Vegetarian for the week! Think you can do it?!?!?

For the past two years I’ve been living a pescatarian lifestyle. Meaning not eating red meat but chicken and fish are acceptable. People always jump to the conclusion that I’m vegetarian, when I say no red meat. I try to stay away from the chicken too because of the hormone and bacteria levels; which have been known to be pretty high in chicken, but sometimes when you don’t feel like cooking and you didn’t make it to the grocery store over the weekend… those chipotle chicken bowls seem like a great idea!

Recently, I told myself that I should start incorporating more plant-based meals into my regular diet and that I don’t really have to have fish to be sustain my body. Last Monday while I was relaxing after dinner, in mid-conversation with a friend, I realized I effortlessly had no fish that entire day. At that moment I decided if I could do it that day without even trying or planning, then I could do it for the entire week.

Spinach salad with olives and veggies

…And the challenge began! During the course of the week, I definitely ate more dairy than I typically do and I ate out twice, fast food. I had taco bell (Terrible! I know!) one night after getting off work and hour late and a slice of pizza the next day for lunch. The last time I ate chicken a few weeks ago, it was chicken wings. Personally, when I do cook chicken, I like to clean it in vinegar or lemon or lime or something… sometimes all of the above! I could tell this chicken wasn’t cleaned by the smell, which completely turned my stomach and I haven’t had a taste for chicken since. As for fish and seafood, I typically eat it daily, usually twice a day. I eat a variety to avoid being tired of eating it and to avoid mercury poisoning. I honestly did not feel like I was missing out on anything when it came to no fish or chicken for the past seven days. As for being a committed vegetarian, I can NOT see myself committing to no crab legs for the rest of my life. I think I could probably lead a vegetarian lifestyle having fish and seafood on occasion, as most people do with foods like steak and lamb.

You're probably wondering what the heck I ate for 7 days aren’t you?! LOL.. well I kept a log and here’s what I ate:

Monday:

* Breakfast: Smoothie – Kale, Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry, Almond milk, Flax/Chai seed powder mix

* Lunch: Salad – Spinach, Kale, 1 egg, onion, black olives, cucumber, tomato, red pepper. Dressing – olive oil and few drops of apple cider vinegar. Home-made whole-wheat roll with butter.

* Snack: Strawberry Nutri-grain bar

* Dinner: Curry chickpeas and potato (aka Chana) with Roti – Customary Trinidadian dish.

Tuesday:

* Breakfast: Smoothie

* Lunch: Salad – same as previous day ,except no kale and 2 eggs instead of 1. Pineapple chunks.

* Snack: Strawberry Nutri-gran bar

* Dinner: Black bean nachos

Wednesday:

* Breakfast: Apple & Cinnamon flavored quick oatmeal

* Lunch: Black bean nachos

* Snack: Caramel mini rice cakes

* Dinner: Taco Bell – bean burrito, triple layer nachos ( refried beans, “red” sauce, cheese)

Thursday:

* Breakfast: Oatmeal

* Lunch: Pizza – toppings were mushroom and spinach

* Dinner: Jasmine rice, spinach and kale (cooked and seasoned just right! It was so good!), sliced cucumber – marinated in a dash of soy sauce, diced onions and red peppers

Friday:

* Breakfast: Oatmeal

* Lunch: Spinach and Kale over rice

* Dinner: Caribbean veggie platter – cabbage, rice and peas, plantain and fried festival ( ate off the platter twice

Saturday:

* Breakfast: Oatmeal Banana Breakfast cookies

* Lunch: skipped lunch

* Dinner: Mashed sweet potato, lentil peas with mushroom, asparagus, mac and cheese, cornbread muffin

Sunday:

* Breakfast: skipped breakfast

* Lunch/dinner: Left overs - Mashed sweet potato, lentil peas with mushroom, asparagus, mac and cheese, cornbread muffin

Let me tell you about those banana oatmeal cookies … by Sunday when I pulled them out the fridge, I was just completely over the texture and the sweet banana smell so I threw them out. Someone at work had them, I didn’t taste the cookies but she told me they were just 3 ingredient cookies with no flour; which meant they were healthy and easy to make. I thought banana and chocolate sound really good together so I got some chocolate chips and headed home to search online for the recipe. There were lots of recipe variations, some had suggestions of adding nuts, chocolate even peanut butter. They tasted decent warm but that may have just been the chocolate I was craving. If you’re not a texture person, the banana oatmeal cookies are probably not a good option for you. I definitely should have eaten breakfast on Sunday but I was lounging around and when I finally was ready to eat, I had to rush out the door.

This was a great experience. I feel lighter and healthier. I will tell you though that you will need to plan your meals out to know which types of food will sustain your body. I recall the first time I tried being vegetarian. I was eighteen and when and bought all the fruit I loved. I had my lunch and snacks packed and ready for work the next morning. I believe I ended up leaving work early because I was so shaky. No matter how often or how much fruit I ate, fruit alone was simply not enough to sustain my body.

Have you tried being vegetarian? What was it like? Did you adopt the lifestyle? Please feel free to leave a comment!