Going home for thanksgiving break, I knew I wanted to end my vegetarian diet. In high school and the summer before starting college, my friends and I would go to Applebee’s once a week for half priced apps. My favorite appetizer to get has always been their chicken wonton tacos. These tacos are actually one of my favorite foods, so I knew that I was going to abandon my diet to have them. The first night I got back, my friend and I went to Applebee’s. Of course, I got the chicken wonton tacos. I was so happy to have gotten them but I was really cautious when I ate them. I have read stories about people eating meat after having it be absent from their diet for awhile and getting sick. I am always so nervous about getting sick so I wanted to be super careful to make sure I didn’t end up like those stories I read. When we were at the restaurant, I only had one (out of four). I think I was telling myself I was going to be sick so I didn’t feel too good after eating them. So, I took them home and ate them slowly, which sounds completely ridiculous but I made was so nervous about getting sick. Anyways, eating meat after not having it for three months wasn’t all that great.

My friend and I at Applebee’s with my wonton tacos.

This year for thanksgiving, I decided to stick to eating vegetarian. It seems like “why would you want to skip out on eating the main part of thanksgiving.” Honestly, I thought that it would be harder to not eat turkey than it actually was. My mom was the one who cooked everything this year and what she made looked really good.

For my main meal, my mom made “cauliflower steaks.” She took a head of cauliflower and cut it into big pieces that are considered “steaks.” The cauliflower was then marinated, grilled, and then baked in the oven for a few minutes. It was really good and next time I am home; I am definitely requesting this for dinner.

My mom also made me something that she thought was more vegetarian and that she doesn’t normally make; she made haluski. This is a polish dish that is basically just noodles and cabbage. Honestly, my mom only used four ingredients to make it: onion, cabbage, butter, and noodles. It is really good and if you have never had it, I highly recommend it.

The rest of my thanksgiving was the stuff that everyone has: mashed potatoes, corn casserole, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Being vegetarian for thanksgiving was honestly really easy. If you are thinking about being vegetarian or just want to try it but are nervous because it’s the holiday season, that should not be holding you back. It’s really easy to skip the turkey and having something else.

Thanks to everyone who has read my blog! I wish everyone the best of luck next semester and I hope that someone decides to try being vegetarian.

For the past three months I am proud to say that I have been vegetarian. I am very proud of myself for being able to give up meat and really try something new. I am proud of myself for sticking with it even when there was temptation or my motivation was low. I am proud to say that I am a vegetarian.

I am a vegetarian. This is a four word sentence I will no longer be saying in exactly one week. As blogs come to a close, I want to go back to eating meat. I miss turkey bacon with my eggs, ham and cheese sandwiches, and chicken wings. I miss being able to eat whatever I want because something is always available.

I feel like with excluding meat from my diet, I have been snacking more than I used to. Instead of eating something like a piece of chicken, I would eat lots and lots of carb heavy snacks. In the beginning, it was quite warmer out. It was much easier to go to the farmer’s market and get a bunch of apples and berries. Although there is the market in East Commons, it is not the same as going to the farmer’s market to get something that would refresh you later.

Refreshing…a word that no longer fits in my vocabulary. With the colder weather, you start to crave warm, warm things. Things like chicken noodle soup, ham and mac n’ cheese, and steaming hot chicken tikka masala. At least those are the things I crave. I am really looking forward to getting to eat those things again because chicken noodle soup really does warm the soul.

I found in the past few weeks, I have lost motivation to continue this diet. I find myself snacking more and more and I really think that it would be beneficial to go back to having a less limited diet to get healthier. I think that it would be better for my overall health to eat healthier, and for me, including meat back into my diet would do that. I find that carbs are my go-to for everything. Breakfast, lunch dinner. They are always going to be vegetarian and are super accessible. This is not really a good thing, however. Eating too many carbs can affect your blood sugar level as well as causing weight gain. At the beginning, I felt myself losing weight and feeling healthier. But now that I have lost a lot of motivation and have been eating more unhealthy foods, I really don’t feel healthy anymore. I want to focus on working out, getting strong, and feeling healthy again before I try being vegetarian or vegan or whatever my heart desires.

