100 Days

I really had to remind myself to write this post because the 100 day mark of my vegetarianism came and went without me even noticing!

I’m happy to say that I think I’ve found my comfort zone with this new way of eating. I no longer struggle to come up with something I can eat every meal (no more cheese and crackers for dinner), and most of the time I forget entirely that I’m not eating a mainstream diet.

At my 60 day update, I talked about how my biggest struggle was feeling restricted when eating out. I still have challenges with this but it has definitely improved.

For one thing, I’ve decided that for my personal preferences I’m not hugely concerned about cross-contamination (like using the same serving tongs for meat and then for my tofu) or accidentally eating a vegetable that was cooked with meat. I’m not going to order something that has chunks of ham in it or that says on the menu that it was fried in bacon fat, but I’m also not going to investigate every single thing I order. I understand why that’s important to some vegetarians and vegans, but for me it’s not. I also don’t give myself a hard time if I make an honest mistake. For example, I realized about a week after the fact that I happily at a big slice of the quiche lorraine that I made for our graduation/Mother’s Day brunch.

The quiche that I made with bacon for my guests. 

Oops.

While I was kind of annoyed at myself for not being conscious of what I was eating, it’s really no big deal. The quiche was delicious and I’m not sorry I ate it. LOL.

I also went through a period of a couple weeks where I was deciding if I might start to eat fish (become a pescatarian). I did a lot of research about the sentience of fish and shellfish, and read about the environmental and health impacts involved. After doing my homework I knew there was no way I could in good conscience be a pescatarian. On top of everything else, the intelligence and personality of our beloved pet betta fish had a big part in me choosing not to eat animals, so it really would make no sense for me to eat fish. As always, I’m not saying that pescatarianism can’t be a great choice for some people, it’s just not the right choice for me. At our graduation dinner, however, I decided to have a crabcake.

The crab was local and delicious and I don’t regret that meal either. But in the future I won’t be eating seafood. 🙂

Jason has been really awesome about this transition, and he’s a great support system for me.

He actually talks me out of bad decisions when I’m having a weak moment, and is always more than happy to cook his own meat so that I don’t have to. He makes me a DELICIOUS tofu stir-fry that is one of my favorite meals now! He checks menus of places he wants to eat to make sure that they have a vegetarian option. He knows exactly why I made this decision and never makes me feel like my choices aren’t valid. I love him so much! He completely surprised me with his level of support. Now if only he would jump on board… 😉

I’ve talked about the struggles a lot, I think I should talk about a BENEFIT that I’ve been enjoying. And that’s the way I feel! I used to get that “food coma” feeling (ya know, when you feel like your stomach has a boulder inside of it/you’re suddenly 8 months pregnant and all you want to do is take a nap or just moan in discomfort until it goes away) every single day. Unless I overdo it on a dairy-laden dessert or something like that, I almost NEVER get that feeling anymore. It’s SO NICE to walk away from a meal and feel full, not gross and uncomfortable. My digestion has seriously improved and I can’t even believe that I was okay with the gross way that I was feeling before. Food should make you feel GOOD, not make you feel sick!

I’m also PUMPED to try all of the vegetarian friendly restaurants we have nearby now that we’re in Atlanta. My list is long. I’ve already been reunited with an old favorite of mine, an awesome falafel place down the road that I seriously adore.

I think that about wraps it up! I could go on and on but I don’t want to bore you. I hope that I can start doing more recipe posts, and I would like to do a post specifically on where I get my protein. And maybe I’ll do another update at my one-year mark. Of course, questions and comments are always welcome.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren