Why meat free?

During my meat-free month, I'd not only like to tell you what I eat and how, but why.  Vegetarian living is something I've flirted with for a long time.  I'll be honest... I eat way too much processed & fast food.  I loves me some McDonalds!! The sight of a Big Mac makes me drool... and when they put them in wraps it made it easier to eat them when I was driving!  But, I can feel the negative effects of eating these foods.  Whenever I eat meat (even at home) I eat way more that I really should.  Where I would normally stop, I continue to eat until I feel like I will burst.  And afterwards I don't feel fueled and refreshed, but instead I feel worn out and tired.  And I feel the effects continually for a day or two on the "other end" if you're catching my drift.

Now, granted, I know that meat isn't the number one culprit.  Overeating in general is.  And eating processed food crap is pretty high up there as well.  I'm a sucker for a "quick fix." If I can just unwrap it and eat it, it's my best friend!  And sugar and salty sweetness are my weaknesses!  I'd rather unwrap a candy bar then peal a banana.  Actually, as I'm typing this out, I'm thinking "wow how lame is that?!"

I began to worry about my diet when I started watching Jamie Oliver's Food revolution about two years ago.  Seeing what those kids in that West Virginia middle school ate made me feel sick for them... but then I realized that's the way I eat too!  So I tried to change my diet... instead of buying pre-made lasagna, I even  once made my own noodles from scratch!  I thought I was on a roll!

Then Caulen was born.  And we moved.  And once again, I found myself in the pre-made food rut.  Hormel meats and Pillsbury biscuits filled my refrigerator.  There were many days that I didn't even look at a vegetable, much less eat one.  And fruits?  Forgetaboutit!  The only things I can say were good about my diet is that I A- rarely, if ever, drank soda, and B- steered away from anything that noticeably contained high-fructose corn syrup (most notably, I checked the labels for bread, peanut butter and jelly).  Even when my exercise increased, and I was on Weight Watchers and losing weight, I was still eating pretty much pure crap.

Then Caulen started growing up and eating meals with us.  At every feeding I would think "I shouldn't feed this to my kid" or "I always said he wouldn't eat [food] but I'm just too tired to make something else" or worst "I don't know what else to make."  I started worrying about his weight, and if he would grow into being one of those "obese kids" you hear about on the news every day.  He's a big kid already (90+% for weight and height) and the doctors are very clear about this at every well-baby visit.  And a quick look at my family history wasn't very pleasing on the health front either... three of the four of my grandparents all had some form of cancer at one point in time, and my father is diabetic.

Diabetes in the family is what worried me the most.  After I found out I was pregnant for a second time, I began to research gestational diabetes again.  I was lucky enough to not have it with Caulen, but after some research I found that my risks have increased since then.  After this, I started looking into changing things for us for the better.

A friend of mine had posted on FB that he was watching Forks over Knives, and I googled it to find out it was a documentary on living a plant-based, whole food lifestyle and the health benefits it can bring.  At first glance, the documentary was very compelling.  It follows a few individuals with various health problems, including high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, and breast cancer.  All these individuals began a plant-based, whole food diet and in a few, short weeks were able to stop taking their medicines and change their health forecast completely.  The science presented was exactly what I was experiencing... when I ate meat, I ate much more of it than I should have.  And I had to eat bigger portions of meat to feel full than I would if I had chosen a salad instead.  For 10 minutes after watching the movie I wanted to completely stop eating meat and dairy all together.

But then logic kicked in, and I began searching for holes and alternative studies.  For starters, it worried me that they NEVER covered fish in FOK.  And the information presented on dairy was minimal.  I was eventually lead to this website: http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/   But let me be blatantly honest here... I have no idea what ANY of this means LOL!!! All these studies and numbers from either side make my head spin.  I don't know nearly enough about nutrition and diet as I should.  I know our bodies are "well oiled machines" that need to be fueled appropriately, but I don't know what the best way to do that is!

Both sides were interesting, and presented a lot of great information.  I was still interested in going vegetarian, but completely plant-based didn't seem like it was for me.  And cutting out fish?  That would be impossible!  Cutting out meat seemed hard, especially when I started to think about everything I make that contains chicken broth or cream of chicken soup.  But I know myself.... I can't just make small changes, because I fail more often when I do.  Cutting back on meat wouldn't work.  Cutting out fast food was something I've tried before, but failed.  So I decided to try meat-free for one month and see how it went.  What better way to prove or disprove the science then by doing it on my own?

So, that's what I'll do.  Do I think that I'll still be completely vegetarian at the end of the month?  Probably not.  But do I think that I will feel much better by the end of February? Absolutely.  I think that this month will allow me to look more closely at what and how I'm eating and make more educated changes where needed.  I have an appointment with a dietician tomorrow (thanks to my OB for setting me up!), so I will be getting more information to share with you all.  And come February first, I will post daily how I feel, what I'm eating, and my nutritional intake information. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all!