I get asked this question a lot--especially by my friends who know me as a meat-eater (this change in diet is relatively new). So, you're asking, why vegetarianism? Isn't it difficult to give up all that stuff? How do you get enough protein? What about dairy? Are you a vegan?
Well, it's complicated.
Let's start at the very beginning, the summer between junior and senior year of college. The scene: the gym, with my best friend. The scenario: split squats. I stress-fractured my left 4th metatarsal (in layman's terms, the toe next to my pinkie), which mean that I had to wear a boot cast for a few months, which meant no gym. And that meant I was gaining a little weight, so I tried to up the healthy foods in my diet. A few months later, the boot comes off, yay! Then, I sprain my ankle. Crap.
Meanwhile, my amazingly beautiful and talented room-mate Mariya is cooking up a storm. And what is she cooking? Vegetables. Delicious, amazing vegetables. So, I tell myself, "Megan: you are going to eat more vegetables, and stay healthy because you can't work out." I also have an ongoing battle with rosacea, and I figured that cutting dairy and most wheat (I do eat some grains, like farro and quinoa, which isn't technically a grain but looks/tastes like one, and they provide a great source for protein) out of my diet might help--couldn't hurt, right?
And it didn't! I haven't seen much of a change in my rosacea, unfortunately, but I no longer crave those foods like I used to--and when I say crave, I really mean it. For a long time, I subsisted on pasta and cheese, and chicken. I was VERY picky about my food. I liked vegetables well enough, but I didn't eat nearly as much as I should have. The same goes for sugar--I'll post some desserts (none of which will be vegan, I'm sorry! I've never baked vegan before), and I use real sugar--but it won't be a lot. I eat them on special occasions, and that's about it. No, it isn't difficult to give up; if I really want meat, I'll eat it, but so far...I haven't wanted it. End of story. I'm not truly a vegan, because I'm still eating a little feta cheese (good source of protein!) and I bake with milk and eggs; but, aside from that, on a given day, I am eating vegan.
Which leads me to my next point: eating real food. By real food, I mean not edible food products. Here's a good rule I learned from Michael Pollan's book, "Food Rules": if a food product has ingredients that no normal human being would keep in the pantry, don't eat it! Would you keep xanthan in the cupboard? No. What about cellulose? Didn't think so. Ethyloxylated diglycerides? I don't even know what that IS! Look at the list of ingredients on your products, and you'll be surprised: a lot of stocks and broths--or other things you thought were perfectly innocent--have artificial ingredients. And you know what? You just don't need that stuff in your body. You can either make your own stock (time consuming, but worth it, I hear); or, you can buy products that DON'T contain that crap--they exist! Even up here in the Badlands! You just have to keep an eye out for them. And trust me, once you get them out of your system, you won't want them anymore. I can stare a big ol' piece of pizza right in the face and not cave, because I'm feeding my body the good stuff, the stuff it REALLY wants.
So, I hope that what you get out of this blog is a way to be happier and healthier. Yes, I mentioned going to the gym and gaining a little weight, but that's just what inspired my lifestyle change; this blog isn't about weight loss or dieting. Dieting is never good--and, bonus: you can eat as many vegetables as you want! But by making healthier food choices, you'll see and feel a difference overall.
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