Today ends my official experiment in going vegetarian for 30 days.
I was not 100% faithful to it – I did cheat on a couple of occasions. It can be really difficult in the Deep South to abide by a vegetarian diet, particularly when you eat out a lot. And when your only alternative is a “salad bar” with wilted lettuce and a couple of parched tomatoes… well, willpower isn’t everything. But outside a couple of incidents, I made it pretty easily through the month.
Some lessons learned in the experiment:
- My energy levels rose significantly. I had heard about this effect from other testimonials, but assumed it wasn’t working since I never really felt some kind of transition. But by the end of the month, I noticed I wasn’t getting sleepy before 3 AM and had absolutely no problems getting up at 7 and pushing it hard all day. Plus the hazy brain that normally settled in around midnight just never came – I was going strong up until sleep.
- Even after a full meal, I never got that bloated feeling that I was so accustomed to. No more “stoned on dinner”.
- Protein can be a concern for vegetarians, particularly weightlifters. But I seemed to do just fine with eggs, peanuts and beans. I never got tanked during workouts and was really happy with the results from the gym. I actually toned up more this month than any previously, but that could also be that my higher energy levels were producing a more intense session.
- I was surprised to learn that I really didn’t miss meat at all. Whenever I did get a bit of a craving, I found grilled mushrooms and veggie burgers pretty much taste just like beef.
- I really got my taste for vegetables back – of every sort. One of the greatest meals I had during this time was a veggie plate from a local Japanese place with zucchini, onions, watercress, carrots and seaweed.
- I also found that eating beef at this point really makes me sick. The smell and the taste of the char on your tongue is still as seductive, but now I get a queasy stomach, gas, the works. The one time I cheated with beef was a disaster.
- I lost weight, but not as much as I expected to. Having cut out so much fat, I figured I’d just shed it off like crazy. I ended up losing about 8 lbs over the course of the month.
- The best take-out vegetables in my town? Captain D’s! No, really – the new mixed vegetables and broccoli sides are nicely steamed with no butter/oil I could taste and a light dash of seasoned salt.
- The worst personal downside to eating vegetarian – I couldn’t find anything I wanted to put hot sauce on.
Overall, this experiment was greatly successful. It brought back great childhood memories (we were heavy vegetable eaters) and got me to open my taste buds to a lot of things I wouldn’t have consumed before. And I love the energy boost.
From this point, I don’t think I will commit to a genuine vegetarian diet – it’s just too hard to do here in the land of Sizzler, fried fish and the church social. But I am definitely pushing my meat intake to the minimum from here on out. The health benefits, the energy boost and the great taste are just too good to miss out on.
