The Boston Vegetarian Society is a great resource to learn How to Go Vegetarian or Vegan. It’s my starting point for these 5 days of vegetarian eating and food information.
Just because I’m challenging myself to eat like a vegetarian for a week doesn’t mean I can’t treat myself. My indulgent oats contained:
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of oatmeal
- 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of White Chocolate Vanilla hot chocolate mix
- 10 mini-marshmallows
- dark chocolate chips
*Afternoon Edit* I received a helpful e-mail letting me know that marshmallows aren’t vegetarian because they contain gelatin. (I’ve since learned that jello isn’t vegetarian either) Since I’m new at this whole animal-free thing, my challenge is only to stay away from eating meat (all types)/fish/eggs for 5 days. The goal of the challenge was to learn more about the food industry…and so far I’ve already got lots of consider.
I can tell that I’ll be able to write a great reflection post over the weekend!
I hit my first snag in the Vegetarian Challenge when lunch time rolled around. Promising to pack fun lunches was a bad idea after spending the weekend in Saratoga. When I got home last night, I was too lazy to go grocery shopping.
So while I had a tasty vegetarian lunch, I am a bit ashamed to admit that I bought it at the cafe next door. I’m sure you guys will forgive me! 
This vegetarian panini contained a veggie burger, spinach, caramelized onions, and provolone. Check out the gorgeous panini grill marks!
Here’s a picture of my foam roller. My aunt had asked to see what it looked like. This guy came in handy last night, to help ease my glute muscles after a long run and then sitting in the car for 3 hours. I prefer the black foam rollers at the gym, but my squishier red version is great to use at home.
Back to the main topic… I’m on Day #1 of my Vegetarian Challenge.
I need a class in Vegetarian 101
(edited version of the article from goveg.com)
When it comes to vegetarianism, the number one question on most meat-eaters’ minds is, “What do you eat?” The answer: Anything we want! There are vegetarian alternatives to almost any animal food, from soy sausages and “Fib Ribs” to Tofurky jerky and mock lobster. Vegetarian-friendly menus are sprouting up everywhere. There are fantastic alternatives to every dairy product you can imagine.
Every year in the U.S., more than 27 billion animals are slaughtered for food. Raising animals on factory farms is cruel and ecologically devastating. Eating animals is bad for our health, leading directly to many diseases and illnesses, including heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. In response to animal welfare, health, and ecological concerns, compassionate people everywhere are adopting a vegetarian diet.
(Source)
Adopt a Vegetarian Diet… For Animals
Animals on factory farms are treated like meat, milk, and egg machines. By switching to a vegetarian diet, you can save more than 100 animals a year from this misery. I want to learn more about how animals benefit from my vegetarian diet.
One suggestion: If you plan to make the transition to a vegetarian diet gradually, the most important foods to cut out of your diet first are bird flesh and eggs. While many people think that “red meat” and dairy products should be the first to go, this isn’t the case. By cutting bird flesh from your diet, you’ll save many more animals. Because chickens are so small, the average meat-eater is responsible for the deaths of many more chickens than cows. Plus, chickens and turkeys exploited by the meat and egg industries are the most abused animals commonly used for food.
Adopt a Vegetarian Diet… For Your Health
Some of the leading killers in America today, including heart disease, cancer, obesity, and strokes, are directly linked to meat-based diets. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America today, and it is caused by the build-up of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products in our arteries. Other health problems tied to clogged arteries, like poor circulation and atherosclerotic strokes, can be virtually eliminated with a vegan diet.
Vegans are approximately one-ninth as likely to be obese as meat-eaters and have a cancer rate that is only 40 percent that of meat-eaters. People who consume animal products are also at increased risk for many other illnesses, including strokes, obesity, osteoporosis, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, multiple allergies, diabetes, and food poisoning. I want to learn more about the health benefits of my vegetarian diet.
Adopt a Vegetarian Diet… For the Environment
America’s meat addiction is poisoning and depleting our potable water, arable land, and clean air. More than half of the water used in the United States today goes to animal agriculture, and since farmed animals produce 130 times more excrement than the human population, the run-off from their waste is fouling our waterways. Animal excrement emits gases, such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, that poison the air around farms, as well as methane and nitrous oxide, which are major contributors to global warming. Forests are being bulldozed to make more room for factory farms and feed crops to feed farmed animals, and this destruction causes soil erosion and contributes to species extinction and habitat loss. Raising animals for food also requires massive amounts of food and raw materials. I want to learn more about how my vegetarian diet will help the environment.
