when i first tried being vegetarian, i was still living at home in the bay area and it was hard to resist all the comfort foods that i was so accustomed to having. eating a vegetarian diet has definitely become much easier since i've moved out because i was held accountable for whether i had food to eat or not. it was also made easier because i was no longer around others that ate meat or those who were unsupportive of my choice. whenever the subject of my diet preferences comes up in conversations, immediately i get asked two things and they are 1) do i ever miss meat and the more standard 2) what does a vegetarian eat?
being a psychology major particularly interested in language and conceptual development, i always held my breath at the moment people arrange their lips to ask these questions, begging with my eyes no! no! don't ask me that ques --- sigh, alright. because honestly, chances are high that the ones who ask questions like these are the ones that think vegetarians just eat salads and don't get enough protein, or worse, they're all just a bunch of hippies (a comment courtesy of my mother). i encounter this quite often when i am asked about my major in college. it starts with the "what are you studying?" then it's me, poor little me, hesitant to answer "psychology ..." i can literally see the gears turning in their head, that slow mechanical halt as their eyes start to shine with enlightenment and they learn forward, keen on asking me the question --- "oh, psychology? can you read my mind?"
i would be a rich woman if i was paid each time i answered an overwhelming no!!! to that question.
but anyhow, the first question is easy. no, i do not miss meat. on 99% of the days, i hardly realize that my diet is completely devoid of animal flesh. i like it like that. recently, in my quest to find palatable food blogs, i found that the only ones that even had a shot at holding a spot in my bookmarks folder were ones that did not feature meat dish after meat dish after meat dish. i like reading about what other people are eating, and even if a certain recipe serves meat in the dish, there's no reason that i can't turn that dish into a veggie friendly one. but yeah --- after the 10th picture of bbqsauce slathered ribs and steaks, i can't deal anymore.
and second, to the million-dollar vegetarian question, i eat most things people eat sans meat. it's really that easy. most of the time, the recipe is that much healthier because you don't need to add all those ingredients that you need to make meat actually taste good. the hard thing is when you are going out to eat at a restaurant and you don't feel like eating pasta dishes because psh! you can make that at home. that's one reason why i prefer to stay in and cook (not to mention leftovers). i happen to really love eating vegetables and fruits, and the only big changes were in eating more of that and none of meat. it's so much easier when you don't purchase meat, you're cooking your own meals, and you feel 1000x better because of it.
it's hard for me to be motivated to make plenty of diverse dishes though, mainly because i end up making way too much food that one alone cannot handle (even after days of leftovers). it's disheartening to throw food away, especially when i am content with eating noodles and broccoli. also equally challenging is the fact that i am very much bound to the emotions that associations with food elicit --- the smell, the look, the thought of food is all that takes to get me to the grocery store and searching for recipe items on my iphone. i can't plan meals to save my life; it'll never stick. when i like something a whole lot, i'll eat it for days. i'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if i could (sigh, these days i have to fight myself not to do this). i mean, i can name the last "meals" i've had in the past two months because they've been so consistent: bean tacos, noodles with steamed broccoli/asparagus, fresh bakery french bread with slices of cheddar cheese, and cereal with almond milk (no joke, i ate this for nearly 2 weeks and loved it). of course, in between i've had slight variations in meals, but when i find something i really enjoy eating, i'll eat it until i'm blue in the face.
i'm attempting to break this habit of eating, not only because delicious chewy starchy french bread and hunks of cheddar cheese have been adding to my waistline, but because i'm not getting all the nutrients i need in my diet.
i dunno. i guess it should be easy. i love to eat. that's always a good place to start at.
being a psychology major particularly interested in language and conceptual development, i always held my breath at the moment people arrange their lips to ask these questions, begging with my eyes no! no! don't ask me that ques --- sigh, alright. because honestly, chances are high that the ones who ask questions like these are the ones that think vegetarians just eat salads and don't get enough protein, or worse, they're all just a bunch of hippies (a comment courtesy of my mother). i encounter this quite often when i am asked about my major in college. it starts with the "what are you studying?" then it's me, poor little me, hesitant to answer "psychology ..." i can literally see the gears turning in their head, that slow mechanical halt as their eyes start to shine with enlightenment and they learn forward, keen on asking me the question --- "oh, psychology? can you read my mind?"
i would be a rich woman if i was paid each time i answered an overwhelming no!!! to that question.
but anyhow, the first question is easy. no, i do not miss meat. on 99% of the days, i hardly realize that my diet is completely devoid of animal flesh. i like it like that. recently, in my quest to find palatable food blogs, i found that the only ones that even had a shot at holding a spot in my bookmarks folder were ones that did not feature meat dish after meat dish after meat dish. i like reading about what other people are eating, and even if a certain recipe serves meat in the dish, there's no reason that i can't turn that dish into a veggie friendly one. but yeah --- after the 10th picture of bbqsauce slathered ribs and steaks, i can't deal anymore.
and second, to the million-dollar vegetarian question, i eat most things people eat sans meat. it's really that easy. most of the time, the recipe is that much healthier because you don't need to add all those ingredients that you need to make meat actually taste good. the hard thing is when you are going out to eat at a restaurant and you don't feel like eating pasta dishes because psh! you can make that at home. that's one reason why i prefer to stay in and cook (not to mention leftovers). i happen to really love eating vegetables and fruits, and the only big changes were in eating more of that and none of meat. it's so much easier when you don't purchase meat, you're cooking your own meals, and you feel 1000x better because of it.
it's hard for me to be motivated to make plenty of diverse dishes though, mainly because i end up making way too much food that one alone cannot handle (even after days of leftovers). it's disheartening to throw food away, especially when i am content with eating noodles and broccoli. also equally challenging is the fact that i am very much bound to the emotions that associations with food elicit --- the smell, the look, the thought of food is all that takes to get me to the grocery store and searching for recipe items on my iphone. i can't plan meals to save my life; it'll never stick. when i like something a whole lot, i'll eat it for days. i'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if i could (sigh, these days i have to fight myself not to do this). i mean, i can name the last "meals" i've had in the past two months because they've been so consistent: bean tacos, noodles with steamed broccoli/asparagus, fresh bakery french bread with slices of cheddar cheese, and cereal with almond milk (no joke, i ate this for nearly 2 weeks and loved it). of course, in between i've had slight variations in meals, but when i find something i really enjoy eating, i'll eat it until i'm blue in the face.
i'm attempting to break this habit of eating, not only because delicious chewy starchy french bread and hunks of cheddar cheese have been adding to my waistline, but because i'm not getting all the nutrients i need in my diet.
i dunno. i guess it should be easy. i love to eat. that's always a good place to start at.
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