Why, How, and What I learned when I went Vegetarian for a Month

Hi everyone! I recently challenged myself to live a vegetarian lifestyle for the month of February. In case anyone may be interested in trying the same thing I wanted to share a little bit about my experience, why I did it, what I ate, and anything takeaways or lessons I learned.

WHY I WENT VEGETARIAN 

I try to challenge myself to something each month. Whether it's increasing my water intake to trying to workout a certain amount each day, or in this case, modifying what I ate. I have never really focused on decreasing my intake of meat products but I know that plant-based living can be more healthy and better for the environment so I wanted to give it a try. I was hoping that it would inspire some ongoing changes in my diet and a permanent reduction in my meat consumption.

WHAT I DID

In the spirit of full disclosure, I had four meat meals during the month. We always have steak dinners on Saturday night so I allowed myself to enjoy those throughout the month. But other than that everything breakfast (ok I don't usually eat breakfast), lunch, and dinner was 100% vegetarian.

Starting out I was really worried that I would be hungry and that the meatless options would not be as filling and satisfying as my normal meals. Boy was I wrong! I continued to work out throughout the month and I didn't find myself being tired or constantly hungry. 

For the month of the vegetarianism adventure we used a meal kit (Hello Fresh) so preparing the meals was super easy. Our meal box would arrive every Sunday and we would be set for the week. No grocery shopping needed. No crazy meal prep needed. And all the meals could be ready in under 40 minutes. HelloFresh puts all their recipes online so you can make them even without any subscription. You just have to buy the ingredients.

MY FAVORITE MEALS AND SOME SURPRISES

Some of my favorite vegetarian meals were:

• Honey Miso Broccoli Donburi
• One-Pan Black Bean & Poblano Quesadillas with lime crema
• Plant-Based Protein Messy Janes with pickled onion, roasted potato wedges and lime mayo 
• Creamy Tortelloni Limone with spinach and parmesan
• Southwest Stuffed Zucchini Boats with pico de gallo, avocado crema and cilantro

I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed the "plant-based protein" for the sloppy janes. We only tried one meal with it -- and no it didn't taste like meat -- but it was still really good.

 
And I was so excited with how many recipes included chickpeas! The experience really taught me how easy it was to have not-meat protein sources.

Trust me when I say the meals were very satisfying and I did not find myself craving a burger or piece of chicken at all during the month. I also noticed that I didn't feel as lethargic after a meal. You know that I just want to lounge on the couch and take a nap feeling after you eat a meal? Yeah, didn't happen after these meals.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS

If you are interested in trying vegetarianism I can highly recommend giving it a shot. If you don't want to start out with a whole month maybe try a week first. Or maybe just a day or swapping out a single meal. Small steps can lead to making big changes!

These were my three biggest lessons learned:

1. Never stop challenging yourself. It's so nice to try something new and see what you can improve or change. You never know what you might stumble on and love long-term.
2. Don't get caught up on labels. I will definitely incorporate more meatless meals in my diet but I will not be going 100% plant based. So no, I won't be a "vegetarian" but that was never my goal. I am happy just decreasing my meat consumption.
3. You don't need to go hungry living a plant-based lifestyle! There are so many options that are nutritious, filling, and will keep your hunger quenched. 

Questions for you?

1. Are you vegetarian?
2. What is your favorite meatless meal?
3. What is the last thing you challenged yourself to do?