Growing up I never once ate a vegetable. Granted, my mother couldn’t cook very well so a vegetable usually consisted of a frozen block of something green thrown into a boiling pot of water, and voila here is your dinner side dish. I was repulsed by the rubbery texture and lack of taste and quite honestly, assumed that this is what vegetables tasted like. This inner narrative bred me to become a carb crazed carnivore for most of my life. To me, pizza was a complete meal. The tomato sauce counted as a veggie and everything else was a bonus.
Fear not, as I got older, my palate started to broaden. I would throw in a salad here and there and if I was feeling adventurous I might even have a red pepper or some asparagus. It wasn’t until I got sick that I started to really look at my diet. My acupuncturist at the time suggested that I try an elimination diet. Which for me, meant eliminating about 90% of what I had been eating. As I looked at the list of acceptable foods I truly doubted that I could do it but I was also so desperate to get better I would have tried just about anything at that point.
The first couple of days were the worst. I learned how addicted my brain was to sweets, carbs, and caffeine but most of all, I realized for the first time how shitty I really felt eating all of those foods. It was my first stroke of true body awareness. I thought it was normal to feel jittery and hopped up on coffee and to have intense blood sugar spikes and crashes which obviously impacted my mood and anxiety tremendously. After my month of eating clean, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. As I researched diets, I landed on Paleo which was the hot fad at the time and it felt the most comfortable for me because I could stick with my beloved meat and throw a veggie in here or there.
I stayed Paleo for a bit but quickly realized how much I really didn’t like meat. That initial feel-good high had worn off and I started to dread meals. Meat just started to make me sick physically and spiritually. Coincidentally, at the same time, I started seeing a holistic therapist who suggested the best way to heal my PTSD was through a specific semi vegan diet. Meat was replaced by mung beans, steamed vegetables, sauerkraut, and grains. I still ate eggs and could occasionally have a piece of fish for lunch which felt like a good compromise. After a few days, I felt so much more grounded and level headed. My blood sugar had leveled out and I wasn’t having bouts of hangry-ness anymore. He explained to me how eating meat is like building a shed but to do that you have to take the shed apart piece by piece to put it back together, but by eating vegetables it’s more like having all the pieces there ready to go. It made sense and I felt better. However, I lacked vision.
Like most of us, eating is a habitual addiction that has been passed down through generations. No one in my family really eats vegetables. All of my muscle memory around food included simplistic carbs and usually something fried. I had no reference point to really branch out to try new vegetarian recipes and felt like I was missing out on my old life. After a bit, I caved and went back to meat…with a vengeance.
It wasn’t until I went to Peru that I revisited going meatless. To prepare for that trip one must completely clean out which means no salt, sugar, flour, meat, spices, citrus, etc. Like anything, the first two weeks were the most difficult, but after some time I started to not mind the bland life as much. In fact, when I was in Peru, I discovered how delicious vegetarian food could be. The seed was planted but I still wasn’t ready to take the leap to fully incorporate it into my life.
Months later my partner received a spiritual message that we needed to give up meat and fully detox our bodies. A week later we gave up meat. However, at first, we weren’t very healthy about it. Remember that food muscle memory bit? We were stuck in that loop hardcore. We really struggled to find things that would satisfy our programmed tastebuds and still fall in line with our new lifestyle. Pizza and veggie nachos became our fail-safe dinner options as we struggled to reprogram ourselves to this new way of eating. After two months, my partner decided he wanted to give fish a try. He cooked it up nice and we each took a bite and almost threw it up. It felt wrong. At that moment we knew we were in this for the long haul and we need to make it work.
We started experimenting with food and finding recipes that worked for us. We began meal prepping so we wouldn’t be stuck with limited take out options. Which worked in our favor because Covid hit and we didn’t get a meal out for 6 months. It forced us into our new life. And honestly, we both feel a million times better than before. We’ve leaned out, I don’t feel like I’m bogged down and heavy after I eat, our digestion is better, we constantly get compliments on our skin, and we feel better knowing that an animal didn’t have to die for us to eat.
