Time for a good ole fashioned debate, bloggers. I need some input just because I am curious, and this thought randomly popped into my mind.
Last year for Lent I gave up all forms of meat for 40 days. I don’t really know why I gave up meat….but the only other alternative to giving up meat was giving up sweets, and I think after 40 days with no sugar I would have went on a massive killing spree.
It was tough at first. The first week or so really got to me. Being a Group Exercise Instructor means alot of calories burnt, and with little to no protein going in, I was struggling big time.
At this point I began researching more and more about other protein sourced, and experimenting with different products. I was feeling sluggish and drained. I accounted it to all the workouts I was doing, when in reality, I think the lack of protein was starting to affect my health.
It was at this point when I began to find some great meat/protein alternatives to help me survive the second half of my no meat journey!
I started relying on beans, legumes, and nut butters for alot of my protein. There were also TONS of vegetarian friendly protein powders out there. Slowly but surely I was feeling more “normal” again, and the process didn’t seem so hard.
Having a store like Earth Fare, Whole Foods, or something similar that caters to a healthy lifestyle will always have plenty of vegetarian friendly items, so shopping is not difficult. It was my personal experience that even the big chain stores such as WalMart also offered a surprising number of vegetarian friendly/organic items.
Carbs became my friends, as well as vegetables. Pretty soon I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything going meatless.
It was finally time for the 40 days to be over. I had survived no meat, and felt great! I remember “splurging” the night I finished by going to the local Thai place and having shrimp stir fry.
Boy, was that a mistake.
I don’t know if my body was just not used to animal protein, or what….but I was SICK! Maybe I jumped too quickly into the meat department, but my stomach most certainly said it wanted no part of it.
I slowly began to extend my non-meat journey just for the fear of getting sick again! Shockingly, it was easier than I thought.
Pretty soon, the 40 days had turned into almost 8 months of no meat!
As it stands now, I eat meat. In Tyler terms this means chicken or turkey. I rarely EVER eat red meat, simply because I don’t crave it *and* the fat content in red meat skeeves me out!
So my question to YOU, where do you stand on the meat issue?
Are you vegetarian?
Vegan?
Carnivore?
If you are a vegetarian/vegan…why?
tramey1
