Life as a vegetarian for 2 days shy of 2 weeks
I'm pathetic- so much for trying to stay off meat for a month. I almost made it two weeks without any meat and . . I crumbled. Yesterday I hit a wall. I thought I'd been eating enough protein, made a smoothie with peanut butter and cashews. Ate wild rice, beans. It wasn't enough. I drove around in a stupor and all I could think about was how hungry I was. I stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant and bought some spring rolls with shrimp. That satisfied for me for awhile, but an hour later I was hungry again.
I ate some bread with peanut butter when I arrived home and had some fruit too.
I've been making these smoothies with yummy stuff, this one was REALLY good. I made it with cashews, dates, soy milk, sea salt, a bananna, and some raw sugar.
Today I thought maybe the worst was over. I blended Tofu into my smoothie, ate more nuts, etc. Around 2 o'clock I was feeling strange. Felt a little zombie like, picture one of those people in Night of the Living Dead. Am I destined to wander this earth like a zombie in search for flesh and blood to devour? Am I destined to be a carnivore? It's little discouraging. Around 5 'o clock I ran out the door and to the co-op where I got a container of (certified humane) chicken and pork cooked up in a savory sauce and I downed the thing. About half an hour later I felt back to normal.
I feel a little sad. Here's the thing. I need to know more about what to REPLACE the meat with before I just go COLD TURKEY (no pun intended.) Tonight my roommate suggested Quinoa (pronounced Keen Wah) She said it's very high in protein. And that the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids, esp the amino acid lysine. Here's some nutritional info about Quinoa.
from the PETA Website.I'm not sure I want to be a vegetarian, but I'm willing to give it another shot. There is a great deal of research that this lifestyle leads to longer-term health... lower risk of heart disease and cancer.
But I want to do my research, buy the right kinds of food and try this again.
Here's a photo of me cooking a lobster in Maine.
I must confess, I'm coming to the conclusion that I may be one of those people who want to "be kind to animals while they are alive, then eat them when they are dead."
The truth is the other reason I'd rather not give up meat is because it tastes soo good. I can't imagine giving up crab, lobster, scallops or oysters. There's nothing like a perfectly cooked pork chop, a savory lamb shank that falls off the bone or a rack of ribs slow-cooked, spicy and sweet and I don't know if I want to live without that smell of roast cooking in the crock pot with onions, potatoes and carrots. Don't know if I want to give that up just yet.
2 comments:
Soy beans are the vegtable that contains the most protien and there are several meat-like soy products on the market, but I'm unsure how much soy it's healthy have in your diet because because it has estrogen simulators. In other words it can affect your body's hormone production so when I make smoothies, I use flavorless protein powder made from whey which provides much more protein than yogurt or tofu (however, it is a milk product so I don't know if you'd have allergy problems- they also sell egg protein).
Because lately I am pregnant and breastfeeding a lot these days, soy products are REALLY not advised for me so another great vegetal protein is lentils. Like quinoa and beans, lentils are also a complete protein AND they are number two on the list right after soy beans for protein (quinoa is the highest ranking GRAIN for protein). Many people don't know what to do with lentils besides make soup, but I can help you with that one. Another nice thing is that although lentils are similiar to beans in texture, they don't often have the same intestinal affects that beans do on many people.
Of course that brings me to our third source of vegetal protein: beans. Beans are so versatile. I love a white bean puree served with salmon or as a side to anything mediterranean. Black beans are my favorite when adding a southwestern touch, and hummus is a great snack or dip with other veggies. Another tip: if eaten regularly, your body will accustom to bean fiber.
The last thing I wanted to tell you my foodie friend is to take a multivitamin. Your meatless funk may have had to do with an absence of minerals like zinc in addition to your protein need.
p.s. When you get back on the wagon, wheck out my curried cauliflower and asparagus salad recipes at http://fitmommylifestyle.blogspot.com/ they are full one-pot vegetarian meals.
COOL BEANS! thanks much for the great advice. I'll have to start ripping out the lentils.
Are you pregnant again???
Can you recommend a good vegetarian cookbook?? I've got one called "Vegetable Dishes I Can't live without," which is great, but it doesn't do much with grains or beans.
I'll check out your other blog!
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