WIAW: My Vegetarian Plate

I hope you’re not tired of hearing me say the “v” word yet! And I hope I don’t seem too obsessive talking a lot about my switch to vegetarianism. I can’t help but share it here. For someone as food centered as I am, this change is a HUGE HUGE deal in my life. Eventually I know it will become a part of my normal lifestyle, but for now it’s like a paradigm shift. Also I’ve never seen a blogger really document their process of going vegan or vegetarian, and I’m hopping it’s something that some of you will be interested to read.

Because I’m crazy, I decided to make my own little version of a nutritional “plate” like the one the USDA makes. I’ve been reading all sorts of literature and studies on vegetarian nutrition and feel like I have a good handle on how I should be eating. These servings are loose guidelines that I adjusted to my own eating habits! I designed this for myself and I’m NOT a nutritional expert. I just like to read.

Let’s break that thing down, yo!

These are my personal favorite ways of enjoying these food groups:

• Grain group: oatmeal, whole wheat bread, multigrain pancakes, crackers, whole grain cereal, rice, bulgur, barley, couscous, whole grain pasta
  
• Vegetable group: salad, green smoothies, raw and cooked veggies like broccoli, spinach, carrots, etc.
• Fruit group: smoothies, raw fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges
• Animal products: cheese and eggs
• Legumes and nuts: beans, lentils, tofu, soymilk, nuts and nut butters, soy “meat” products

Of course I will not stick to these exact servings every day. Of course more vegetables would only do me good. And dessert will squeeze it’s way into the chart often. It’s more like a way to remind myself of what I should be aiming for. I’m trying to be intentional about how I eat. A lot of my failure in trying vegetarianism last time was not really thinking about my food choices and just eating empty carbs all day. I don’t want that again!

Without further delay, I’ll end my dorky talk and move on to what I’ve actually been eating. Time for another What I Ate Wednesday party.

I was starving this morning and my eyes were a bit bigger than my stomach! I ate everything on this plate except the second hashbrown, which I have no idea why I cooked. I LOVE these hash browns from TJ’s. Paired with a drippy egg they are a dream…

Morning Snack: romaine salad topped with an apple, toasted pecans, and Annie’s Winestock dressing

I wanted to make up for my lack of fruit/veggies in breakfast! This was perfect to hold me over until lunch.

Lunch: veggie wrap, Luna bar

We had a class lunch today, which ended up being a spread of meat options. Hooray. So I scoped out this sad half of a wrap, then had a Luna bar when I was still hungry after.

Dinner: bulgur salad

Epicurious never leads me astray! This delicious dinner salad was full of roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, black beans, cucumbers, and more. Jason loved it, too!

Dessert: ice cream topped with coconut chips

Sure, I could have had fruit for dessert…but why would I do that when I have ice cream? 😉

I need to get some real rest. I’m just FINALLY getting over this flu situation and am hoping I wake up feeling 100% so that I can go for a run!

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren