Not to throw another rando curveball at you fine people, upon my return from Mexico,* I’m going to try being a vegetarian. My reasons are poorly thought out: I hear it’s a good thing for both your body and the environment, though I’ve done minimal research on either and pretty much am only doing it as a mini-challenge for myself.
While I’m planning to start out small and only eat vegetarian for the last two weeks of July, depending on how I feel, I can definitely extend this “trial.” I assume it will be hard, since I usually eat meat at least once a day, but I’m very excited to try new vegetables, and maybe even rethink my opinions of some old ones. (Not making any promises, but I may try some eggplant. [gasp] Sorry tomatoes, you’re just not happening.)
I’m also interested to do more research on vegetarianism and its pros and cons. If anyone has any recs on books or articles that have explored this topic without being too preachy, please send them my way! And, I have a question for you all:
Have any of you ever considered being vegetarian? And if you are (or have been) vegetarian, what made you decide to do so?
*In case I haven’t bombarded you with this already, I’ll be on a culinary tour of Los Cabos, Mex. on behalf of The Daily Meal — can’t wait to tell you guys about my trip!
I have played around with the idea of a being a vegetarian but sometimes I crave protein in meat form. I am so interested to see how your experiment goes. I hope there’s lots of tofu on the menu!
I am more or less in the same boat as you – I am always contemplating becoming a vegetarian (either for a short amount of time, or in some modified capacity), but have never really gone for it. (Unless you count that one time in 7th grade.) I would LOVE to hear about these next two weeks go for you! I really think it’s a great idea, and there’s not too much to lose, esp. given how many alternative sources of protein there are out there.
Good luck!
Generally my diet is pretty heavy on the veggies, and non-meat sources of protein, like greek yogurt, nuts, and beans . I don’t really crave meat everyday, but my body definitely responds when I go without it for too long. Sorry to be graphic, but animal carnage leaves me feeling more satisfied than a nuts and berries and quinoa salad.
Also, I have a friend who was vegetarian for most of her life. However, she was not necessarily the healthiest or most active person. Then she turns 25 and starts having reactions to Gluten. So she slowly worked meat back into diet, since a gluten-free and meat-free can leave you with minimal food options. After a month adjusting to it, she felt herself becoming stronger with a lot more energy to burn. She’s a regular rock climber now.
So in conclusion, humans have sharp incisor teeth for a reason – survival.
I am excited for you! I was a vegetarian for 2 years (more or less). I opted to go back to meat eating for 2 reasons: 1) health (gluten sensitivity) and 2) supporting farmers that I think are trying to change the system. I think vegetarianism is awesome, if you find it works for you. Good luck with your experiment!
In terms of resources, I would definitely check out the following:
1) Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer (Pro-Veggies)
2) The movies: Earthlings, Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead (Pro-Veggies)
3) Mark’s Daily Apple, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ (Pro-Meat/Eat Real Food Movement)
4) Chris Kresser, Medicine for the 21st Century http://chriskresser.com/ (Pro-Meat/Eat Real Food Movement)
5) Robb Wolf, http://robbwolf.com/ (Pro-Meat/Eat Real Food Movement)
There are more, of course, but these are the ones that helped me.
I’ve been doing the vegetarian thing for over a year now and haven’t found it to be too hard overall thus far. In my opinion, the trickiest aspect is making sure to ask about food items like soup when you eat out–even many vegetable soups have a meat base.
I’ve read that American culture overexaggerates the amount of protein people need. It’s also amazing how many alternative sources of protein are out there aside from meat. So one tip is not to be too frantic about that aspect of being a vegetarian. As long as you’re eating healthy, you’ll be fine.
While it’s not exactly about being a vegetarian, my favorite book about food is Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. He doesn’t say that you can’t have meat, but he emphasizes the importance of eating mostly plants. He has some really good messages about processed foods as well, including that when Western foods are introduced to non-Western cultures, suddenly people start ending up with Western diseases. Reading that book actually made me change the way I eat (I still eat some processed foods, but I’ve cut back significantly).
 I have loved being a vegetarian! (Yes, that’s in the past tense– I will get to that in a second.) I took it up one day just because I was tired/bored of eating meat. I really enjoyed it, especially because I like cooking with vegetables (and I’m terrible at cooking meat!) Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is a classic.Â
Then I learned about all the farming and environmental reasons to stick to local foods and/or vegetarian food. Those were pretty convincing, but recently, I’ve been less picky. I was having trouble getting enough protein. Sources of vegetarian protein aren’t always easy to access. If I’m in a bind, I’ll have some white meat. But if it were up to my tastebuds, I’d still rather have the eggplant parm over the chicken parm :)Â
I’m totally cheering you on!!!
Omg, your trip to Los Cabos sounds amazinggg! Can’t wait to hear about it! And good for you for going vegetarian. I’ve thought about it too but I can’t get myself to give up seafood! And bacon 🙂 But I’ve been eating kale like no other lately..kale chips, sauteed kale, raw kale salads…so good! Can’t wait to hear more about your adventures! 🙂
I think you will pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to cook as a vegetarian! You already know the health, environmental and animal-rights impacts, but I also think it will allow you to get (even more!) creative with your meal planning. No need to focus on having a central meat/fish “main course,” a fake meat substitute, or even tofu.
Regarding nutrients, a major reason people choose to eat meat and fish is for protein, but both products lose substantial amounts of their protein when they are cooked. With that said, most plant-based products themselves are not complete proteins, as you know. But you can have a lot of fun pairing foods to make complementary proteins (ie, rice and beans). If you’re worried about protein, I would do a tad of research on complementary foods and integrate them into your meal regimen.
Can’t wait to cook with you this week!! Bring me back a tan from Mexico, please!
I love how much feedback you got on this post, and I am also excited to hear how it goes!
I am no vegetarian myself, but I do try to keep my meat intake low. Mostly for environmental reasons, but also for health, financial, and laziness reasons–I find meat harder to work with when you’re cooking for one. And if you stick it in the freezer because you plan your meals poorly and it’s about to go bad, you have to deal with defrosting it later…ahem. Not that competent-at-life people have these problems.
Anyway, I think I average about one or two meat meals a week, and that’s worked well for me. It gives me flexibility when I have limited menu options (like when I’m someone’s guest) or when I just really crave meat.