I am going to stay vegetarian for thanksgiving and then after that I will go back to eating meat. I am not sure when I will start eating meat again, whether it be before or after thanksgiving but I am definitely going to be vegetarian on thanksgiving day. 

Again, I am proud to be vegetarian and I hope some day to do it again.

This week I have been enjoying life as a vegetarian. I have really enjoyed eating eggs again. I feel like eating them gives me a million more options for breakfast because they are so easy and accessible basically everywhere. This week my grandma sent me a care package. She knows that I have been vegetarian for the past two months but still sent me chicken-flavored ramen. Not going to lie, it was pretty tempting. I do miss eating ramen because the only vegetarian kind I have found is some off-brand ramen that is soy-sauce flavored. It isn’t bad but it is definitely not the classic ramen that I love. After receiving the chicken flavored ramen I have been really tempted to becoming semi-vegetarian. I just feel as if there would just be so many options for being healthy because there are so many more meat options than meatless options. I have been going to the gym and trying to eat a little better because I really want to make my dream of getting a six-pack a reality.

Okay, I get it. A six-pack? That seems like a super far stretched goal for someone, especially me. From what I have heard and seen, it is much easier to have a visible six-pack when being vegetarian. I watch a lot of vegan and raw vegan youtubers, all of whom have six-packs. The exercises to have a six-pack aren’t the hardest part, the hardest part is having a lean enough stomach to be able to see it. For vegans and vegetarians that eat a lot of fruits, they have a very high water content. Fruits are normally 90-95 percent water, meaning they are very hydrating. This is key for gaining a six-pack because it prevents overeating. My mom would always tell me when I was hungry to drink water. It fills your stomach and gives the illusion that you are full when really you are just hydrated. Many recommended foods for six packs are vegetables and grains (a key part of a vegetarian’s diet). Quinoa, oatmeal, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and asparagus are just some of the many recommended foods for abs. These foods are a normal part of vegetarian/vegan diets so eating them is not much of a diet change. Adding certain ab workouts that are recommended for attaining a six pack is something that is pretty easy. My goal before going back to eating meat is to have a hint of a six pack. With that, I will be happy and feel as if my goal will be accomplished. That being said, I am going to watch my snacking and stay conscious of my water intake to make sure I’m not only hydrated but also preventing over eating.

This week I did two new things: I ate eggs again and I started, finally, eating non-GMO.

To my new understanding, eggs fit into the “meatless” category. The reason they are considered meatless is because they contain no animal flesh: meat, muscle, or tissue. When I googled the question of “are eggs considered meat,” I found that the restriction for a vegetarian diet is to not eat dead animals. Although I have been eating vegetarian for almost two months, I hadn’t really put into words what I was doing exactly. I haven’t just said “I am not eating dead animals.” Instead when people ask what I’m staying away from, I really just say chicken and ham because those were really the only meats I ate. It just sounded kind of weird reading that what I am doing is just not eating dead animals. The debate about whether eggs are meat or not comes from more of a moral dilemma. Some vegetarians eat this way because of religious or spiritual reasons, some eat this way as a stance against animal cruelty and protecting ‘innocent’ animals, and, like me, some people eat this way for health reasons. The reason I quote innocent is because of the fact that I don’t personally have that reasoning behind being vegetarian. I wanted to eat a meatless diet for the simple health benefits. Eggs are high in cholesterol and fat, although they are also high in protein. Eggs are also a good source of nutrients that help protect against age-related diseases such as macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is a fancy way of saying loss of vision. I already have really bad vision so I feel like I can’t shoot anything down that can help preventing vision loss. Just like any food, eggs are good in moderation. There are many benefits to eating them, such as high levels of proteins and nutrients, that I want to continue to eat them. The yolk is what contains the high source of cholesterol, so if I decide that is something that is of concern to me, then I can just strictly eat egg whites. Eating eggs was really nice this weekend since my family came to visit. It really opens up the options when going out to breakfast as well as just eating breakfast at home. My dad has this recipe for scrambled eggs that is so good that I could not say no to Saturday morning. For the time being, I will definitely continue to eat eggs.

