My challenge for February was to get a monthly dose of being
pescatarian (vegetarian + fish). I eat meatless almost every day for lunch and several
times a week for dinner and always wondered what it would be like to do it full
time. On top of that, Jon and I both got blood tests results back in January and
were instructed to eat less red meat, so this seemed like the perfect challenge
for February.
So, what did I do? I ate only vegetarian (not vegan) and
fish in February. I had to think ahead/out of the box for cooking and ordering food,
but overall it wasn’t that bad. My only cheats happened a couple times when
friends graciously hosted us for dinner. I wasn’t going to abstain from the
delicious, heartfelt meals they cooked for us - that would be rude!
What happened during this month?:
· -I craved sugar/sweets. I’d already been having
issues with hypoglycemia for a couple months - this means I don’t have enough
blood sugar, which can lead to dizziness/weakness/heightened anxiety. I think changing
up my diet made my blood sugar even lower. Since your body generally craves
what it needs, and I craved sweets this
month. I don’t usually have a sweet tooth, so people took notice. Someone would
walk by at work and say “Why is there a huge bag of gummy bears on your desk,
you never eat those?” Don’t judge me, Karen, just keep on walking!
· -A common benefit associated with this diet is an
increase in energy. I will say that this month my energy felt steadier and more
balanced. I didn’t have huge bouts of energy that would crash, and I didn’t
have the usual 3pm work day yawns.
· -I was much more adventurous when cooking and
ordering food. I had a blast trying new recipes and picking out food at restaurants.
I really kicked myself for not taking more pictures of all of this delicious things
I ate, but here are some of my favorite new recipes I tried:
o
Lentil, potato, and kale soup: https://www.hummusapien.com/hearty-lentil-kale-potato-soup/
We ate a lot of soup this month!
o Buffalo Cauliflower: https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/buffalo-cauliflower-bites/
o
This impossible burger - which can be found at
many restaurants. I don’t know how they do it; it’s vegetarian but looks and
tastes just like meat. What is this delicious witchcraft?
·
-I got Mangry
– yes this is another word I made up. It’s like hangry but specifically
when you’re hungry for meat. #mangry There were atleast a couple times that Jon would
say, “you’re cranky, I think you need meat”. While I wouldn’t admit it at the
time, 10/10 I think he was right.
· -When I do eat meat, I am pickier about the
quality of meat that I’m eating. Once you remove it for a while, you become
more aware of and can taste the difference between lower and higher meats. You are what you eat, so this has helped
me to prioritize what I put into my body. Except
for Taco Bell, because that salty, savory mystery meat is delicious and exempt
from any type of standards I give myself.
I won’t lie, this month wasn’t the easiest, but it was intriguing.
I think this diet is very doable, but it will require a
conscious effort to substitute the right foods and nutrients if you want to do
it right. We succeeded in our goal to
eat more fish this month. We also ate a lot of eggs, tofu, and probably 60 lbs of lentils. Overall, I still value eating meatless and will do it more often, but
it turns out that a strict pescatarian diet does not spark joy for me (or whatever the kids are saying these days).
But to my vegetarian and pescatarian friends: I 100% respect you,
I 100% support you, and I eat with you (60% of the time). The most important thing for us all is to continuously try new things and
find what's best for your body.
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