17. Become a vegetarian for a month
On October 1st my husband and I started a month long experiment to go meat free. One of the main reasons we decided to do it was to simply see if we were capable. Every month or so we like to challenge ourselves – last month was coffee free and this month meat.
Things we learned in our meat free month:
- Being vegetarian is not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. When beginning this journey I really thought that I wouldn’t make it the full 31 days. To my surprise it was my easier and tastier than I expected.
- We were highly aware of what we were eating. No running to the local fast food spot or our favorite restaurant. We had to think ahead and find out places we could eat that had alternatives to meat. You would be surprised how many places didn’t.
- You become aware of other food choices. You find recipes and foods you never considered.
- Some people were not so understanding. There were many that didn’t understand why we were just giving up meat for a month. There were a few that were very hostile toward our challenge and insisted that we “Weren’t going to make it”.
- You need to listen to your body. Part of why our bodies crave certain foods isn’t because we want them, but because of what is in them. Our cravings were more about our bodies needing certain elements instead of actually wanting a cheeseburger.
- I was in the mindset that a vegetarian menu was bland and boring. I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting it could be and how many different spices come into the equation.
All in all K and I were pleasantly surprised with our excursion. Even though we are going to be eating meat in the future, we look forward to adding some of the recipes and foods we came upon into our everyday lives.