My brothers and I at the hockey game on Saturday

Okay, so what I have been most excited about is the fact that I have started my non-GMO diet. Since my family came up this weekend, it was easier for me to start non-GMO on Monday. Non-GMO means the food contains no genetically modified organisms or engineering. Most of the foods you eat are genetically modified. They are modified because it is more cost effective for the producer. By modifying the genes, it allows for ‘better’ nutritional value and a longer shelf life. The thing I eat everyday that is genetically modified is cereal. The entire General Mills brand uses genetically modified corn. The crop itself is altered to help prevent against harm to the crop due to insects or bacteria. Just the fact of knowing that my food has been altered in a lab is something that makes me feel gross. I would much rather eat simpler food than something that has been altered in a lab to make last longer.

The best thing for this week has been going to the farmer’s market and referencing what I eat with the non-GMO project website. From my experience, I everything I buy at the farmer’s market is grown naturally without any chemicals, or pesticides. Pesticides have a whole array of negative effects, similar to genetically modified foods, it alters the natural process of farming and growing crops. The non-GMO project website lists all the companies who contain the non-GMO project stamp on the boxes of their products. Currently 50,135 products are verified by the project, meaning there are 50,135 processed foods that do not contain any genetic modification. It is easy to search for a product or brand and see whether or not it is non-GMO. I am definitely going to continue this into next week so I have at least a full week of eating non-GMO.

This week has been similar to my last week, similar in the sense that nothing interesting has happened. I am still eating dairy, although I am trying to eat less dairy than I did previously. The one new thing I got this week was Chipotle. I haven’t had Chipotle since I went vegetarian because whenever I normally go, I get chicken. I didn’t really want to go if I had to get the sofritas. Sofritas are soybeans, or tofu. I tried tofu once and it made me really sick, so I am a little worried to try it again. Instead, I decided for my “meat,” I got fajita veggies. They’re just grilled peppers and onions, which is super delicious and, to my new understanding, low calorie when compared to the other options. It was pretty easy to turn my Chipotle order into vegetarian.

I have run out of most of the snacks in my room so that means I will fully commit to doing a GMO-free week next week. I plan on going to the farmers’ market to get some fruits and veggies which is a super simple and relatively cheap way to eat GMO-free. It is also a great way for me to be more vegan.

This week’s temperature has dropped a considerable amount. I have noticed that I have been much colder than I remember being last year. I do leave outside of Philly, so it wouldn’t have been as cold at home as it is here. Since I have felt so much colder, I decided to do some research to see if my new diet had anything to do with me constantly being freezing. Many vegans and vegetarians tend to have iron deficiencies. This is because meat and eggs are an ample source of iron, and vegetarians and vegans obviously don’t eat meat and eggs. A way to combat this iron deficiency would be to eat other iron-rich foods such as leafy greens, nuts, beans, and tofu. Iron is important because it helps the red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body, which produces heat due to the use of energy required to carry out that task.

Another deficiency that could be making me cold is a B12 deficiency. This vitamin keeps the nervous and circulatory system healthy, as well as aiding in the production of DNA. A B12 deficiency can result in numbness of the hands and feet, which is obviously a side effect of being extremely cold. B12 is found in red meat, eggs, and seafood. Again, this would be another thing that would be difficult to get enough of through the food a vegetarian or vegan eats because they don’t eat any of those foods. B12 is found in some milk and dairy products, so that in combination with a B12 supplement is good for people who eat a plant based diet.

Overall, my research has told me that I probably should be taking some supplements. Not only due to the cold weather now, but just to be healthier overall. I plan to start taking an iron supplement and B12 supplement, which will hopefully make me feel warmer in this brutally cold weather.

This week I haven’t done anything crazy. I haven’t tried anything new or ate anything different than I normally would. I have actually felt pretty sick, so I haven’t been eating a lot. So, food-wise, there isn’t a lot to write about. I have been going to the gym though, which has made me feel better. I wanted to spend this blog and talk about different countries and how accessible a vegetarian diet is.

