Happy Tuesday loves. Hope your week is off to a great start 😀
I abstained from posting yesterday because:
a) I was running around getting all of the last minute legal crap paperwork finished before my big move (2 more days!!), thereby leaving me with little time to come up with a coherent post, and
b) I loved all of the comments you guys left on my last post, and really wanted to think about them some more while I was making a decision on the whole meat thing.
So, did I make a decision? Well, yes and no – there were a lot of valid points raised for both sides! A lot of people, it seems, have had similar experiences with feeling constantly unsatisfied when following a vegetarian diet; feelings that subsided with the reintroduction of meat. Others argue that a plant based diet can provide the body with everything it needs, as long as proper care and attention is given.
Fair enough. But who’s right?
Both sides are. Herbivore. Omnivore. Carnivore. There is no perfect way to eat, and diets (as in the kind of food you eat) aren’t a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. Different things work for different people, and the most important thing is doing what works for you as an individual.
So here’s my plan.
A few people suggested that I try increasing my consumption of beans, nuts, fats, and other nutrient dense foods as a first step, as I’ve been eating sweeter, snackier, breakfast-type foods lately, and my body might just be wanting something a bit more substantial.
Alright, I can do that… at least until Saturday.
Why Saturday?
Because Saturday is farmer’s market day, and if I’m going to eat meat, I want to get it from local organic sources where I can actually talk to the farmer to see how the animal was fed/treated. Although perhaps not entirely motivated by ethics, my decision to follow a vegetarian diet was influenced by a love for animals, and I’d like to be as humane as I possibly can.
Sooooo that leaves me with a few days to experiment, and what better time to start than the present…
Instead of having my beloved bowl of eggy bananafied oats with AB and pudding for breakfast, I opted for overnighters made with Greek yogurt, coconut milk, and a banana. Blueberries, almond slivers, and ground flax were added in the morning. Tasty, but I’m still not the biggest fan of overnight oats.
Lunch was also a deviation from the norm…
No cereal messes or protein smoothies. Instead, I threw some rice into a skillet and mixed in a whole egg. When that was done, I added chickpeas and a glob of hummus, and had the whole mess alongside some steamed broccoli. Ketchup was obviously a must as well.
No cereal for lunch meant that I had to satisfy my craving later on in the day…
[Greek yogurt, blueberries, banana, Puffins, Kashi Honey Sunshine, almond butter]
… but not for dinner. Dinner was slightly more “grown up”…
[Pumpkin chili Mexican scramble – salsa – avocado – cottage cheese]
And there we have it. Day 1 done.
Did I notice any differences? Eh. Not really. Granted, it’s only been one day so I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, but I will let you in on a little secret. Whether I see any changes or not, I’m still going to give meat a shot. Why? Because I feel as though it’s important for me to make the decision on whether I want to include meat in my diet or not with a clear head. See, when I originally gave it up, my ED strongly influenced my choice. Now that it’s no longer an issue, and my vegetarian diet is largely habitual, I want to reassess the actual reasons behind my choice.
If I don’t like it, then I don’t have to keep eating it, simple as that. But if I do enjoy it and it does make me feel better, then I’ll be reintroducing it back into my diet. Some people may not agree with my reasoning, and I’m perfectly okay with that – I don’t always agree with everything that everyone else does either. But I do respect their decisions, and all I ask is that the same degree of courtesy be shown to me.
See you guys tomorrow for WIAW! 😀
. – . – . – .
Do you enjoy experimenting with your diet?
Is there anything that you’re currently trying out?
Wow all your pictures look incredible and delicious! I’m not a vegetarian officially, but at school I don’t trust a lot of the meat available, so I end up eating vegetarian meals most of the time ( LOTS of breakfast foods! supplemented with salads and veggies) but I understand that it’s sometimes not satisfying and hard to get nutrients. I think that you should listen to your body above everything. Good luck with your experiments! I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts!