*If you practice a type of vegetarianism or you’re a vegan, what are your reasons for doing so?*
COMMENTS
27 Comments
1. katie
February 22nd, 2010 11:29 AM
this is soo interesting girl! thanks for sharing. ive never considered going vegetarian but it would be fun for like a day!
those oats look SO good-those are decadent for sure!
2. Carol
February 22nd, 2010 11:36 AM
Melissa, thanks for the photo of the foam roller!!I really enjoyed our 6 mile run yesterday in scenic Saratoga Springs.
3. Jessica @ How Sweet
February 22nd, 2010 12:08 PM
Since I am not really a fan of meat right now, I do eat a mostly vegetarian diet. But, it consists of lots of cheeeese!
4. Tracey
February 22nd, 2010 12:11 PM
That sandwich looks so good. I know what I’m making my husband and I for dinner tonight!
Oh wait, we have dinner reservations tonight. I will make the sandwich tomorrow. YUM!
5. Emily
February 22nd, 2010 12:14 PM
Hey there, thanks so much for the great information. Originally, my vegetarianism started merely based upon my food preferences. I really didn’t like cooking or looking at meat and so I wasn’t sure why I was eating it. I never enjoyed steak or pork chops, and mostly stuck to chicken or turkey 2-3 days a week. Eventually, I just stopped eating meat altogether. More recently, my views regarding sustainable eating and animal treatment have solidified my decision. The amount of resources put in to producing such an abundance of meat is extraordinary. That said, I have no problem with my meat eater friends, but do recommend shopping as locally as possible for all foods, not just meat.
6. Tina
February 22nd, 2010 12:20 PM
This is a cool post because I like how you share the various reasons for going vegetarian. I don’t know if I would ever go full on vegetarian, but I have been cutting meat out of some meals.
7. MelissaNibbles
February 22nd, 2010 12:23 PM
I’m not a huge fan of meat replacements. I prefer homemade veggie burgers, various beans, portobella mushrooms, tofu, and eggplant as meat substitutes. Good luck the rest of the week
8. Neiko
February 22nd, 2010 12:27 PM
Thanks for the vegetarian food pyramid!!! Nice to see what primarily vegetarians should/do eat! And btw those oats!! YUM!!! Marshmallows, white choco cocoa mix, and choco chips!! Shoot I wanna try that and im not even a vegetarian!!!
9. Caitlin @ Right Foot Forward
February 22nd, 2010 12:39 PM
Thanks for all of the interesting information on going vegetarian. I can’t wait to hear your opinions at the end of the challenge!
10. joy
February 22nd, 2010 12:43 PM
I am a vegetarian because I can’t tolerate animal proteins…
11. Lauren @ Eater not a runner
February 22nd, 2010 01:07 PM
I am trying to eat more vegetarian but will probably never get rid of meat altogether!
12. Julie
February 22nd, 2010 01:11 PM
My reason for not eating meat is the way the animals are treated, both before and after slaughter. It’s disgusting.
Good luck with your challange!
13. Gabriela @ Une Vie Saine
February 22nd, 2010 01:37 PM
Glad you’ve been successful so far! I’m a vegetarian who eats mostly vegan at home. I do it largely out of personal preference, since I’ve never been much of a meat eater, but I also do it because I don’t agree with the way many farm animals are treated. I’m not morally opposed to eating animals or their products, but I do think they should be treated humanely in the process! Have a great Monday!
14. Kelly
February 22nd, 2010 01:38 PM
What a great post!!!
15. chocolatepickle
February 22nd, 2010 01:58 PM
I could never go vegetarian, but I don’t eat meat every day either….I do try to eat grass fed beef when possible and buy antibiotic free meat if I can! Your panina looks amazing! Something about grill marks just makes a sandwich taste better doesn’t it?!
16. Andrea @ Run, Eat, Date, Sleep
February 22nd, 2010 02:07 PM
Great post! I’ve been trying to eat veg for quite a while now because I noticed that animal protein can make me very sick.