I feel like it is pretty easy to be vegetarian in the US. It is also pretty easy to be a vegetarian here at Penn State. What is inspiring me to write this is that I went to dinner on Sunday and there weren’t many vegetarian options. Sure, they always have the salad bar but that’s not really much effort or variety for vegetarians. Anyways, there were about five different meat options for people to choose from. For me, there were no vegetarian options. There is normally some vegetarian or vegan “meat” option, such as vegetarian burritos or vegetable tikka masala. But for Sunday, there wasn’t. So what I had for dinner was a baked potato, mushrooms, and strawberries. Now, given that my dream diet would be raw vegetarian, this would be good practice. The dinner was good but I wouldn’t really constitute it as a meal that should be worth $5. This got me thinking about the countries that are comprised of many vegetarians and this case of not having much to eat would be a rarity.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Starting with India, which is the first country I think of when thinking about vegetarianism, this is the country with the lowest consumption of meat. There is an average of approximately 8.8 pounds of meat consumed by Indians every year. In the US, there is an average of 270.7 pounds of meat consumed by each American every year. That is an insane difference between the two. Given that, approximately 31% of Indians are vegetarian while only 3.2% of Americans are vegetarian. So it makes a lot of sense that for my Sunday dinner, there weren’t a lot of meat options. When I first went vegetarian, I though about losing probably my favorite dish in the world, chicken tikka masala. But then I thought of all of the vegetarian options I see on the menu when I get Indian back at home. Many meat options are either already vegetarian or simply made vegetarian. This type of food would be great for any vegetarian, and a wonderful place to travel if you practice vegetarianism.

Some other countries that are comprised of many vegetarians are Ethiopia, Jamaica, Singapore, and Israel. There are some religious reasons for not consuming meat as well as the environment which is ideal for growing crops. These would also be great places to travel or to try their cuisine because there would be many delicious vegetarian options.

This week being vegetarian has been pretty easy. I still am eating dairy which is not something that I still want to be doing but it is something that makes being vegetarian super simple. The only time this week that I really wanted to go back to eating meat was when my family came for the Ohio State game. I have been really homesick so it was really nice to see them. My dad brought a little grill that he grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and ribs. I love ribs. So much. So it was really hard when they were right there and I couldn’t have any. Luckily, my mom brought these vegetarian “chicken” sandwiches that my dad was able to cook for me.

Our little tiny grill 

Next week or the week after, I plan on eating vegetarian, but mostly vegan, non-GMO and so my parents were able to bring a bunch of non-GMO stuff. It is kind of hard to find non-GMO vegetarian foods at Walmart, which is the only grocery store that I have gone to around here.

The only thing I really “made” this week that was vegetarian masala from a carton that I was able to heat up in the microwave. I also bought potatoes at the farmer’s market which is super easy to have for a snack. I cut up a potato and microwaved it with the masala which was a really easy meal to have and tasted really good.

It has been a month since I have been vegetarian and I am really proud of it. There are numerous benefits to being vegetarian so I feel really good that I have been able to sustain the diet for a month. There is a 40 percent change that vegetarians are less likely to develop cancer when compared to people who eat meat. There is also a 300 percent increase risk in colon cancer for people who eat meat. So eating a meatless diet will decrease the risk of colon cancer greatly. Additionally, people who eat vegetarian diets typically have lower blood pressure. The lower the blood pressure, the lower the risk of developing heart disease, lower the risk of having a stroke, and lower the risk of developing kidney issues.

Being vegetarian also improves mood. In addition to having an increased mood, there is also lower levels of stress associated with a meatless diet. Overall, vegetarian diets are scientifically more beneficial than eating a meat-filled diet.

This week has been a massive cheat week. I reintroduced dairy into my diet which has been very satisfying yet very unsatisfying. Since I haven’t had dairy for almost two weeks, reintroducing it has not mixed well with me. It has honestly made me feel really sick all week.

In a show I had seen before, a girl who was vegetarian ate meat and immediately got sick. I didn’t expect this to happen since it had only been about a week and a half. I was not completely wrong, I never truly got sick but I felt terrible throughout this week. I had googled to see maybe if feeling sick had to do with cutting it out for a week and a half and I found that it probably did cause me to feel so crappy.

So going into this week I kept the thought of being sick in the back of my mind and tried not to take it too far.