One of my good friends who was a lifelong vegetarian just became a meat-eater; she’d never tried it in her life but found herself constantly craving it and now she’s incorporated it into her diet. I admit I eat meat almost every day at almost every lunch and dinner. I do occasionally have a non-meat meal and can be satisfied, but I find if I go more than several meals without some I tend to have trouble feeling satiated and end up craving it even more. I’m interested to hear what you think of it once you try it again 🙂
I think it’s really great that you’re getting meat from a local organic source! That way you can try it without feeling bad for how the animals may have been treated. I would totally try to do the same if I started eating meat again.
I actually really love overnight oats and I have them everyday, but I do tend to prefer cold foods over hot. Plus I just love the texture, but I can see where some people wouldn’t. P
2 days?!?! Eeeeeeeeee, I’m so excited for you 😀
Love this post too 🙂 You’re not going to let people influence you, which is awesome! I encourage doing something that is something totally un-related to ED 🙂 Ok, so I totally don’t mean this bad/mean/offensive so please don’t take it that way! I was just curious on your last post you assumed it was meat that was lacking (or protein). I was just wondering why you thought that anything was wrong. I mean, obviously if you’re hungry then your body needs it right? Is it a weight gain thing? Is it possible that you actually need to gain weight a bit? I mean the body knows right? And if its not a weight gain thing, could it be that your metabolism is just speeding up and needs more energy?? I don’t know. I hope I don’t confuse you more, just trying to help 🙂
Hehe oh I totally wish I had the answer to all of those questions. Or a manual I could refer to. Unfortunately, I have no idea, I’m just guessing. And to be honest, my decision has more to do with mental health than physical.I mean, of course I want to see if it makes a difference in how I feel, but really, I have to know that it’s not just a way for me to hold on to little bits of my ED. I want it out of my life completely, and not hiding under clever disguises.
I like your decision a lot! Although it would be sad if you continued to eat the way you do and have it work but not actually enjoy it. I think buying meat at a farmers market is definitely the way to go. I do think that meat will make you feel good. I find that it does wonders for me!
I do enjoy experimenting with my diet to a certain extent. But when I have to cut out my loves (apples, dried fruit, milk, ice cream etc), I get a bit miffed and pissed off at the fact that I can’t eat the way others eat. But I do like the feeling when I find what works for me and what makes me feel good!!
I’m currently trying a low-lactose low-fructose diet. I’m roughly following the FODMAPS way of eating due to lame intolerances. Blah. I say roughly because it says that I can’t eat beans when I totally can without trouble and yoghurt when yoghurt doesn’t affect me all that much.
xxx
If it makes you feel any better, I can’t eat peanut butter or peanut flour, which the whole blog world seems to be obsessed with. Intolerances suck, but at least there’s plenty of other delicious foods to enjoy 😀
Nice!! I think this is a good way to go – you’re trying ALL the options out there. 🙂 And YAY for organic, local meat sources!! I really need to find a farmer’s market around here – I wanted to go veg. for humane reasons, but I started feeling kinda crappy/empty/craving meat about a week into it. I really hope you figure out what it is you’re missing! And I can’t wait to read about the meat experimentation!
I do like experimenting with my diet to find out what’s causing me problems- It’s helped me discover a mild lactose and soy intolerances! Having a vegan sister also helps – I’ve gotten to try out all the vegetarian & vegan replacement foods like “cheese”, tofu, tempeh, seitan – things most meat-eaters don’t usually think about!
Good plan! If you’re going to eat meat, make it the highest quality possible. 🙂 I like it.
This summer I recently switched from being vegan to being well I don’t really have a term for what I eat now. Just normal I guess? I eat meat sometimes, but not too often. I started eating protein from animals because I was feeling like I was restricting my eating too much. Veganism actually helped to to recover from an ED, so that was one thing it was great for! It’s just I felt like I was starting to term foods as good or bad again, which isn’t good at all! Plus I always felt like my mind was always hungry even if I was full. After I made the decision to eat animal products again I felt so much better! I don’t think it’s just because of the protein, but I feel like giving myself the option to say yes to anything is just so freeing which is something that I love.
Right now I’m trying to get variety into my diet. I always eat the same things!
Mmm that yogurt mess looks amazing!
