Being a vegetarian is tough! I’ve never eaten meat a day in my life with the exception of the one time I threw up all over a Mexican restaurant’s floor because they served me the wrong dish and the time I tried chicken and cried for three days while having more stomach issues. That does not mean that getting the proper nutrition is easy.
During my adolescence, when mom made all the hard decisions, I never had to worry about eating right or paying attention to what I put in my body for two reasons; one being I played sports and two being the types of foods our fridge was stocked with. My mom never bought sugary products and always opted for fruit juice popsicles over the artificial ones. She was very careful about what she allowed in our house and always cooked with a lot of vegetables. We were always eating proper foods without even realizing it.
College enhanced my love of pizza as an easy thing to eat with friends without being the oddball that I am but also introduced me to all the artificial sugary products that I had never had before. You would think all the healthy eating my mom instilled in me would kick in and have me opt for the smoothie over the chocolate ice cream cone with sprinkles in the cafeteria or the oatmeal over the Trix cereal in the morning. Instead, it encouraged me to explore the different sugary – certainly no meat products – foods that I had never experienced. Boy did my body take a toll. From the end of high school to the end of college, I went from being a size 4 jeans to a size 10.
Senior PromAfter College Graduation
These days, I’m unhappily sporting a size 12 jeans and encouraging myself to crave broccoli on a more regular basis. After really examining what my body needs to boost it’s metabolism and encourage weight loss while keeping a balanced diet, I have made lists and plans to ensure that I am taking in the proper amounts of iron and other vitamins while maintaining about 60g of protein or more daily and a higher dose of fruits. But I know it doesn’t stop with what I eat.
Water is something I have been forcing myself to drink more of on a daily basis for a few weeks now (I have been forcing myself to drink a 1.5L bottle a day and have exceeded that goal on a few occasions. I have been taking my dogs on separate longer walks and even walking 2.6 miles to the grocery store and back when I only need a couple of things.
Last Year
Calisthenics are something I believe in on a daily basis so I have also included daily sit ups, push ups, and planks. Next week we add squats. These are a challenge for me not because they are hard to do but because my aforementioned dogs think it’s playtime. When I block them out of the room they cry and scratch at the door incessantly. I’m hoping that more exposure to calisthenics will encourage them to calm down while I am doing my routine.
High School
Having a daily routine has always been a terribly mundane idea to me however as I age I find that it is the most efficient way to have a good day. If you have a morning routine you are setting yourself up for success throughout the rest of the day. Working as a server and a filmmaker, my schedule is never the same so I have opted to create a routine that works for me on MOST days. I take the hurdles as they come and create alternative routines that get the job done.
I like to be up by 7 to walk the dogs and put some water on to boil. This is when I fill the dog’s water bowl, clean out my french press, and add some coffee grinds. With the coffee seeping, I like to take a few deep breaths and do a few stretches to loosen up. I take my coffee on our patio and reflect on the outdoors before feeding both dogs and putting on some sneakers. Here is where I walk them around the neighborhood long enough to break a sweat. Afterwards I fit in my calisthenics, eat some breakfast, and settle in to write.
With these lifestyle changes and monthly dinner charts and weekly routines planned out, I’m hoping that I can continue sticking to a happier and healthier lifestyle to lead to more confidence in my own abilities. Another great benefit is that I have been cooking at home more and I’ve truly been impressing myself (and my carnivorous boyfriend) with my recent vegetarian black bean soup and lacto-ovo Chinese fried rice.
Would you be interested in seeing my meal plans and charts? How about more recipes and food posts? I can create more of them if you are interested.
5. Food: What’s for breakfast? Dinner? Lunch? Or maybe you could write a poem about that time you met a friend at a cafe.
I have a love/hate relationship with food that has stemmed from being a picky eater as a child. My mom never forced me to eat anything I didn’t want to and also raised me a vegetarian. When I was without her I would be afraid to eat anything different because I wasn’t sure if I could. Meal times were painful and I have always been the difficult one because I have been eating different than most people all my life.
If I wanted to make myself happy, I would feed myself breakfast for dinner and dessert for breakfast.
If I wanted to make myself proud, I would have a smoothie in the morning, hummus in the afternoon with carrot sticks, and some kind of all veggie entree for dinner featuring broccoli.
If I wanted to make my mother proud, I would drink lots of coffee and eat an apple in the morning, have a yoghurt for lunch and a funky salad for dinner.
If I wanted to make my grandpa proud, I would eat a big juicy cheeseburger for the first time in my life.
If I wanted to make a ninja turtle proud, I would eat pizza all day everyday.
If I wanted to make my boyfriend proud, I would cook all our meals from scratch everyday.
I’m so mad I didn’t have my phone in the kitchen with me, but I really enjoyed the creation process of this appetizer and it was so good I had to share immediately.
I made a couple hard boiled eggs, sliced up some avocado, and pulled out the soy sauce, salt, pepper, and ginger. After peeling the eggs I soaked them in the soy sauce with a dash of ginger. I let them seep for about five minutes.
I cut both eggs in half and took the yolk out to mix it with the avocado. After the yolk and avocado had been well blended, I added some ginger, salt, and pepper and stuffed each egg half with an adequate amount. I topped with a spoonful of soy sauce on each egg – delish!
Next time I will soak them a little longer and get some cucumber and fresh wasabi to add a crunch and stronger taste profile. I will take pictures next time and make a proper post – these were just too good not to share! Time to eat my salad and listen to more showtunes. I also have a homemade Potato and Leek soup to share that was delightful so stay tuned!
"Teaching in the term. Travelling in the halfs." Former TEFL Teacher (Taught in South Korea and Vietnam for 4 years). Now, primary school teacher in England (still trying to travel).
Personal Pondering of Mine 