Aaaaand I'm back! It's been a few days since I've blogged(oops... sorry guys!) but I'm still trying to make the switch to vegetarianism and so far it's going pretty well. I'll admit it, I did break down and eat chicken today, but other than that, I've done pretty well cutting meat out of my diet. While I am cutting meat out basically cold turkey, don't feel that you have to if you want to try becoming a vegetarian, because you totally don't have to. It's completely okay to cut meat out little by little, and it's probably a lot easier. I chose to cut meat out all at once mostly because the only meat I eat( or ate) on a regular basis is chicken, so there weren't really many varieties of meat to cut out. Overall, the decision to change my eating habits has still been a good one. One thing I will say, though, is that not eating meat does require a bit more prep and planning. Rather than getting up and just throwing whatever I could find in the kitchen in my lunchbox to take to school, now I have to do more planning ahead and do most of my prep/packing the night before, which isn't a bad thing because it helps make my mornings less hectic. I also do a lot more prep for my dinner meals, which kind of sucks because instead of eating whatever my family is eating, I'm usually making my own meal because my family is not going vegetarian, which is totally fine, but I slightly miss not having to make my own dinner... oh well. It's good practice for the future, right? (Side note: I didn't have to make my own dinner tonight! Yay for veggie stir fry!)
As far as diabetes goes, I'm noticing that I'm having a few more lows, but nothing huge or horrible. Cutting meat out of your diet takes some getting used to, both for you and your body, and I'm still in the adjusting phase and that's okay.
One thing I would stress about cutting meat out of your diet is stay healthy! It's easy to not eat meat and still eat unhealthy foods. Chips don't have meat in them, ice cream doesn't have meat in it, chocolate doesn't have meat in it... you get the point! Make sure you're eating lots of fruits and veggies and complex carbs and getting protein. People ask vegetarians/vegans all the time, "where do you get your protein?" but it's because meat is such an easy way to get protein and taking that away can have us confused as to where to get the protein we need from. Depending on whether you're vegan or just vegetarian, eggs and dairy can still help you get protein. Soy is an incredible source of protein, as is anything that's made from soy(tofu, for example.) Although it's not incredibly healthy, peanut butter can be a good source of protein if you're in a pinch. Protein shakes can also help you get protein in when you're in a rush or just don't have the time to think about where you're getting your protein from. To help you guys, here's a list of meatless protein sources that I found online that's helped me(and this isn't a comprehensive list and there are definitely more sources of protein out there) http://www.refinery29.com/greatist/89?crlt.pid=camp.ZLJJQv2czW5L#slide.
If I haven't said it before on here, another thing I would recommend to help make the transition easier is finding new, vegetarian recipes and trying them! Don't be afraid to try new things! You're cutting out something that seems to be a huge dietary staple for most Americans and you need something to replace it with. You could just eat salads all day everyday, but that would get boring and you probably wouldn't be getting all the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs and it is super, super important to make sure that you are doing that. Vegetarians can be some of the healthiest people, but you have to take the proper measures to do that. So basically, just try new things and don't deprive your body of the things it needs! One of the best places( at least from my experience) to find new recipes has been Pinterest! Pinterest has been a very helpful tool in making the transition and if you don't have a Pinterest account, I would highly recommend making one. You can type in vegetarian recipes and have thousands of recipes at your fingertips that you can "pin" and save for future reference. It's awesome and has definitely been a great help to me!
Well, folks, that's about all I have for today. Ultimately, yes, I did cave and eat meat today, but ya know what? That's okay. None of us are perfect, especially not in the very early beginning of things. The way I look at it, I can either look at eating meat today as a reason to give up vegetarianism or as a mistake that only makes me human, and I choose the second one. Tomorrow's a new, meat free day and it'll all be okay/
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