One Week As A Vegetarian -- OneSmartCookie's Story
One day while surfing on the Internet I came across a website challenging anyone who wanted to, to go Vegetarian for a week. Imagine the impact you could have. No meat, eggs or dairy for one week. I have been gradually been going towards a whole food, no meat diet for the last two months. So, for me this felt like the right thing to do and I wanted to see how it would be do give up my favourites like cheese and chicken.In preparation for this, I went to the grocery stores and specialty food stores like Planet Organic to get ready for this challenge. It almost made me feel I was the gatherer who was getting ready for a seasonal harvest of sorts. In my travels, I purchased new foods like Tempeh, Tofu, Filberts, Pine Nuts, Buckwheat Noodles and went back to my favourite green leafy vegetable, Kale. For the sake of convenience, I found small bags of prewashed baby carrots perfect for lunches and matchstick carrot sticks perfect for stirfrys and salads. Bagged salads were a simple choice and I could add extra veggies, beans, peas, seeds or nuts to add variety. Beansprouts would be great for salads and sandwiches on sprouted bread. I used my snack bags with Ziplock for roasted red peppers, celery sticks, nuts, seeds and dried fruit which were great for a sudden hunger pang. My trusty Sunrider Vitalite Sunbars would work as my snack or in a pinch, two could work as a meal with a smoothie. I added whole grains into my eating which included Quinoa, Wheat and Brown Rice.
In the freezer, prepared pumpkin soup and veggie chili awaited me. All in single serving containers perfect for lunches, dinners. Out of season veggies including asparagus and frozen fruit all ready to go if needed. In most cases, frozen was my last choice but a choice if I needed to make it.
Vegetarians don't call it "Mock Meat". The word meat isn't part of their vocabulary. Its called TVP. Textured Vegetable Protein. Lots of your pretend meats fall into this category. I tried the turkey slices and that wasn't enjoyable. I made Tempeh into a stirfry with veggie to fool myself into thinking it was chicken. Quite tasty and made me feel I was eating chicken in a stirfry. Seiten Cutlets. I bought those but haven't tried them yet. I've tried Tofu Dogs and those were not great. I've come to the conclusion and for health reasons, fresh is best and if you can limit the processed foods to fool your body and mind into thinking you are getting meat then this is the best. However, some of these choices are great for getting the protein.
Why are you doing it? This was the first question. I had decieded in the beginning that if I was asked, I would say it was to give my body a rest from meat, dairy and eggs. I wouldn't get into the ecological footprint thing except for Facebook because I tried explaining it once and suddenly I was looked at as if I had three heads! I do not choose to be an animal advocate and suddenly chain myself to a cattle farm door. Folks, I live in Alberta which is one of the largest centers for beef production. I'm not even going to go there.
What are you eating? Isn't it funny. The word got out that I was going vegan for a week and everyday I was asked, "What do you eat?" "No meat, dairy or eggs?" "What's left?" they proclaimed! I gave them a whole list and they looked at me with a confused look in their eyes. They hadn't heard of what I was consuming. "Cous......eh, what? Belger? What is that?" It was incredibly funny. On the flip side, I had vegetarians emailing me recipes and coming up to me telling me the name of the best brands of veggie foods!
Foods I ate again. Potato. Seems silly but I had virtually given up the potato. Starch. White is bad I was told. I added it to soups and ate it baked. Other then occasionally, I stopped eating potatoes two years ago. Avocados. Don't eat those, they will make you FAT! I love avocados! Try cutting one and use half for a sandwich or mix with hummus! A great alternative to your tuna sandwiches. Tip. Use lemon juice to prevent browning!
Eating in a restaurant poses many challenges for vegans so I didn't even attempt that because I truly felt ill prepared. However, the other night I was CRAVING sushi so instead of my beloved Maki Combo I chose Miso Soup, Veggie Salad and Veggie Sushi which consisted of Avocado, Celery and your usual seaweed/sesame seed/rice conformity. It did the trick and I was pleased that I was able to have it my way. Good Luck in finding a fast food establishment that carries anything remotely recognizable as a veggie burger. Do you remember the attempt at one for McDonald's? It is no longer on their menu.
What did I miss? I rarely eat eggs so that wasn't a problem. Milk? I opted for Soy, Rice and Almond Milk instead. Dairy? I skipped the yogurts and opten for fruit or berries. I will admit I missed chicken. I would say that on average I eat chicken three times a week and I did start to want that by day four. However, like most cravings, if you ride them out they will pass. That's exactly what happened with the chocolate cravings. Very intense, needed them. Then, I rode it out and it too passed. Did I miss beef. No. I did miss my Sushi with fish though. However, I used Bragg's with my veggie sushi and that passed. Bragg's gave me the salt without all the added sodium that Soya Sauce would add.
How do I feel? Great! No headaches. My joints were the sore the first few days but then I realized that with the water in the vegetables that water wasn't something I thought of near enough. I wasn't drinking what I should be drinking and my water consumption went down to half. Once I got that straightened out, I was fine. I felt as though I was eating more because I was eating a greater variety. I notice that anytime I go through a cleanse of sorts that my sensors go into overdrive. This happened. One evening while leaving the condo. someone was cooking fish and it was as though it was happening right beside me. Same thing at lunch time. Someone was heating something in the microwave and it was intense for me.
Not all vegans are thin. Apparently, there is a group called the Vegan Fatties. Those who aren't waif thin. All in moderation for any eating plans. Pounds can pack on quickly if you go vegetarian and depend on the convenience foods and starches. During my week, I lost four pounds. Do I think it was due to my eating changes? Yes and no. I am sure it was due to the changes in my eating, water intake and withdrawal of many of the foods that helped in making me obese.
Like any lifestyle choice, I would tell you that you choose to do this then do your research. Do it smartly. There is no doubt in my mind that if you do not include a variety of healthy food choices that you can create health problems for yourself. IE, B12 deficiency. Oh, there is so much to learn! I've spoken to vegans who are still learning after almost a year. I want to find a great vegetarian pizza recipe. I want to try Millet, Kamut, Amaranth, and Spelt. I've never seen these!
Speak to someone that is vegetarian and do you homework. Your body will thank you.
****Here is a great website with lots of great information. It includes cooking tips, vegetarian food pyramid, vegan nutrition and a nutrition quiz. http://www.vegancoach.com/**** Check out the Vegan Food Pyramid. http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/***If you want to take the challenge then go to http://veg.ca/content/view/26/56/***Other websites: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/index.htmlhttp://www.veganchef.com/http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/http://www.vegan-food.net/http://www.veganmania.com/recipes/http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday- ... /Main.aspxhttp://www.thehealthyshopper.ca/recipes.phphttp://www.veganyumyum.com/ - this one is awesomehttp://www.planetorganic.ca/goodfood/recipecorner