You might be thinking, why are you continuing eating it? The answer is because it tastes so good. Ice cream is definitely my favorite food so it’s been so nice being able to eat it again. Since I haven’t really experimented much with non-dairy options besides ice cream, I have missed the creamy aspect of dairy. From creamy and rich ice cream to creamy cheese on my pasta. I definitely am going to look for non-dairy cheese products because the creamy cheese on my pasta has been so nice.

To start this week, I got cheese fries at the football game. I didn’t have much and I’m honestly not sure if it even contained real dairy. I split them with my girlfriend so I really didn’t have much. I felt totally fine after eating them, which I am so grateful for. That night I also got my absolute favorite food ever: Ben and Jerry’s Tonight Dough. I always end up eating the whole pint which comes out to be 1,240 calories, but since I was nervous of getting sick, I only ate half. This was so amazing to have again and it will surely be missed.

My favorite: chocolate chip cookie dough and sprinkles

So to continue on indulging this week, I got cheese fries, mac n cheese, pasta with alfredo sauce, Creamery ice cream and cheddar cheese Pringles. Those all sound so good as I’m writing this. Like I said before, ice cream is my favorite food so I honestly don’t know if I really want to give it up. After reading some information about how bad dairy is for humans, I still only slightly want to eat ice cream. Other than that, I think I can live without dairy, at least for the time being.

What I learned from being a lacto-vegetarian this week is that dairy is definitely not a necessity and having the opportunity to go back to eating dairy made me eat much unhealthier. Since I was focused on having different dairy products, I did not have nearly as much fruit as I did last week. Overall, dairy is not something that I need in my diet and, for now, I have no problem cutting it out again.

My first week as being vegetarian, I have not been eating dairy nor eggs, which has been almost vegan. The cut-out of dairy from my diet has been much more challenging than eggs. I usually had yogurt and/or ice cream everyday, as well as cheese. I definitely miss cheese on my sandwiches.

To help make this week a little easier, I went to the farmer’s market downtown on Friday afternoon. I was very excited to find fresh produce to eat and use to cook with. I spent about $20, although I’m not totally sure because I wasn’t keeping track of how many five dollar bills I was giving away, since most things cost $4 or $5. After the farmer’s market, I want to McLanahan’s to get pasta. I got a chickpea pasta and regular bowtie pasta.

Image curtesy of author

I must make a note and say these apples, which I believe are Gala apples, are the best apples I have ever had. Maybe I’m just telling myself that they’re healthy so they’re extra delicious, or maybe they are in fact the best apples ever.

It was pretty easy eating vegetarian on the weekend because the Saturday and Sunday brunch in Findlay Commons have so many options. It is also nice because there are letters on the signs for each option, either a M for meatless or a V for vegan. I have to say, I was sad when I couldn’t get French toast sticks, yogurt, and a cheese Danish at the brunch. I usually eat those every week so I was definitely craving them.

In addition to going to the farmer’s market, I also went to Walmart on Saturday to get some more vegetarian food, as well as pots and pans to cook with. I got a chopped Asian salad mix that I really like, vegan mandarin orange “chicken,” and two types of non-dairy ice cream. Ice cream is probably my favorite food, so I was so happy to find alternatives. I got cashew milk chocolate ice cream and coconut milk chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. The chocolate, I think, is better because it is so creamy and rich, I don’t think I would’ve known it wasn’t made with milk if I didn’t buy it. The chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was good but it takes a few bites to get over the initial coconut flavor, which I don’t think really meshes with cookie dough. I definitely recommend those non-dairy ice creams to whoever wants to try something new. Now what I don’t recommend is the vegan “chicken.” It is made with soy and wheat, which makes up the “chicken,” and it comes frozen with a sauce packet. The sauce was pretty tasty but the chicken literally made me sick. Honestly, writing this gives me a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not sure why it made me feel so sick but I think I’ll be staying away from fake chicken.

