Featured Veggie: Adrienne
Posted on | July 2, 2010 | 2 Comments
Name: Adrienne
Website: The Skinny Fight
Twitter: @theskinnyfight
Number of Months as a Vegetarian: 7
Number of Months as a Pescetarian: 6
New Dietary Triumphs: I’m introducing raw dishes into my diet.
What made you decide to become a veggie?
I wish the reason was something profound and meaningful as the concern for the well being of animals but honestly? The main reason was meat too expensive and I wasn’t eating it quickly enough. I was always buying replacement meat for the freezer burned meat. Plus I noticed how developed little girls are now and I know it’s partially because of the hormones in meat and dairy. I didn’t want it in my body anymore than it should be in theirs. The last reason was for health reasons. I was a regular in all drive-thrus. All that meat was draining me. I was cranky and my stomach felt heavy long after I ate.
I lasted about seven months and decided I missed eating seafood too much and became a pescetarian. Within the last few months I’ve started flirting with doing a raw food diet.
What foods do you miss the most (if any)?
It depends on the day and how much I’ve eaten. I tend to crave meat if I don’t eat enough and the closer it is to the weekend. I mostly crave tacos and chicken.
What has been the easiest part of becoming a veggie?
Giving up meat. I was rarely eating it anyway. Even during my weekend drive-thru benders it was still easy. The benders were more about not changing the way I viewed my eating habits versus wanting to eat meat. I trained myself to eat junk food on the weekends as a reward for eating healthy throughout the week. Once I changed my viewpoints it was smooth sailing.
What’s been the hardest?
The beginning was difficult because I tried to be too hardcore. If a food was made from an animal such as Jello (gelatin is made of collagen from animal skin and bones) I wouldn’t eat it. I printed out a list of animal made foods and carried it around. I would pull the list out when I was grocery shopping. It was too much to deal with. Once I concentrated on just giving up meat it was much easier.
The hardest thing is dealing with the loneliness. I’m the only health nut in the group so I end up turning down invitations to eat out because I refuse to pay $8-$9 for a salad or order a side of veggies.
Famous last words?
If you think vegetarianism is too restricting just give up meat one day a week. Then work up to two days a week until you’re at a ratio you’re comfortable with. I was never 100% vegetarian and I won’t be 100% raw but I feel much better than when I was on a strict carnivore diet.
Comments
2 Responses to “Featured Veggie: Adrienne”
Leave a Reply
July 2nd, 2010 @ 10:24 am
Thanks for the feature. This has been an interesting journey.
When things are working on all four cylinders it’s unbelievable. Unlike now, when I’m stuck in a two week meat cycle.
I’m slowly tapering off and eating only seafood as my meat again.
July 2nd, 2010 @ 6:32 pm
@Adrienne – don’t beat yourself up over it. our eating habits are fluid and change over time. you do what you can. enjoy where you are and the progress you’ve made! nobody is perfect.