Vegetarian Experiment

So I am a die hard meat lover.  I love my dark meat, light meat, fish, beef-all of it.  However I am in the middle of a 21 day vegetarian experiment, while enacting my slow carb diet (no breads, grains, etc.).  I am through week 1 of 3 and the first week still allowed an occasional egg in the morning and two cans of fish throughout the week to help ween me off.  On week three I plan on inserting a few exceptions like extra grains and a few helpings of meat to introduce us again as friends without sickness ensuing.  Why am I blogging on this experiment?  Truly, for my own benefit as this second week promises to be the most difficult.

Am I going to incorporate this into my life after 21 days?  Yes and no.  Throughout the course of this experiment (now one week down) I have learned a lot more about how much energy my body needs to fuel itself and how to cook veggies so that they are filling.  I will take this new found knowledge and increase my vegetable intake from day to day with a much better understanding of how to make them filling and yummy.  However, I will not be permanently eliminating meat from my diet.  I don't consume massive amounts to begin with for financial reasons, but this process of supplementing protein in place of meat has been a little draining.  Ultimately, I drink a least two whey protein shakes a day in order to stay full.  I am also eating a tbsp of peanut butter twice a day-the second time being right before bed to curb hunger pangs.  While I eat beans more than anyone probably should already, I have had to increase the amount of beans I eat to get more protein as well-up to about half a can per meal-ish.

Seriously, I am learning so much.  I have found so many creative ways to eat veggies and other filling substitutes.  Let me first say-no tofu for me and no soy milk.  One soy latte has the same estrogen content of a birth control pill.  We don't want that and there is NO WAY that is good for you.  I actually love soymilk, but this had to go after I found that out.  So lately, I've been drinking my protein shakes with almond milk and let me just say...I LOVE it!  It adds only a subtle flavor of the almond essence (remeniscent of the extract), but adds so much more depth than water.  Of course I get the original kind, unsweetened so one serving ends up being a whopping 40 calories.  It's a win win situation!  Instead of adding honey or stevia to sweeten things, I have been using a drop of vanilla extract and cinammon.  It's delish and I will keep it from now until the end of time.

Other interesting substitutions of note?

* Sweet potato fries.  I only allow this a few times a week as well, but all it takes is cutting up a sweet potato, putting the wedges in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes and removing, then consuming.  They are filling and very satisfying!

*  Squash/Zucchini/Carrot noodles.  If you peel squash and zucchini and a few carrots, you can saute them with some onions, mushrooms, garlic, fennel, & pasta sauce and it tastes phenomenal!  You can also make a sauce with olive oil instead of red sauce.

* Yerba Matte instead of coffee- known as the creativity ilixir of all time;  It's legendary stuff and has 85 mg of caffeine versus 135 mg in coffee.  It, however, does not have the jittery, harsh after effects that coffee has, but produces a pleasant increase in clarity and energy that doesn't crash!

I've also gotten better at making salads.  Start with spinach.  Then add one or a few of the following:

Veggies:
cucumbers, carrots
corn, peas
brussel sprouts
green beans
peppers
broccoli

Then add some legumes- chickpeas are great on salads, but I also love kidney, white, & black beans!

Next add some nuts.  I use blanched almond slivers.

Sometimes I saute everything but the spinach (so it stays big) and at the last minute put the dressing in the pan to warm it up, then pour it over the salad.  YUM! You can even add fresh garlic.  My dressings usually consist of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice.

Another essential in the vegetarian diet is salsa.  I start my mornings off with spinach (frozen and warmed up) and beans mixed together in a bowl and add salsa (usually somethin' with a kick!).  I might supplement it with a protein shake to kick the morning off with a boost.  Sound strange?  To me it resembles Chipotle or Mexican food.  Anyhow...I'll be back soon to post with more interesting improvements, substitutions and findings!

Have a wonderful Valentines Day!