Ahh yeah I can totally relate to knowing that you have the freedom to eat whatever you want being an intoxicating feeling. I started recovering on a vegan diet, then switching to a vegetarian one. Adding meat seems like the next most logical step.
I think its so great that you are so reflective and you want to reevaluate your choices! That is so awesome! And I think they way you’re approaching the situation is perfect! Good for you girl!
I love experimenting with my diet, but at this point I’m relly not sure how to tell what makes the biggest difference. Perhaps that come a little later, as I learn to be more and more in tune with what I need.
I think you’re going about this in exactly the right, level-headed, well-educated, solid way! I have so much respect for this, really. I’m so bad at making personal plans without slipping up.
Also, a comment on oats – have you tried making pumpkin pie oats? You can still make your eggy oats but maybe replace the banana with pumpkin purée and a bit of maple syrup, and spice it up! It’s my new autumn have 🙂
Hahaha I love experimenting with my diet! I think that’s part of what fascinates me about the blog world! It’s always giving me new ideas for things to try!
I think it’s a good idea to start with some more substantial meals! Hopefully that helps!
I totally understand your need to experiment. I am a pescitarian (sp?) because of my ED… Well, kind of. I actually don’t really miss meat that much except for deer, surprisingly. It just made it easier for my mom to accept my eating habits… So, I’ll probably eventually go back. Maybe.. Maybe not. I have the same mindset as you do right now. Whatever seems right, I’ll go with it.
Right now, I’m just trying to eat more which is proving to be difficult. Gah. Stuppid.
It’s always hard at first, especially because your thoughts of what a “normal” amount of food is are probably pretty skewed. It gets easier over time, though, so be strong and hang in there 🙂
Props to you for being able to experiment! 🙂 Honestly eating some meat is kidn of what I’ve been experimenting with for about a month now, and so far I mostly like the results. Soon I’m leaving for school an dI’m pretty sure my entire eating schedule will go nuts so I’ll be fully experimenting with a totally different schedule! Including lots of lunch-packing. We’ll see how it goes 😉 I’m also ‘experimenting’ coming back to blogging and may be trying some different directions, but that’s not food-related 😉
<3
n
Sounds like a great plan to me! 😀 And I’m glad you’re at the point that ED is no longer directing your eats… although I can’t say 100% that that’s the case for me, it’s definitely the case for well, maybe 80% of the time, which is HUGE for me and I’m so happy I’ve made it this far! I eat when I’m hungry instead of trying to stifle my hunger with diet Coke or gum! However, I still tend to stick with lower-calorie foods, which naturally doesn’t fill me up too well so I become quite snacky throughout the day! (Which I was mentioned to you that I’ve been trying to add more protein into my diet as well as my nutritionist noticed that it may be the culprit in my constant hunger).
The thing that I’m really experimenting more with however is dairy. I never liked milk, but I at least had it with cereal and sometimes made oatmeal with it… I always ate all kinds of cheeses…. but ED made me eliminate it completely. So now, I’ve been making myself eat more cheeses instead of JUST Laughing Cow wedges, more eggs, and chocolate milk — which I LOVE! And is actually a very filling snack! 😀
I went through the same thing with trying to satisfy my hunger with low-calorie foods… it never worked and probably only made me even hungrier. It was really hard to do at first, but I’ve noticed that reaching for a more substantial snack in place of a safe one both satisfied my hunger and prevented me from snacking even further. You’re doing awesome though Nicole, and soon that 80% will turn into 100 😀
I think it’s great that you are testing out different ways of eating to find what works for you. It’s all about experimentation.
I tend to not eat red meat and favor chicken,turkey or fish. I’m not sure why.However, if I’m craving steak tips,beef terriyaki or prime rib, I eat it! I don’t like putting a label on things. My diet changes daily, as does my cravings and appetite.Life’s to short to not enjoy all different types of food the world has to offer.
I hope you find the right choice for you!
I just try to diversify my diet as frequently as possible… The more I switch it up, the less bored I get.
