To the (possible) joy of animal lovers and vegetarians everywhere, I went vegetarian this week, and possibly for a good while after that! I have been trying to better my life in many ways, and one of them is eating well. While I do eat pretty well, I have always toyed with the option of going vegetarian or vegan. After talking to a girl on my floor about her being vegan on a college campus, I decided that would be a little bit too big of a task to take on (also, almond milk chai lattes are, unfortunately, gross). Let me take you on a little description of my veggie tales of the week.
For full disclosure, I accidentally ate one bite of chicken during dinner on Monday night. I don't regret it, though, because the chicken bayou pasta is the best food option at the buffet and I was not about to miss out on it. Now that I have revealed that, I believe we can move on.
I am the kind of person who wishes they were vegan but will probably never actually do it, and I hope I'm not alone in that. I recently decided that as an animal lover and self-proclaimed person-who-wants-to-be-healthier, I should finally make the move into vegetarianism. This week was my trial period, and I plan to continue on with it because I have actually become a big fan of not eating meat.
Nothing about going vegetarian seemed like a significant change from my normal life and eating habits. I was surprised by that because when I'm at school, I find myself eating some sort of meat for dinner every day. That was actually one of the reasons that I wanted to change up my eating habits- it seemed like I was eating way more meat than usual and I felt bad about it. I wasn't necessarily more tired or lethargic because of my meat eating habits, but I did feel sorry for all of the chickens and cows I was supporting the deaths of.
Lucky for me, the buffets on campus offer at least one vegetarian option at every meal, so I just picked that one each time. I also usually had the soup, which they also often have a vegetarian option of, so that I could have more protein since many of them have beans. I do question how annoying it will be when I'm not at school to make sure that I'm both not eating meat and still getting enough nutrients. I'm not too worried about it, though.
Overall, I did feel a bit more energetic this week, and I felt better about myself morally because I wasn't eating meat. If you're a big animal lover like me and you still eat meat, it might be time to change your ways. If not for the animals, maybe for the environment: every year, at least 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of animal agriculture. Or, maybe even for your own personal health: there are serious concerns out there, with actual research backing it, of the effects of meat on giving people cancer.
If you think that vegetarianism (or even veganism if you're stronger than I am) is for you, even if it's just for a week or so, check out this helpful Huffington Post article that offers thirty reasons and thirty ways to go vegetarian!
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| Courtesy of We Are IU |
I am the kind of person who wishes they were vegan but will probably never actually do it, and I hope I'm not alone in that. I recently decided that as an animal lover and self-proclaimed person-who-wants-to-be-healthier, I should finally make the move into vegetarianism. This week was my trial period, and I plan to continue on with it because I have actually become a big fan of not eating meat.
Nothing about going vegetarian seemed like a significant change from my normal life and eating habits. I was surprised by that because when I'm at school, I find myself eating some sort of meat for dinner every day. That was actually one of the reasons that I wanted to change up my eating habits- it seemed like I was eating way more meat than usual and I felt bad about it. I wasn't necessarily more tired or lethargic because of my meat eating habits, but I did feel sorry for all of the chickens and cows I was supporting the deaths of.
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| Courtesy of TIME |
Lucky for me, the buffets on campus offer at least one vegetarian option at every meal, so I just picked that one each time. I also usually had the soup, which they also often have a vegetarian option of, so that I could have more protein since many of them have beans. I do question how annoying it will be when I'm not at school to make sure that I'm both not eating meat and still getting enough nutrients. I'm not too worried about it, though.
Overall, I did feel a bit more energetic this week, and I felt better about myself morally because I wasn't eating meat. If you're a big animal lover like me and you still eat meat, it might be time to change your ways. If not for the animals, maybe for the environment: every year, at least 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of animal agriculture. Or, maybe even for your own personal health: there are serious concerns out there, with actual research backing it, of the effects of meat on giving people cancer.
If you think that vegetarianism (or even veganism if you're stronger than I am) is for you, even if it's just for a week or so, check out this helpful Huffington Post article that offers thirty reasons and thirty ways to go vegetarian!
I love that you tried out vegetarianism for a week! I have been (mostly) vegan since the new year and I do admit it is hard sometimes with college options so I commend you that is awesome! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI understand the challenge of trying to be a vegetarian. My mother is a vegan so at home I would never eat meat unless I went to a family members house. So, for me trying to maintain that strict diet here on campus is very hard, but I am still managing to make it through. Its awesome to hear that you are changing your eating happens of eating meat to finding other options. I do not know if I would consider myself a vegetarian, but I think I am because I do not eat meet, but I still do consume of other animal products. I believe that you can make this transition. Also, becoming a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to give up all the things you eat. P.s. I still eat ice cream and I enjoy every once of it.
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