Hello Friends!
I have another Vegetarian Curious post for you today! This lovely lady attended Blend Retreat with me and has a very inspirational story to share with you all while I start my second week back to school. Good news! I SURVIVED week one! 🙂
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Hello, Semi-Health Nut readers! I’m excited to be able to share with you today. My name is Kelly, and I blog over at No Sugar Sweet Life. Struggling with my weight for my entire adult life, I finally decided life is too short to live perpetually unhappy. I recently lost over 55 pounds and am currently working on the last 25. I made a few simple changes to my lifestyle (less sugar, smaller portions, and more veggies), and have never felt better!
And here’s a quick before and after so you can see where I’ve come from:
Dappling with Vegetarianism
First of all, let me preface this with: I am NOT a vegetarian. I am dappling with vegetarianism. There’s a huge difference! I am not doing this for emotional reasons or based on a belief system about why the animal / meat industry is bad. I am doing this for health reasons…and because my doctor suggested it.
My hubby (of now 8 years) was recently diagnosed with super duper high cholesterol. Our doctor recommended more of a plant-based diet. He said basically if we currently eat one or two meatless meals a week, we should flip 180 degrees and only eat one or two meat-FILLED meals. The rest should be plant-based.
Which wouldn’t seemlike such a big deal, but my hubby hates vegetables. Doh!
So what is a girl to do?
1) Be More Creative. I need to be creative in how I prepare veggies/fruits so that Dear Hubby is more likely to eat them. Dear Hubby is picky. REALLY picky. I need to give more effort in making dishes I know he is more likely to enjoyfinish. Case in point – I recently made some Double Decker vegetarian tacos. They were chock full of veggies: (black beans, corn, red peppers, onions,BROCCOLI, and even pureed tomatoes!). Mission accomplished! He devoured.every.bite.
2) Read Blogs to Get Ideas. Never cooked tofu? Neither had I. Peruse blogs to find great recipes to start with. The better the recipes/meals, the more you enjoy them, the more likely you are to continue eating this way! This was simply one of the best lunches I’ve ever made- Tomato & Lemon Tofu Sammies:
3) Be willing to make a few mistakes. Now this is just funny! I attempted to make a vegan soup for Dear Hubby based on his favorite Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden. I was so proud of myself, it tasted incredible. And then later, much later, after I’d started blogging about it and tweeting to the world about what an awesome vegan cook I am, I realized I used chicken broth as the base. Ha! Note to self – vegans and vegetarians don’t eat chicken broth. It was a good learning experience and can easily be tweaked (with vegetable broth) into a fabulous vegetarian meal. But I did have to laugh at myself. A lot.
4) Prepare a variety. I need to prepare a variety of veggies/fruits each week so that we are getting a balance of the various nutrients they offer. I have started to do this by buying different things that are on sale at our local market each week. Last week it was peaches, strawberries, coconut, and sweet potatoes. This week it was tofu, cherries, beans, and kale.
5) Change my viewpoint. I’m sorry but I have always thought vegetarians and vegans were weird (Plain. and simple. Sorry, no offense.) and that they were the unhealthy ones. I now know many (who blog) that are really wonderful!!! And I am beginning to research / dig into information that not only promotes a primarily plant-based diet, but speaks against the current American trend of MEAT, MEAT, and MORE MEAT (in the holy name of “protein”) at every meal. Oh, that and our doctor recommended it.
6) Drink more Juice. Dear Hubby likes pretty much every juice I’ve ever made (with the exception of V8 because it was too onion-y for him). But Mean Green, and Sunset juice, and Pink Kale, and Golden Goddess Juice, are all awesome ways for him to get some extra nutrients that he otherwise wouldn’t have. I even started a feature on my blog called “Healthy Living Thirsty Thursday” where I share a new juice or smoothie recipe every week!
There are so many ways to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet!
Questions:
· What do you think of “dappling” with vegetarianism?
· What is your favorite “go-to” vegetarian meal?
Thanks for reading today! I hope that you will check out some of my other recipes, join my active Facebook community, and/or Tweet with me: @nsSweetlife!
– Kelly
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Have a great Monday friends!
*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*
More Vegetarian Curious posts:
Katy’s Story and Tips
Lindsay’s Story and Loaded Sweet Potato
Andrea’s Go-To Pasta
So far my vegetarian meals usually consist of me making one veggie like roasting squash and filling up on that… lol. This post is very refreshing and makes it seem less intimidating though 🙂
Ya it’s challenging to make a healthy vegetarian meal! But Kelly has some great options here..she is pretty awesome. 🙂
So far my vegetarian meals usually consist of me making one veggie like roasting squash and filling up on that… lol. This post is very refreshing and makes it seem less intimidating though 🙂
Ya it’s challenging to make a healthy vegetarian meal! But Kelly has some great options here..she is pretty awesome. 🙂
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