I think it’s good for you to try meat. I actually gave up meat because it was letting me hold on to my ED… weird right? By cutting out deli sliced turkey and chicken breast, I actually had to find other more caloric substitutes for protein and face my fear of grains. Now that I’m over that, I wonder if I should go back to it. I love animals, but I also love to experiment to see what makes me feel best and if it’s possible to get them from local, organic, trusted sources then I’d be willing to try! I can’t wait to see how it works out for you.
I change my diet very often these days. I change both foods and meal times. I experiment so much that at the moment my dinner time is around 4 pm and it can be anything from pumpkin with yogurt to chickpea salad or a restaurant meal 😀 .
I actually want to start experimenting more with my diet (and Jason’s too) — there are just too many times where we each have digestive issues (but never at the same time) and I’d love to explore that more. If there is something giving us grief I want to cut it out of our daily diets!
I think eating more beans/fats/etc is a great place to start — thanks for updating us on your progress so far!
I experimented for years with the foods I wanted to eat! I’ve finally found something that works for me! I think you’re doing a great job listening to your body and trying to figure ouw what you should do!
yay amanda! im so proud of you for taking this step–it’s huge! you are totally listening to your body and that is so important 🙂
I love to experiment with my diet. Even though I eat a lot of the same foods, I have to mix it up in little ways now and then, or else I get bored and stop enjoying everything as much. I completely respect your decision. I’m looking forward to seeing what you try!
You are so great, seriously…. your fabulous! The most important thing is you, so doing what works for you is awesome. And sharing what you do with all your readers is so inspiring, I just know you are making a huge impact on so many people, me included. After your last post I really started thinking about my own family and their eating patterns and found it fascinating on how each person is so different and thrives on very different things, but as long as they know what works for them that is all that matters! And as much as I love cereal it jut isn’t a meal to me, and your meals look divine and super tasty, I may just have to copy what you had for dinner 🙂
You seem to really have your head screwed on about this whole ‘eating meat if its the right thing for you ‘thing- I have no doubt you will figure out what’s best soon enough:)
I’m currently experimenting with the grapefruit diet- HA, joke, I’d never do that. I can only imagine that diet is for people who aspire to be miserable.
I do enjoy trying out recipes and eating styles from my favourite blogs though( I.e YOU).
All your food looks fantastic (as per ushe) , that lunch rice thing looks especially scrumptious- I love the word scrumptious:)
Xxx
I’m glad your experimenting! You should never feel pressure to eat a certain way if its not making you feel your best. I’m a vegan, and I feel fabulous on it. But if I changed my mind on that, I would never want to feel pressure to stick with my veganism, you know?
Good luck!
Hi love!
Its good to see you are happy with your choice ; ) and its always fun to switch it up! I say it will be more fun when you are in your new place!
I am definitely on the same page with you as the meat, if I do start incorporating red meat, I am going to buy organic and local as well ; )
Have a great night love! xoxo
Awesome! I’m glad you received such great feedback from both sides (I’ll have to go check out the comment section myself), and It’s commendable that you’re using it to make an informed decision. Are you planning on introducing all meat back into your life, or just white, less-carnivore-y meats?
For now, I’m going to start with chicken and turkey, because that’s what I remember liking the most back in the day, but I’ll probably try red meat on occasion, especially if I come home to have dinner with my family on the weekend and my mom cooks some.
Your plan sounds perfect. It’s great you are giving yourself a chance to see if increasing vegetarian sources help for the next few days. And I think it’s even a better idea that your still going to give meat a try so you can decide with a clear head. You’ll never know until you try, so you may as well try 🙂
As for something new I’ve been trying out, I’ve been attempting to add more fats into my diet. I’ve always loved almonds, but lately I’ve been loving egg yolks, coconut oil, and chocolate!
You are so beautiful! * waves back*
I am currently trying to gain so im pretty much on a eat as much as possible diet, which is challenging cause I always tend to restrict,restict,restrict.
Good-luck with the experimenting!