The oatmeal with choco chips looks delicious!!!
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18. Becky
February 22nd, 2010 04:15 PM
Great post to kick off the challenge! Very informative. I’m enjoying it so far, but not loving all of the restaurant options.
19. Karissa @ CardioFoodie
February 22nd, 2010 04:19 PM
Loved the information on your challenge.
20. Kelly
February 22nd, 2010 05:00 PM
I definitely hear you about getting back late last night and wanting nothing to do with grocery shopping. I was definitely scraping by this morning!
I think its awesome that you are challenging yourself to be a vegetarian for a week! Plus it’s great to learn all this information you are sharing. I have to say I’m not a HUGE believer about a vegetarian necessarily being a healthy diet. I know studies have shown that people who are vegan are more likely to be healthy, but don’t you think that the type of person who would CHOOSE to be vegan may also be more concerned about their health than say…the guy who buys mcdonalds 3 days a week? I think if you picked people who were truly concerned about their health and healthy eaters and measured them against each other, you may not see such a big difference. Does that make sense? I don’t eat red meat really ever, but I think my occasional chicken and relatively frequent fish habit is probably more healthy than unhealthy, for me anyway. That being said, there are certainly environmental concerns and concerns for the animals that I can definitely see. Thanks for teaching us all about this!
21. Melinda
February 22nd, 2010 06:26 PM
Haha, glad someone told you about the marshmallows and the gelatin, cause that was the first thing I though until I read further. Yep, no poptarts, no frosted mini wheats and say no to some seemlingly vegetarian frizen meals, cause they all contain gelatin. Kosher gelatin, despite some belief, is from animal source, but in the bone drying process is drieed so thoroughly that it is no longer considered a meat product and can be used with dairy items. Anywho, good luck on the vegetarian diet for these few days.
22. Erica @ Fashion meets Food
February 22nd, 2010 06:50 PM
Love this post so much! I have never been interested in going vegetarian, but this was really interesting for me
23. Katharine
February 22nd, 2010 09:29 PM
Kudos to you for doing this! It sounds like it’s going to be a challenging and educational experience. And most likely give you an opportunity to see how this type of eating affects your body – which is always interesting!
24. Tiffany
February 22nd, 2010 10:52 PM
Thanks for the link to the Boston Vegetarian Society–very helpful info on there! I gave up meat (except fish) for Lent just to see if I could do it and expand my cooking skills. I get in ruts sometimes making the same thing over and over again and easily get sick of chicken, pork, meat.
Now that I know there is something called Fib Ribs I need to try them!!
25. Tasha - The Clean Eating Mama
February 23rd, 2010 02:24 AM
I’m vegetarian, 99% vegan – I have always wanted to live a vegan lifestyle but it has taken me a long time to get there. I have taken the time to research and experiment as I cannot just jump into a new lifestyle change with nothing to help push me.
I choose this for both my health and well beings of animals. I do still eat dairy, mostly just cheese, but I eat organic and even better if it is made locally.
PS – gelatin is pretty nasty. Ground bones – yuck!
26. Jenna Z.
February 23rd, 2010 12:40 PM
To Melinda-check the ingredients of some Kosher gelatins, I buy a brand that is made with Agar Agar (seaweed) and is vegan. It would NOT be thanksgiving without our traditional lime gelatin salad!
Growing up on a farm, slaughtering rabbits and chickens was routine and cows and sheep seasonal. But when I was around 12 I actually looked at us and what we were doing, I couldn’t help but think it was wrong. I remember the exact moment, holding a headless chicken that I was about to put through the plucker and thinking “This was just alive, I fed it and felt it’s feathers and now it’s dead and disgusting and it will never be alive again.” In junior high, I started researching the environmental benefits (mostly for school reports) and finally took the plunge into vegetarianism. After I stopped eating meat, I lost a lot of weight and started to see some of the health benefits but it wasn’t until after college that I actually started eating a HEALTHY vegetarian diet. Growing up, we ate a lot of meat, at every meal and I do still want that comfort food feeling. So sometimes I do make (or buy, less frequently) meat substitutes like burgers and chicken patties. But mainly I make do with things like the “ham” and beans I made the other day:
http://corgipants.blogspot.com/2010/02/weight-loss-wednesday.html
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