One thing I want to do every week, is utilize the new pot and pan I bought, but also utilize the kitchen on the ground floor of my dorm. This week I decided to use the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and chickpea pasta that I bought. I got the chickpea pasta because chickpeas are a good source of protein, and with this pasta, each serving has 11 grams of protein! I had a difficult time figuring out how to work the stove (who knew you would have to put in a code to use a stove), but once I figured it out, it was smooth sailing. I will definitely make this again, it is so simple and barely takes any time.

Images curtesy of author

Lastly, I want to end on how I failed this week with the restrictions I set for myself.  I hope that every week, there is no more than one failure and hopefully in weeks to come, there will be no need to write this section at all. At the liberal arts fair, I placed my name in a raffle to win ice cream with the dean. I, also with four other students, got to meet Susan, the dean of liberal arts, and have ice cream. I didn’t realize that I could’ve gotten sherbet until after I ordered, so I got chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was so nice to have real ice cream again, but I don’t plan on getting it again anytime soon.

For a few years now, I have wanted to be a vegan. Being vegan is a daunting task though, given that I don’t like salad and I don’t really like raw vegetables. So I thought I would start with a more realistic goal, being vegetarian.

I don’t really know that much about being vegetarian, so far I have only been vegetarian for two days. But the past four days have felt like an accomplishment. I want to share about what I eat, share recipes, and share information about the different types of vegetarianism and bring awareness to some of the common misconceptions there is about it. My ultimate goal with this blog is to share my new knowledge about meatless diets and plant-based diets and to be a vegetarian by the time I have finished writing my blog.

I want to first start out with information about veganism and vegetarianism. There are a lot of misconceptions that come along with the two lifestyles/diets, so I want to give myself and the readers of my blog the information.

The guidelines for vegetarianism is much more flexible than veganism. The most basic vegetarianism is eating a meatless diet. Vegetarians not eat meat, fish or poultry. There are variations of vegetarianism. Some people choose to be pescatarian, meaning that they eat fish. They don’t eat any other type of meat other than fish. Some people choose to be ovo-vegetarians, meaning they can eat eggs. They still do not eat meat or dairy products. Some people choose to be lacto-vegetarians, meaning they eat dairy products. They still don’t eat meat or eggs. Some people also choose to be lacto-ovo vegetarians, meaning they eat eggs and dairy products. They still don’t eat meat. These different choices of diet are flexible to a specific person, there are many options which allows you to find what’s best for you personally. Vegan diets exclude all meats, dairy, eggs, and animal products. People can also be semi-vegetarian, meaning they follow mostly a vegetarian diet, with a few meat, dairy, and egg products included into their diet.

I would like to start as a vegetarian, where I eat no meat, dairy, or eggs. I think this will be a very rewarding task because I eat meat and dairy everyday. I think what’s important to getting started is knowing how to meet all the necessary nutrients for the day, specifically protein, which many people have questions and misconceptions about.

Many people believe that as a vegetarian, people won’t get the protein they need in a day. When I was home and visiting my girlfriend, I told her family about my plan to be vegetarian. As I was telling them, the only comment I got from her mom was, “make sure you get enough protein because vegetarians don’t eat enough.” Sadly, I hadn’t done much research into how to get ample levels of protein as a vegetarian, so I couldn’t rebuttal what she had to say. So, as an aspiring vegetarian, I feel it is my duty to inform how vegetarians get all of their nutrients. Some main sources of protein come from soy products, like tofu and tempeh. Seitan, something I’ve never heard of, is a protein source that comes from wheat and resembles the look and texture of meat. This is a great option for someone who is just starting their vegetarianism journey because it can easily be made to fit your diet. Additionally, beans, chickpeas, oatmeal, wild rice, nuts, and many protein-rich fruits and vegetables are an easy way to meet the daily protein values needed. The vitamin B12 is not found in any plants, so taking B12 supplements is a good idea for anyone who has a meatless diet. B12 helps prevent anemia because it is important in keeping blood cells healthy. Some soy products contain B12, so making sure to read the nutritional values of the foods you consume is important.

This information was not only informative to me and is going to help me with my vegetarian diet, but I also hope it was informative to other people who are interested in vegetarianism. For the next week, I am going to focus on trying to eat no meat, dairy, or eggs, and hopefully using what I have learned, it will be an easy transition from eating a meat, dairy, and egg rich diet.