and recipes that I doubt I ever would have tried before. I feel like I’ve only gained in foods available to me, ironically, just because I would have probably stuck to the same stuff. I have some absolutely fabulous cookbooks and nutrition books if you are stickin w/ this for a while. I seriously have made had of the best meals I’ve ever had over the last 7 months, and while In n Out will always smell delicious, I have no intentions of heading towards the drive-thru
Hope you’re well + miss you!! Just felt like respondin to this here, but lets chat soon!
I loved this post! And even though I have never gone a lengthier amount of time without meat, I can still relate to so many of your points since I do try to eat less meat overall.
I like that you bring up the whole weight issue. So many friends of mine believe that if they go veg they’ll magically lose weight. You can be a vegetarian, but when you are still eating ice cream and donuts the weight is going to stay. (PS- thanks for adding my to your blogroll!)
I agree that being vegetarian can really limit options, especially when it comes to fine dining. I’ve been vegetarian for about a year and a half now, and I think it will stick for life… but I have had fish sauce in things and probably chicken broth once or twice. I don’t freak out about it, I just am a vegetarian who occasionally might have something non-veg (but not on purpose).
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being vegetarian most but not all of the time… it’s still SO much better for the environment than eating tons of meat! The nice thing is, you really never NEED to make a decision one way or the other
I enjoyed my 10 vegetarian “project” earlier this year. I did crave meat a bit, but not a whole lot and I really enjoyed cooking creatively with veggies and non-meat proteins! However, I had a really hard time when going out. There weren’t many vegetarian options at the kinds of places I was going, except for flimsy little salads.
However, I rarely go out anymore so I don’t think that’d be a problem if I wanted to get back into it. I don’t know… we’ll see if I do it again! You’re going way strong 6 months in… congrats!
I gave up meat slowly. At first, I stopped eating red meat..or really, hot meat. I’d still eat sandwich stuff and what not. Then in college, I switched to becoming pescatarian after seeing a slaughter house videa and stayed that way for three years until last month when we discussed vegetarianism in ethics and it shed a whole new light on the situation. Even since I’ve given up fish too and have’t really missed it. I may decide t oeat shellfish every now and then if going out to eat or something, but when it’s me cooking I’m fine with eggs and beans.
It IS easy to be veg in SF! I love it.
You bring up some good points about the vegetarian diet and it’s interesting to see how it’s working for you. (P/s: Veg-heads rule!)
You need a burger stat. They are amazing.
I would imagine it’s a hell of a lot easier to be a vegetarian in SF than it is in a meat loving city like, say Chicago. haha
I too don’t eat too much meat, but enjoy it from time to time when I’m really craving it or something especially delicious is being prepared-
Interesting observations! Maybe just continue down the path you’re on but don’t be as strict about it? If there’s something you want to try or want, don’t hesitate? It’s interesting that you haven’t noticed any body-health changes. Every time I read one of these kinds of blog posts, people always rave about their new found energy and how great they feel. Maybe you’re right in that vegetarianism is only right for some people!
this was such a great post! i am so impressed that you were able to maintain being a vegetarian for 6 months! i tried to do this once, and lasted just a week. at the end of the week i absolutely had to have a steak, which i rarely eat – it was odd. i loved your insight and you’re right – it is so easy to make these kinds of choices in san francisco – we are so fortunate!
I love your honesty! I have not gone vegetarian myself but one of my friends had an experience close to yours… he is one of the healthiest people I know but because of heart disease in his family he cut out most meat… he gained weight and felt worse despite having little body fat to begin with and regularly exercising. Now if only I can decide what will work for me! Love your blog FYI
Love this post! I am coming up on my year as a vegetarian and I have a lot of the same feeling you do! I think I could be a vegetarian my whole life with no problem what so ever:) But you basically summed up my feeling exactly!
I gave up burgers for 4 years. No real reason. Just because. I eat them now… but it was interesting to me how quickly I got over it and didn’t crave them…
I’m having the same experience with not missing meat. I’ve been doing the pescetarian shindig for about five months now, and I haven’t missed meat at all. I have had some accidental bites of meat, and to be honest I got a little nauseous. I actually started being pescetarian in a “de facto” sort of way. I wasn’t craving meat anyways, so I decided to just give it up as a whole. Fish, on the other hand, would probably be the most difficult thing to give up. I don’t see that happening any time in the near future… haha
I have gone vegan for the past week after being a pescatarian for the past eight or ten years (who is counting). I don’t feel better and I miss hard-boiled eggs! glad to hear I’m not alone