Well.
I went vegetarian (ahem, pescatarian) for 37 days. I started the Saturday after Ash Wednesday and went right up through Easter Sunday with only one accidental slip (the vegetable soup I got was made with chicken broth and I didn’t realize that until halfway through it!).
And ok, I have to be honest – I went right up through Easter Sunday in Nova Scotia (meaning, I gave in at 9pm on Saturday night because I was at Solera and my roommate wanted to split the Ham and Cheese Croquettes and hey, it was midnight somewhere…). But I vote that this still counts as having made it through Lent.
The toughest parts?
- avoiding prepared food that was made with meat, like bacon on a salad at a restaurant or the chicken broth thing
- the last week. I got SO CLOSE to the finish line and was exposed to the most amazing looking kabobs I’d ever seen (and despite not missing red meat at all for the whole time, I wanted those!), bacon at brunch at my parents’ house, and the thought of baseball season immediately conjures up tastes and smells of Dome dogs with beers.
But, I did make it! I made it the entire Lent Season (minus those three initial days while I was mulling it over), and I think that the benefits far outweighed the challenges. For instance:
- I’ve lost 10 lbs since January 1st, and I attribute a good part of this to the absence of meat from my diet over the last 1+ month.
- Overall, I feel REALLY great. I feel lighter, my clothes fit better, and I don’t have that “food coma” feeling after eating as much (except when I go overboard on pasta dishes…).
So my first carnivorous bite was two bites of the croquettes at Solera on Saturday night. Delicious, but then, it’s mostly cheese and cheese is ALWAYS delicious.
I was a little nervous that my body would have a tough time adjusting to meat in my diet again, and planned to reintroduce it slowly. I had a turkey wrap for lunch on Sunday and felt just fine. However, the two very small pieces of ham I had a few hours later at Easter dinner made me feel like absolute crap, so I think my body prefers veggies and seafood to fatty meat. Go figure, right?
I’d been debating how this would impact me long-term. Would I continue going meatless? Would I be a flexitarian? I didn’t miss red meat at all (still don’t, honestly) so I think that’s going to be an easy one to keep cut out or at least scaled waaaaay back. I found a substitute for chicken in the form of Morningstar Chik’n (nuggests or patties, both are good), so I’ll probably even scale back the poultry intake. I think for now at least I’m going to keep my meat intake really low seeing as how good and healthy I’ve felt not having it in my diet.
So there’s that! I proved that I am capable of some level of self-control (there were doubters), and also found another way to keep up with the whole Healthy Lifestyle goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year.
Mission: Accomplished!
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I'm stoked for you! Being mindful of what you eat, regardless of whether meat is included or not, is a good thing.
If it helps, I can only usually stomach lean meats. Anything overly greasy or fatty sits like a brick and makes me pretty miserable.
go you! i don’t go out of my way to avoid meat but i don’t crave red meat very often. i eat morning star/boca chick’n products. i do however eat deli turkey lunch meat a lot.
how awesome 10lbs!!!
Congrats, I knew you would pull through. I really cut back on my meat intake when I decided I needed to drop a few pounds last year and couldn’t really tell the difference. I don’t think I could ever go as far as you did though, I love my burgers, sausage, and chicken too much.
Heavy and salty meats, like ham, don’t often sit well with me either. I need to go light on them when I eat them.
I had a bar burger before the Wild game and barely an hour later it felt like lead in my stomach. It’s tough to digest. When you give your body reason not to, a re-introduction can be painful.
I fully believe your body is very good at telling you what it wants and how much of it you should eat. The hard part is learning how to listen. I think you’re on the right track! Congrats!
Way to go!!!! This is awesome!
i’m so proud of you!! ten pounds is awesome. i gave up almost all meat years ago and my body seriously rejects it now. just do what makes you feel good pretty girl! xoxo
As I’ve said before, this is really impressive. Very inspirational for the girl who wants to do this as one of her monthly challenges. I’m thinking May might be my no-meat month! Keep us updated on how this continues now that you’re not Lented into doing it!
I am SO proud of you, love!
I can’t believe you lost 10 lbs!! That’s actually how my husband became a vegetarian – to lose weight.
Go you – you are awesome.
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