Captain’s Log Stardate 100616: It’s been almost an entire year since I attempted to go vegetarian. Here is my story.
It was last October when I first started researching the impacts of the meat industry on the environment. I watched a few documentaries and read some research online. As with anything, you can find *any* opinion you want on the internet. There is always someone somewhere that will back you up! However, I read enough info to be convinced of one concrete fact: I wanted to reduce my meat consumption.
And thus, the 30-day veggie experiment was born…
….but it kinda lasted longer than that. Let me explain
PC: Will Rochfort
On October 31, 2015, I ate some shrimp scampi at our Halloween party {we do it right, y’all!}, put down my fork, and declared my 30-day trial to be in effect. Regardless of your beliefs on meat consumption, I think we can all agree that eating less meat is an easy way to reduce our carbon footprint. I decided to start with 30 days of strict vegetarianism and see where it took me.
As a strict veggie gal, I lasted approximately 30 days. In fact, it went all the way until Thanksgiving, 2015, when my mom pulled out Alaskan King Crab legs for dinner. My mouth started watering as I eyeballed the shells, and I knew I was going to break. But as I dug into the crab, I came to a realization: I had no desire to eat the turkey. None at all. So maybe I should just listen to my body?
One of *many* veggie meals that Will and I both loved.
From Thanksgiving until this week, I went pescatarian. However, I was very aware of how often we ate seafood. I tried to cap it to twice/week and based the rest of my meals around veggies. I can’t say I became a pro with tofu, but I learned enough to make some tasty dishes! I discovered that tossing tofu pieces in corn starch and then cooking them in a cast iron pan with coconut oil and salt was a delightful flavor that both Will *and* me loved equally. Tofu became a regular part of our weekly meals, as did tofu dogs {fake hot dogs}. In fact, those tofu dogs are still a favorite lunch staple of mine. They take zero time to cook and taste great!
As we crept into 2016, my desire to eat non-seafood meat diminished until it was non-existent. I simply didn’t want it. Will and I have never eaten red meat or pork, so there was no issues there, but I never wanted turkey and I only ate chicken on the rare occasion chicken wings landed on my table; I’m only mortal! Other than that, I found veggie options that left my happy and satiated just as much as the meat alternative. For example, I swapped out turkey sandwiches at lunch for the tofu dogs or simple avo, cucumber, red pepper, and pepper jack cheese sandwiches. Chicken stir fry became tofu stir fry. Chicken sandwiches became black bean burgers. In the past 12 months, I’d estimate that I’ve eaten meat {not including seafood} less than a half dozen times.
Didn’t notice any loss in strength!
Only recently did I feel my urges changing. I ignored them for awhile because that’s what you do, but then I thought about it. I’m a firm believer in listening to your body and if my stomach was craving a little bit of chicken every now and again, I figure that it must need it.
That’s where we are today. In the last two weeks, I’ve eaten a bit of chicken; maybe one night last week when Will and I went out to dinner and the chicken breast smelled amazing. But more than anything, I’m realizing that I truly broke the habit of being reliant on meat as an everyday staple in my diet. I suspect I will occasionally eat it moving forward, but I truly feel that I found a happy medium for my body, and that falls in the 80% veggie/15% seafood/5% meat pie chart. This pleases me since I feel like I did what I set out to do: reduce my meat consumption and thus, my environmental impact.
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