Is being vegetarian actually worth any of the health benefits? What are the health benefits to being vegetarian? How do you get your PROTEIN?? These questions are the ones that I generally get asked about on a weekly basis. I don’t want to just write a typical blog post on why being vegetarian has a lot more health benefits as opposed to a meat based diet. Or how there are ethical reasons to why being vegetarian is also better for the environment and ecosystem. This is not that type of blog post. I do agree with those statements but they hold a lot of judgement behind them. Who cares what you eat as long as you are taking care of your body and getting the proper nutrition that your body needs to perform. That’s it! I’m not trying to convince anyone of being vegetarian because I probably wouldn’t recommend being vegetarian to most people. Vegetarian is a tremendous amount of work that many people don’t take into consideration. If you aren’t willing to research and dedicate a good chunk of you time to learning vegetarianism, then don’t waste your time with it. Here are some things to consider being vegetarian.
1.Meal prepping is your best friend!
If you don’t meal prep then it seems like you have fallen behind and you end up eating processed and unhealthy out of convenience. It’s not worth it!! I would fall into this habit and sometimes I still do. If you don’t prepare, then you are not setting yourself up for success. I found out through my own experiences that you could be an unhealthy vegetarian (I blame the sonic blast shakes!!). I would get into the habit of picking up something to eat nearly everyday from Chipotle (Sofritas is so good there) and I would eat at Sonic alot. I was eating foods that weren’t from animals but they wore highly processed and I was lacking several nutrients. I would feel tired and sluggish and honestly didn’t have any motivation to do many activities. It’s important to understand what is going into your body and I would recommend seeing a doctor or talking to a nutrition specialist first because everyone’s body is completely different.
2.Vegterians can eat more than a salad. Shocking I know!
If you are vegetarian or vegan then this probably the joke you hear nearly everyday! Everyone will ask me a variation of these two statements : “What do you eat?” or “You most only eat salads”. If this is you or if you also wonder what else there is to eat for vegetarians other than lettuce(rabbit food) then I’m about to blow you mind! I HATE Salads!!!!!!! Yes you heard correctly! I’ll repeat it if you want me to! I HATE SALADS! (maybe a little dramatic). I can survive without eating a salad. In fact I don’t like lettuce(basic lettuce like roman or iceberg) and probably never will.So if you wanna know what i actually eat and the answer is simply anything that isn’t an animal. I could probably list off several foods I like to eat but that list would be way to long ( mostly because I love to eat). I will say what makes it easy is having meat subtitles and that would be like a veggie burger or a vegan burger when you are just starting out then this is an easy way to build your meal from. But you shouldn’t be solely relying on processed food either because processed foods are not natural for the body. In today’s society there are actually so many options at our fingertips when it comes to being vegetarian. I would start broadening my horizons when it comes to what vegetarians eat if you wanted to go to a meatless diet.
3. If I get asked about protein one more time!!!!!!!!!!
So here’s the number one question that is on everyone’s brain when they hear you say you don’t eat meat! “How do you get protein?”. Well when I hear this then I start to think we are confused by where protein actually comes from and honestly what effect does protein have on our body. So let’s breakdown what protein actually is. Protein is the simplest definition is made up of hundreds of thousands of amino acids that are linked together into a chain. Now that may sound pretty simple enough. Here’s where it gets a little more complicated and that is that these amino acids can then have different combinations and with these different combinations then the protein will actually perform a different function in the body. Some of the functions of proteins would be antibody(which help protect the body from diseases),Enzyme (this helps with the creation of new molecules and they also are important for nearly all chemical reactions in a cell) and the list could continue but i’m not writing a piece of why protein is important for the body.(Mostly because everyone is aware of that fact). So now that we are clear on what protein does for our body and what protein actually is then let’s get to the main point here. The real question that many people seem to not understand is what foods actually give us protein. I’ll give you a hint it’s not all meat!! One of the highest if not the highest source of protein actually comes from eggs! (Mind blown)!!!! I know that may not be quite as shocking and probably most people would actually assume that but did you think of Almonds? Yep, Almonds are a type of tree nut and are very high in protein. I’m not saying that all I eat are eggs and almonds but my point is that there are other options that may be higher in protein than meat!
4. Do you miss the taste of meat?
I will say that eating meat for most of my life was the norm that I grew up in. I haven’t really met that many people that wore vegan or vegetarian. I still don’t really see that many either. When I thought about dinner of course there was some type of meat and whatever sides that go with it. And I thought this is healthy! I wasn’t taught about macro and micronutrient or vitamins that are needed or even heck what protein actually was.
5. Do others eating Meat bother you?
I did not have a really hard transition from eating meat rare or raw(tartare) to not eating it all. I choose one day to give up eating meat cold turkey and the goal was to see how long I could go without meat. Well I am 2 years meat free and I still get the same question about do I miss the taste of meat. And the answer would be no. I honestly don’t remember what it tastes like and now that I see it I just don’t have a reaction. I don’t get offended when someone eats a steak in front of me or there is meat around because it just not my norm anymore. I’m not even grossed out by the sight of any type of meat. Eat what you want! If you love a bloody steak then eat it! Personally I won’t because I don’t want too. Being vegetarian is a choice and its okay to not choose to be vegetarian.
6.. Are there more health benefits to being vegetarian versus a meat based diet?
To be honest if we are comparing the two then one does not out way the other on which is healthier. It’s all about what type of nutrients we are feeding our bodies. Potato chips and greasy fries are vegetarian by the way! There are health benefits to eating more veggies than meat because of the vitamins and nutrients we get from plants. But if you are eating 90% veggies and still eat meat the other 10% then you are fine! It’s about listening to our bodies needs and adjusting them accordingly. I wont say that being vegetarian is a better way of life because it may not work for everyone and I wont say that it isn’t either because I do wholeheartedly support vegetarianism.
So the BIG question: Is being Vegetarian worth it?
If you were wondering whether being vegetarian is right for you or if you want to know an honest opinion about then here it is! I have struggled very hard with this lifestyle. I found that I wasn’t getting the nutrients I needed and I had to do so much(and still do) research about this diet. Its been going on two years and im still learning about what my body needs. In recent months I have been getting migraines for nearly two months straight and I couldn’t figure out what my body was saying and all I could think was that it was stressed induced. But come to find out my body was telling me that i wasnt consuming enough calories for the exercises and workouts that I had been doing with being on a vegetarian diet. Being vegetarian is a challenge when you don’t understand your bodies needs and i honestly probably wouldn’t recommend the process I choose to take with this diet. I would say do your own research and way the pros and cons and gradually do it. After two years I do find myself with more energy when I am eating healthier and I feel motivated but is it because of being vegetarian or that I started living a healthier life through education?
Dark&Stormi 
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