Here is the story about how we got started eating Vegetarian. And NO, we have not cheated!
Becky and I have been talking about getting healthy for a long time; eating better, exercising, loosing weight. We were both raised by southern momma's who cook down home comfort food (as Becky calls it). On top of that, family meals were about filling everyone up on a budget, not about being healthy. So we talked a lot, but didn't know how to even got started.
For the past few years we have been trying to "make better choices". It didn't work out so well for us. Becky was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but has not been responding well to insulin. A convergence of issues! We attended a class on how to count carbs and eat healthy for a diabetic and that made us realize that we had no idea how to do this well.
I came across some interesting shows on Netflix earlier this year. The first was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". Wow, this guys life and health were completely turned around by diet and moderate exercise alone. He did a 60 day juicing cleanse under a doctor's supervision. That was interesting and made me wonder about doing that for us. So I decided that we would try that.
So I bought a juicer and a mountain of vegetables and found some recipes. 5 juices a day. Breakfast wasn't too bad, we all choked it down. Morning snack was doable. LUNCH - was nasty! I was the only one that was able to get my whole drink down. Karla gagged, Becky turned green, Matthew was at school and missed all the fun. Whew so we made it through that. Afternoon snack - again doable. Dinner rolled around and Becky came home from work. Becky drank hers and got down most of mine, Karla out right refused and ate pork chops with Matthew. I took one sip and couldn't do it, couldn't drink any more. Becky and I were both starting at this point, so we went to chipotle and had vegan bowls. (A great thing about the Pacific North West, everyone has vegetarian option!)
Kale is nasty juiced! I don't care what anyone else says.
Then I decided that we would try going VEGAN and plant based. No dairy, no cheese, no eggs, nothing processed. No juicing, but still a lot better than the old way of eating. This time, before we started I did a bunch of research and watched lots of shows. Here are some of the shows I found on Netflix in case you want to check them out: "Forks over Knives", "Vegucated", "Hungry for Change". I did some google searches for vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. There is lots of information out there.
So all the veggies that I bought to juice were now going into recipes, they fit the Vegan/plant based recipes perfectly. The food was good. But nothing processed means no pasta, no bread, nothing frozen. Very hard to feed a family on a budget. We did do this for a week or so. We even tried a raw spaghetti meal. It was ok - but tasted off. We finally started adding some whole wheat and brown rice pasta and bread back into our diet. We made sure to choose whole wheat pastas (have to read the ingredients to make sure the label isn't tricking you). And things were chugging along fine.
About 2 weeks in, I hit a wall. No energy, headaches, general physical icks. I did some research and found out it was probably low protein. Becky suggested we do just vegetarian so we can eat cheese and eggs for protein. I gladly obliged. I love cheese and MILK!
We have been living this lifestyle change for just over a month now. Becky and I both feel better, we have lost weight, have more energy. My ulcer is bothering me less, Becky is controlling her blood sugar better and so far we haven't really missed meat. I mean, yeah a hamburger sounds GREAT. But a good veggie burger with good cheese and avocado does the trick.
Keep watching. I will post some recipes and things we are doing to stay vegetarian. Nothing like a complete lifestyle change to make you learn a new way to cook!
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