So how do you go vegetarian without making the mistakes we did? Here’s how:
- Set a date for your last meatless day. This sounds corny but it will help you to not fall into the trap of “the diet starts Monday”. For us, we decided Thanksgiving would be our last soiree with meat. This gives yourself a chance to go through the mourning faze as well as an opportunity to clean out the fridge and mentally prepare yourself.
- Plan your meals. As a meat-eater, you probably didn’t put much thought into your meals because meat is available everywhere. Unless you live in a metro area, finding vegetarian options can be tricky so plan accordingly. Making a menu for the week helps you to stay on track and gives room to experiment with new foods.
- Experiment. Try new fruits, vegetables, beans, and kinds of rice you’ve never tried before! It’s fun and helps to keep things fresh.
- Find what works for you. As two ex-carnivores, the first thing we missed was chicken wings. An alternative we found and love are cauliflower wings that we can make at home. A big thing for my partner is the Italian food he grew up with so for us, experimenting with eggplant dishes has been a game-changer.
- Red lentil pasta. As a vegetarian, an easy dish to throw together is always something with pasta. There are so many variations you can make whether it be with red gravy, veggies and oil, or a vegan alfredo; pasta is so easy when you don’t want to cook. We stopped eating regular wheat pasta and fell in love with red lentil pasta. It has protein, it’s not carb-heavy so there’s no post-meal hangover, and there is little guilt because it’s just lentils!
- Always be sprouting. Before I gave up meat I never sprouted a bean in my life. I didn’t even know it was a thing. However, having a bean spouting during the week gives you at least two easy meals that are super easy to throw together. How do you sprout? Pick a bean of your choice, rinse them, and put them in a bowl, and completely cover with water. I usually add a splash of apple cider vinegar to help break the beans down and cover them for 12–24 hours. When they’re done, boil them as usual and now you have a protein base for any meal. We like to have beans, rice, and a sauteed veg in the fridge to throw an easy meal together when we don’t feel like cooking and you can spice it up however you’d like!
- Have meals in the fridge. This one is key. Making sure you have a meal or two in the fridge at all times will help you stay on track. This gives lunch and dinner options, helps to eliminate food waste, and is way less work and worry about cooking. Meal prepping is a gift!
- Vegetarian or vegan? This is up to you. In the beginning, we ate very egg and cheese heavy (hello tastebud programming), but due to my endometriosis, I have cut out eggs and dairy. It’s really up to you and what works for you.
- Keep fruit on hand. As important as having meals in the fridge is, having snacks readily available is equally important. For us this means, having a variety of fruit on hand such as berries that are in season, apples, citrus, etc. so there is always a quick snack at hand.
- Protein. Most rebuttals I have heard when I tell people that I don’t eat meat is the classic “where do you get your protein from?”. We have been programmed to think we need massive amounts of protein to be healthy which is actually highly untrue. When we think back to our ancestors, if they killed a buffalo, it would feed the entire tribe for months. That’s not really that much protein. This is where the Paleo philosophy goes off track. Anyway, I digress. Sources of protein while eating a plant-based diet may surprise you. Mung beans, for example, have 49g of protein in a cup! Broccoli and rice are loaded with protein, as are eggs and cheese if you are incorporating them. Since I no longer eat eggs, and I work out every day, my breakfast has become a veggie smoothie with a scoop of Sun Warrior protein. Yes, protein shakes count! It’s all about creativity!
- Eating the rainbow. Again, it’s about eating diverse foods to ensure you are getting as many vitamins and nutrients as possible. Plus, there is something so joy-inducing when you are cooking a meal and it is so vibrant with colors. Eat the rainbow.
Now, I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on tv. I’m not suggesting that everyone give up meat. As someone who never thought they could give up meat, these steps made the transition easier for me. If you’re considering taking the leap, but feel scared, I feel you and I totally believe in you because if I can do it, I know you can. And you’ll feel better too!
