Diary of a Semi-Health Nut

ramblings + recipes of a semi-healthy nut

{Vegetarian Curious #5} Alison’s Journey

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Hello Friends!

In case you didn’t know, I started school again last week and let me tell you…it’s been an adventure!

I went to a community college for three years so this is my first real experience with university life.  I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal that I didn’t go to freshman orientation (because I’m not technically a freshman…plus I’m 25 years old so OBVIOUSLY I know everything about everything…), but it turns out there were a few things I missed.  

I parked in the wrong area the first week…found out I need to park further away.  I used a locker at the gym that I was supposed to have paid for..oops. 

I also had a meeting with an advisor cancelled on me when I was scheduling for this semester and just signed myself up for classes because that’s what I did for THREE YEARS at the community college.  Whatever, I got this.

Ha.  Turns out I signed up for the wrong Chemistry class, so I have to drive an hour to campus to plea with the Chemistry board to let me switch classes since they are all full.  *sigh*

On to more fun things…
Here is another amazing Vegetarian Curious post for you today!

P.S.  Isn’t the picture of Alison below gorgeous??
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My name is Alison, and I’m a Canadian, lover of food and travel, and am moving to the middle east (literally, tomorrow!).  Come read about my journey through this crazy thing called life.

It is safe to say that when we’re at home cooking our own food, we eat vegetarian 6 days a week and only eat meat (hormone and antibiotic free) 1 day.  This has reduced our grocery bills and it has also contributed to our overall well-being.  It has been an awesome process, and we’ve loved every step of the way!  And I do mean “we”…my husband Peter is entirely on board!  But how did we get here?  It was a journey.
It all started by moving to the West Coast of Canada 4 years ago.  There is just something about the laid back nature of the the West that urges you to slow down, relax, and enjoy life.  As we settled into that rhythm of life, we started to also realize that there were tons and tons of vegetarians and vegans around.  Growing up, I could barely think of any vegetarians that I knew.  And then when I finally did, I realized it was because of a religious conviction, which is not the main reason for most West Coaster Vegetarians that I know. 
ChickpeaCurry
As we started to make more friends and have people over for dinner, we quickly realized that it was safer to assume that people were vegetarian than to assume they ate meat.  This caused me to quickly be thrown into the world of vegetarian cooking when I’d had basically no experience in my life at all.  
Throughout the process I also became educated in the moral and ethical debates of why reducing meat is important.  Without getting into the nitty gritty here, my husband I decided that eating less meat was what we needed to do, and so we set out to reduce our meat consumption.  Originally this meant eating meat 4 times a week or so, and vegetarian the other 3.  But as time went on, we realized that we really enjoyed eating vegetarian, and we also realized the health implications for eating less meat.
Palak Paneer
This summer has been complicated for us as we transitioned from living in British Columbia to living in Ontario for 3 months on our way to moving to Kuwait at the end of August.  It has meant tons of traveling, staying in people’s homes and eating on the road.  As such, we’ve eaten more meat than we usually would.  And you know what we realized?  Our stomachs get upset, we don’t feel as energetic, and I got sick for the first time in a couple of years.  When we considered it all, yes, there was a lot of other stuff going on in our lives, but we’re fairly certain that our meat consumption had a lot to do with it.
Eating mostly meatless wasn’t hard in the West Coast as it was widely accepted, but as we move to the Middle East, where meat eaters are in abundance, we recognize that it might be a bit harder.  Our current plan is to eat vegetarian at home, and to only eat meat when we are out, or on the rare special occasion that we feel like making it at home.  
Monster Mushroom Burger

For us, this plan seems to be plausible.  Time will tell!  But one thing’s for sure: eating more meatless meals is great and we love it! 
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I really like this approach…eating more meat-less meals.  I think that is what I’m looking to do myself.  I just watched a powerpoint for my nutrition/fitness class that said meat tends to have more toxins in it.  Another reason to do a little less meat.

*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*

How often do you eat meat?

Could you ever give it up?

More Vegetarian Curious posts:
Katy’s Story and Tips
Lindsay’s Story and Loaded Sweet Potato
Andrea’s Go-To Pasta
Kelly Dappling with Vegetarianism

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My guest post went up yesterday, explaining that I’ve been dappling with vegetarianism… and I didn’t mention it, but you are spot on – I have just been feeling ICK when I eat too much meat. I don’t think I can eat another real burger again – b/c every time I do I feel awful (physically – up all night, indigestion, can’t sleep, nauseous). Anyways, I’m considering doing a blog/family “challenge” where I do a full month all vegetarian. It will force me to create more vegetarian recipes and will hopefully make it seem more “doable” for more people. I’m going over to your Palak Paneer recipe right after I post this comment!! Thx for sharing your experience.

  2. My guest post went up yesterday, explaining that I’ve been dappling with vegetarianism… and I didn’t mention it, but you are spot on – I have just been feeling ICK when I eat too much meat. I don’t think I can eat another real burger again – b/c every time I do I feel awful (physically – up all night, indigestion, can’t sleep, nauseous). Anyways, I’m considering doing a blog/family “challenge” where I do a full month all vegetarian. It will force me to create more vegetarian recipes and will hopefully make it seem more “doable” for more people. I’m going over to your Palak Paneer recipe right after I post this comment!! Thx for sharing your experience.

  3. I find your approach to eating really awesome- I am vegan as you probably know and one of the big reasons I was able to make it over the initial hurdle was because of how much better I felt!

    I wish you so much luck with your move! Good luck and make sure to keep us updated!

  4. Love the guest post & love the idea of only eating meat when “out” … I have to follow some pretty strict food guidelines so when I’m away from my own kitchen it kind of goes to pot … I always feel better eating my food at my house 🙂

  5. I find your approach to eating really awesome- I am vegan as you probably know and one of the big reasons I was able to make it over the initial hurdle was because of how much better I felt!

    I wish you so much luck with your move! Good luck and make sure to keep us updated!

  6. Love the guest post & love the idea of only eating meat when “out” … I have to follow some pretty strict food guidelines so when I’m away from my own kitchen it kind of goes to pot … I always feel better eating my food at my house 🙂