I have been an on-and-off vegetarian for most of my life. I stopped eating meat at age 11 when I learned that my next-door neighbors were raising bunnies to slaughter and eat! Bunnies are pets; they can’t be eaten! I never did tell my neighbors that they inspired me to become a vegetarian.
Since then, I’ve been a vegetarian for about 1/3 of my adult life. I am a strong proponent of moderation. Being a sometimes a vegetarian is better than a never vegetarian, and if everyone ate vegetarian food just some the time, the would would be a much better place.
People aren’t all fueled the same, and some folks are more predisposed to vegetarian than others. I have a few negative consequences when I’m vegetarian for an extended period of time: 1. my mind is more vacant, 2. I have extreme cravings for chicken, 3. I’m hungry all the time! I know I could overcome these issues with a balanced diet, but let’s be honest, I don’t always eat a balanced diet.
Still, I know it’s better for the environment, and today, I decided to be a vegan for the day. My goal is to be a vegetarian for one day each week, and 100% vegan for another day each week. Please note: I am still recovering from a half-marathon I ran 3 days ago, so I’m eating a lot of food. Also, I want to be vegan today without buying extra food. I’m just eating what’s readily available.
Today’s food log:
- Black coffee.
- Toast with peanut butter and orange marmalade.
- Vitamin C and women’s multivitamin (I skipped my fish oil supplement but later discovered there’s haddock in my women’s multivitamin.)
- Vega protein shake mixed with water (tastes like pea soup with stevia).
- Lunch: a veggie burger, pineapple, and mixed veggies.
- Snacks at work: coffee and peanuts. But then, Christmas snacks like cupcakes, cookies and more kept piling in… I finally gave in and ate just one little piece of 60% dark Ghirardelli chocolate. It has “milk fat” in it, but I’m going to call it an honorary vegan chocolate.
- Someone sent our work seven kinds of praline pecans. Two of the seven appear to be vegan, if I read the ingredients correctly. I hope I ate the correct two.
- Green tea. I’ve also decided I’m going to detox and drink less alcohol during the holidays. So part of this vegan experiment will be not drinking very much alcohol.
- Dinner: rice and beans and whole wheat toast with fig jelly (no butter.)
- A small bowl of popcorn (made with olive oil) before bed.
This Vega protein powder was a hand-me-down from some friends.
When I mixed it with water, it tasted like thick cold pea soup with a stevia aftertaste. Nope, not good, but it has high protein so I’ll be choking it down.
I get these veggie burgers at Aldi’s. They are inexpensive and good. I don’t think Impossible or Beyond veggie burgers taste that much better than old-school veggie burgers, but they are trendy. That is fine — this trend is encouraging people to eat less meat! Link to article about Impossible Burgers.
These showed up at the office, on my vegan day.
I love peanuts. I might eat all of these peanuts at work tomorrow.