You may remember that a few months ago I attempted to change my diet and eliminate red meats as well as eat healthier and with conscience. I thought I should update what has become of that decision... you may be able to tell from the title of this entry which way I was swayed (that is if you did read my past entries on the books that influenced my decision - French Women Don't Get Fat & The Kind Diet but if not the result of my "experiment" is) eating vegetarian just didn't work for me.
For awhile I was doing really well, I had cut out red meat from my diet completely and I was flirting with vegetarian foods and soy milks and cutting out sugars and I felt a lot better (inside) from even just a few small changes I could tell a big difference in my digestion and there was even a difference in how I felt after eating - not being bloated or having indigestion or simply not having that feeling of having over eaten but still feeling an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. All together it was pretty good, the downfall of my efforts came in a few forms:
The first form was money; it is very expensive to eat with a conscience... when you buy meats that are fed and raised properly although it makes you feel better about eating it your wallet is drained every time.
Buying organic fruits and vegetables are another big expense of eating vegetarian, even without buying organic I found I spent a lot of money on my fruits and veggies and I struggled to find meal plans for them and ended up throwing a lot away at the end of the week which was not something I enjoyed doing... I struggled making meals for the family to keep them happy as well as keep my goals in mind.
The second form of my downfall was that I really missed eating meat. Having a love for cooking it was a very hard adjustment eliminating beef from my diet and recipes although I did replace a lot of my ground beef recipes with ground turkey and they turned out pretty good but for some things it just wasn't the same... and after awhile of feeling deprived I just decided it wasn't worth it
Life is short and I don't want to spend mine feeling guilty for eating a certain way or feeling deprived while surrounded by others who are enjoying their burgers and steaks and I munch on a salad... or a very disgusting "mock-sausage" *shudder*
Its not to say that I didn't come away from this without learning anything, now that I know how my body reacts to the foods I put into it I know I need to limit my red meat intake and being an animal lover I of course want to do my part in whatever way I can to support local farmers and choose meats that were raised in a healthy environment with as little hormones injected as possible.
Lucky for us Albertan's we have access to good quality beef that is properly raised on farms around our Province which helps us promote local farming as well.
I want to be a smart consumer (literally and figuratively) and I do want to be healthy; this has opened my eyes to eating with health in mind above anything else which I think is of great importance especially when it comes to making meals for my son and teaching him how to eat properly.
Wednesday I made my favorite beef soup (which you can find the recipe for tagged in my Wellbeing entries) and I enjoyed every last spoonful of it!
That was the first beef meal I made and consumed since my attempts to go vegetarian and I had no remorse for my decision.
For anyone who is vegetarian or vegan I give you my praise as anyone who lives in such a way is no doubt very strong willed.
For the rest of us who aren't (or simply just don't care about this debate and love their meats) I have but one request - eat smart, savor your food and
Bon Appetite!
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