Becoming a Vegetarian

I thought I would journal my way through these next 21 days. I figure I might as well do that so that it holds me accountable and gives me a resource to refer to at the end of this journey or in a year or tooA month ago, I hosted a 10 Day Clean Eating Challenge group. Clean eating is something I think I do well, but ALWAYS know there is room for improvement. I am very fortunate enough to have friends all around me, who practice healthful living so I asked them to be apart of it. Each friend who presented their story and recipes had such diversity and conviction, that not only did the followers in the group benefit from their story, I did too.

When the group finished, there were some spin off topics discussed. One of which was the food documentary Knives over Forks. I was encouraged to watch it, so I looked it up on Netflix and soaked it all in. Here is a snip it of what this documentary discusses: (you can also view the full documentary on YouTube)

Forks Over Knives

The documentary in its entirety was an eye opener. Much like Food Inc was when it first came out. Why? Because I grew up on a dairy farm. We named our animals. We let them out into the pasture to eat and roam. We fed them whole food. We drank their milk. We ate their beef. We grew our own vegetables in a garden my grandfather maintained. That to me was what ALL farmers did because in my mind, farmers were lovers of animals, not big business capitalists. Boy was a I naive.

I found that watching Forks Over Knives, and hearing the perspective of the presenter, a dairy farmer's child himself, talk about the increased risk of cancer cases, he was convinced derived from the animal proteins we consume, I had to make some changes. Cancer was eating my family alive.

So, I thought: why not? Why not give it a try? What do I have to lose, besides a little weight? I am also ALWAYS looking for ways to improve my diet in any way. Trying new things. Sampling new foods. Not to the extreme of course, but incorporating more foods to improve my wellness inside and out. I am convinced going plant based with my eating will help do that for me. And better my odds AGAINST disease, specifically cancer. These next 21 days, I be treating this as an experiment of sorts.I will be honest in the way I proceed forward and I will be real with my journey.Coincidentally, as a Beachbody Coach, I was starting a round of the 21 Day Fix and this round I was interested in seeing if I could see this through with the support of my accountability group, but also combined with a program designed to create better eating habits in 3 weeks through portion control and exercise. I thought it was perfect timing.

So with that, on February 23rd, 2015, I started my path towards a vegetarian lifestyle. With Day #1 under my belt, I wanted to share how it went.

All my meals were 21 Day Fix Approved:

Breakfast:

Greek Yogurt mixed with flaxseed, raw almonds, raspberries, black berries and strawberries
2 mugs of coffee
8 oz of water

Snack was 5-6 baby carrots
8oz glass of water

Lunch:
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology, mixed with 2 tbs natural peanut butter, a banana and light and unsweetened almond milk.
8 oz of water

Snack: pretzels and hummus and some raw pecans and 8 oz of water

Dinner: 3 grade leaf wraps with rice, red peppers and onion and 8 oz of water



I went to be feeling very full but did not eat enough protein for the day. I was three containers short!!! So I definitely need to reevaluate that moving forward. My water was done by 2 8 oz servings too. Something to work through.

Eating more fiber and more dense nutrition is giving me that satisfied, full feeling. Looking at this list of food, doesn't seem like much, but I did feel full the entire day. (and I worked out too)

Going into Day #2, I am keeping the proteins on my mind. I am not trying to deprive myself of any nutrition by doing this. Just need to figure it out.