Could the Vegetarian Lifestyle be for me?
I find myself increasingly drawn to vegetarianism. I am very fascinated with the whole idea of eating nothing but nourishing, nutrition packed fruits and vegetables interspersed with whole grains. Today I had absolutely nothing to eat EXCEPT raw fruits and vegetables, a few pieces of my yummy healthy chocolate, and a piece of cheddar cheese this evening, only because I was a little hungry, and had a craving for salt.
It’s not that I have anything against meat eaters, or meat for myself. I eat meat, but I am enjoying it less and less, only because I am immersing myself in vegan and vegetarian research. I mean… LOOK at that picture over there. I feel healthier just LOOKING at a picture of food like that. First of all, it is visually appealing, second of all, a bounty like that smeels really great, and you know smell is the FIRST taste you get of your food. I see mostly fruits in that picture, but vegetables have the same visual and olfactory appeal.
I found myself ALL DAY researching vegetarianism, and raw foodism. I signed up for a bunch of newsletters and the more I read the more excited I got. It seems kind of a silly thing to be excited about. But why not… whenever you make a drastic lifestyle change like I have been making, you pretty much think about it all the time. At least that’s been my experience. So if I need to be obsessed about anything, and I need to lose weight, it seems that fruits and vegetables are a good thing to be excited about!
So what about the vegetarian lifestyle. I won’t call myself a vegetarian, because to me that denotes a certain attitude. Yes that’s it… vegetarianism seems like an attitude. So I’m not a vegetarian. I think I am just going to choose fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. That feels right to me for now.
if I am presented with a chunk of cow or pig (hehe) well I may or may not eat it. Vegetarianism (for health) doesn’t need to be a religion. It will be a meal by meal choice. I do think that just for the first 30 days or so (maybe 6 weeks? to form a habit) I will try to be strict with myself, and make a conscious decision with every bite to stay with the vegetarian choices. I think it needs to be that way for the first while because habit always wants to pull us back in, and refined food withdrawal is likely.
So first I have some whole food, raw organic vegan powdered drinks and protein shakes on the way. (well I don’t know if the shakes are raw or not but I do know the drinks are. I am going to talk about those a bit later as well, because I have already had some samples and they are TRULY amazing and very yummy! But I think I will save that discussion for my next post on ‘juicing’. You know, vegetarianism is so easy, and SO appealing right now, being that it is summer time in Canada, and the bounty of fresh is plentiful, but what will it be like in November through to June? I guess I will wait and see. It’s not like we can’t get produce here. it’s just that it isn’t as fresh, and it is very expensive. With the cost of gas going through the ceiling, and the flooding all through the farmer’s fields in Canada, and mid-west USA, I dread the food costs this winter.
Oh well…. aren’t you laughing at me worrying about that already?? I just realized what I am doing… did you recognize it? I just gave myself an escape hatch in case the whole vegetarian thing doesn’t work out for me. I’ve created a perfect scape-goat in case of failure! That is so typical and GOOD FOR ME for recognizing it! You know, here is going to be the best thing ever about writing down my thoughts every day…. I will be able to recognize bahaviours that are designed to take me and hopefully stop them before they manifest a s a reality!
So back to vegetarianism…. it will be important to make sure I am getting all of the nutrients I need. I have see it said that B12 may need to be supplemented. B12 is mostly in organ meats, although wild rainbow trout and salmon have decent levels of B12, and I do love fish!
I have a number of supplements I take that I will talk about in another post as well, but one thing I know and that is that protein is NOT an issue like some people believe. Plants in variety will give us all of the amino acid complexes that we need to live. At any rate I do have my back up protein shakes on the way, and I will probably have those frequently in smoothies and alone as part of a meal, so I am unconcerned about that.
So overall I think I have convinced myself that fresh organic fruits and veggies, leafy greens and sprouts are going to be a popular way to eat. I’m kind of excited about it!
I would love to know what you all think!
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Tags: fruits, organic, protien, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
I will tell you that I never felt better then when I made vegetarian/raw choices. Like you I was not opposed to meats, however just preferred to make better choices when I could. I did however avoid red meat at all costs!! I felt lean, energetic and most of all CLEAR. I have been moving closer and closer to this way of eating once again – and your writing about it is certainly moving me one step closer! Thanks again! Keep them coming :)