I am so proud of you Amanda 🙂 I know how much you like your tasty cereal treats, but these meals look fantastic! You are so inspiring 🙂 I love all of your meal ideas 🙂
Currently, I want to gain muscle and I am wanting to experiment with my foods… I think I may need to add in more carbs? I am not sure though… I was thinking of adding carbs into my snack times, but it is something new for me, so it will be an adventure!
Weight training is great for building muscle, especially if you lift heavy 🙂 I noticed a lot more muscles popping up after a few months of training. Just make sure to get an adequate amount of protein if you do decide to start lifting more to support muscle growth, and carbs are great too because they aid in recovery 🙂
Great idea to wait until the Farmer’s Market to talk to your local farmers- I think that’s really smart and something I’d like to try as well. Your meals look delish- I <3 your pics.
I'm currently trying out a new eating schedule since my lunch is scheduled for me at my job. It's working out great so far and I'm glad because I was quite worried about it!
When I moved into my apartment I was amazed at all the paperwork… and I’m only renting! I have no patience for such things, but it’s well worth all the hassle!
You have clearly thought this meat thing through, so I’m sure you’ll make the best decision for you. And getting your meat direct from the farmer sounds like an awesome idea (though to be honest, I think knowing more about the animal would turn me off of meat even more).
I wish you the best of luck, both with the move and your meat adventure!
I love switching up my eats all the time, it definetly allows you to try more recipes and search for more and different ingredients! I am actually experimenting NOT eating dairy for abit. I have to work out some allergy things….sigh….
Do what’s best for you 🙂
I think it’s great that you’re making an informed decision! And I also definitely agree with you that there is no perfect way to eat and that different things work for different people!
I actually have pretty similar feelings to you although I’ve never been a vegetarian. I hate cruelty to animals so refuse to eat anything other than organic/free-range meat and for ethical reasons also limit my meat consumption. I think I’ll eat an even more vegetarian diet at uni as ethically produced meat is so expensive!
Good for you for experimenting, just go with whatever feels right 🙂
You’re great. haha.
That’s not all, but you’re great.
I’m proud of you for experimenting and feel like you’re giving everything a chance by waiting and trying more dense veg foods before you try your meat. If you like it and it works for you- more power to you. The only “right” way to eat is whatever way makes you feel most satisfied and happy. Try it all Amanda!
Love the looks of that dinner- the colors are almost popping- I might have to make it while I’m abroad.
I’m working on broadening my diet. I’m working on fish and eggs right now, those are my most recent additions. As well as more carbs. I’m loving them 😀
ps: is it bad that your blog is on my computer dashboard’s most frequently visited pages page? I guess I visit a lot? haha
I have a had time getting meats in my diet again. I eat beans, hummus, greek yogurt for protein. But I think its my eating disorder telling me again its “bad” to eat meat.. Thank you so much for posting this, it really has touched my heart. I love your blog it has impacted my life. I am glad to know you contemplate meat also. Thank you so so much!
Thank you for your kind words, Hannah. And don’t be afraid to at least try. It’s not “bad” to eat meat, but it IS bad to let disordered thoughts dictate your actions. Give it a try and see how you feel… if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it, but at least your question will have been answered.
Good luck with your decision in regards to adding meat back into your diet. I’m sure you’ll make the right choice for you 🙂
And also, good luck with the move!!
Awesome! I think your strategy is great, and your eats look just as tasty 😉 Looking forward to hearing how it goes for ya for the rest of the week! And yay for final moving paperwork, soooo excited for you girl 🙂
i have a post written about it, but am not going to post till after WIAW (duh) but I actually just added meat back into my diet, for the same reasons I commented on before. Now since I haven’t eaten meat in 2 years I only introduced a small amount, but I will tell you it didn’t seem to satisfy me anymore. Now granted I am using small portions, so that might be a reason as well, but like you I am giving it some time to where I can increase my portions so I can get a true feeling for if this will be a solution. My body actually did not react harshly which I was surprised. So we shall see.
Good luck on your experiments. Just remember to do whatever you feel is right for your body. Your health and happiness are the most important things!
Yeah I think portions play a huge role. It’s like eating a teaspoon of nut butter compared to a few tablespoons of it. Interested to see how things go for you 🙂