Carnivore No More

June 3, 2009

Thirty days ago I decided to make a significant change in my diet.There are many reasons why people choose a vegetarian diet. It could be a matter of ethics. It could be a matter of environmentalism. It could be a matter of health. For me, it was a little of all those, but mostly for my health.

I am not the perfection of health, but I have taken many steps over the past year to make better decisions about what I choose to eat and to be more active (I should say I never exercised before I turned 23). I have taken it slow to make it a permanent change in habit. I didn’t want to just go on this path and fall into the trap of returning to poor choices for myself.

Throughout the year I had seen enough Frontline reports and interviews to persuade me that my choices in food were still damaging to my health. There is billions spent every year on ways to make us eat more foods that are nutritionally neutral or damaging. Everything from packaging that makes us want to buy, to the precise amounts of sugar and fat needed to make us want to eat more than we need, and I was knowingly falling into the trap. Without any research to the long-term affects of new chemicals, poisons and additives to the food supply, I no longer wanted to knowingly take a chance.

The change

Switching to a vegetarian diet was easier than I expected. I chose to remove all meat, dairy and as many processed foods as I could.

Meat and seafood were simple to remove. I barely ate meat, and rarely ate red meat. Seafood I wasn’t so attached to. Out of everything, removing dairy from my diet was the hardest. I had tried soy-based alternatives before, but I never liked the taste, so my options for replacing what I enjoyed (eggs, many baked goods, and yogurt) were far and few between. Finding filling and nutritional choices was difficult, but I was able to make some good decisions.

My diet now consists primarily of legumes (black beans, pinto beans), leafy greens, potatoes, bananas and apples. There are many other items, but these have become my staples for the first 30 days.

A small disclosure. I think meat that comes from grass-fed mammals is good. It is natural and they are usually happier animals. For me, I do not have easy or affordable access to these types of cuts, which is why removed meat all-together.

30 Days On

After 30 days I am feeling better, I am a little more attentive, and I have had few cravings for fatty foods (sugar is another). For the first couple weeks I was not eating enough calories throughout the day and was a little fatigued. I have increased my calories, protein and calcium with more legumes and leafy greens. These foods have some consequences, but my body is adjusting. I have introduced some organic dark chocolate (something I rarely ate) to fill any cravings for sugar.

I’m going to continue doing this for another 30 days and I am planning on sharing more about my diet and other effects of this diet, like my carbon footprint. I hope that this becomes part a lifelong comittment to better health.

I recommend reading The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler.

Categories diet, food, health, vegetarianism

3 Comments

govan said

Hi Ryan

I Totally agree with you and i personally -know- that there is a global consciousness going on.
I became a vegetarian about a year ago for all of your reasons including spiritual reasons like karma (killing is wrong) and off course the fact the planet is getting trashed etc.
I dn’t know many vegetarians in my country except my girlfriend!
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Jun 15, 2009 at 3:19 am