I Went Vegetarian For a Month. Here’s What I Learned.
I’ve been a meat eater my entire life, and I finally decided to do a month as a vegetarian! Here’s everything that I learned, my immediate tips and my biggest takeaways!
Hi Friends! You may have noticed from the title that today is a completely different type of post. This blog post about my month as a vegetarian is completely written by me, Gavin, otherwise affectionately known as “the Mr”. Some of our family and friends on IG, in Jamaica and you guys knew about my experiment and demanded I document my experience, so here it is! I’m going to walk you through what I generally ate, how easy/hard it was, how I felt doing it and finally what I took away from the experience. I hope you guys enjoy!
WHY DID I DO IT?
I’ve heard all the conspiracy theories from family and friends on why I decided to try living as a vegetarian for a month. Let me name a few fake reasons.
- I’m “really sick” and drastic changes were needed in my life. (Gasps in perfect health)
- Jess has “pressured me” with her vegan “propaganda” and I’ve finally given in! (wow… why….how?)
- I got tired of having to cook my own meals (ok this one is made up, anyone who knows me knows I love to cook as much as I love Jess’ food).
None of these reasons were true. The real reason isn’t that interesting. Simply put, I spent a month in California and almost two weeks in New York primarily eating amazing vegan food. I was fascinated by the ingenuity, flavours and just abundance of options. I also eat tons of vegan food at home and know how good it can be. So with my interest piqued by my wife and two great vegan travel experiences, I set out to find out what it would feel like to be fully plant based.
FIRST THOUGHTS, FEARS AND PUSHING FORWARD
I didn’t want to start my first ever post on Jessica in the Kitchen (Look Mom! I’m a writer now!!!) with a cliché but this month has absolutely changed my life. Anyone who knows me could not imagine that I would do this. Known for my BBQ skills and faux asian inspired dishes, I received a lot of raised eyebrows as I spoke about the journey I was about to undertake. Nevertheless, I went forward with determination and curiosity.
As the day to kickstart my new journey approached, the burning questions started in my mind. What if I started back at the gym how can I build muscle on a vegetarian diet, How can a vegetarian get protein, What about my source of omega 3’s its much easier to get that from fish right? How silly was this? I’ll admit that I feel even more embarrassed as I had Jess – a living breathing specimen of health showing me that all my questions were just my mind finding reasons to resist change. I point this out only to say we may feel as though we want to do something but until we truly open ourselves up we will never be ready to take the first step into understanding.
My first day of my month as a vegetarian was the hardest day and this statement is important because it really wasn’t that hard at all. I had oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast and began and that was great. In true Gavin style trying to give myself an inordinate amount of work to meal prep the most elaborate vegetarian dishes! I had to make this my best month of eating possible. Sometimes I just don’t understand why I would do this to myself.
When elaborate meal number one was done and I realised none of this was sustainable. I promptly switched to simple and delicious plant based meals. Oh, if only there was a resource that had over 300 vegan recipes to choose from at the tip of my finger! After finding my aha! Moment and using our simple recipes, I had simple and oh so delicious meals that I could heat up and eat in minutes.
MY FAVOURITE MEALS & BIGGEST TAKEAWAY
Speaking of meals, I wanted to share my favourites with you if you yourself are thinking about going vegetarian/vegan for a month. My favourites were the Chickpea Curry with rice, Vegan Teriyaki Meatballs and rice, Sticky Sesame Cauliflower Wings and rice (ok ok I like rice sue me). The point is, I didn’t really change the nature of my meals – it was just the delivery vehicle of my favourite flavours and textures. I think this was my biggest takeaway -it was so easy to feel satisfied by eating what I loved, I just made it plant based.
By week 3 I was feeling confident in my newfound vegetarianism, I felt that I could do anything I put my mind to. I was feeling good! Then it dawned on me, I was feeling good! I didn’t have that lethargic end of the day feeling! I was more focused, I had energy, my sinuses felt better & not to mention after getting comments from Jess I weighed myself only to find out I had lost 4 pounds. Note that this is not from dieting at all.
I realised that my meals were packed with veggies! I ended up not having dairy at all and I also realised I began drinking more water than normal. Needless to say, I was convinced that there were obvious benefits to living a vegetarian lifestyle and would definitely recommend this to everyone!
SO…WHAT NEXT? MY CONCLUSION
For full disclosure, after my month as a vegetarian I slipped back into my old meat eating routine, but this turned out to be such a good thing! I immediately felt the difference. It was so bad that I even got a little sick afterwards!
I’ve been listening to the persuasive argument my body has been presenting and surprise: I’m now fully plant-based!
I’m steadily transitioning on my food journey and learning lots of amazing things. Working to be known locally and internationally (Jess needs to stop my delusions soon) for my plant based BBQ and asian inspired dishes.
MY BIG THREE TAKEAWAYS
1. To truly appreciate a journey, you have to be completely and honestly open to receive any knowledge there is to gain. Long story short – have an open mind.
2. Switching to a plant based lifestyle isn’t a reason to stop eating your favourite types of food.
3. Listen closely to your body – it will really guide you in the right direction.
I hope you enjoyed this post about my month as a vegetarian. Thank you for reading.
Love is Love,
Gavin
Congrats, Bro. Gavin! This is the other Jessica from DC. I was smiling wide when you said you had transitioned to a plant-based diet – that is a wonderful accomplishment. May you have many more delicious, vegan/vegetarian meals, and we look forward to seeing some recipes from you! With your lovely wife, with a beautiful name, I’m sure we’ll be seeing and hearing more from you!
Hi Jessica (amazing name! lol) Thank you, I’m truly overwhelmed by all the kind words. I’ll definitely contribute some more!
Hey Gavin nice going. This si your aunt Tracey
Hi Aunty Tracey! Thank you! Thank you for leaving a comment, this definitely made me smile!
Awesome Gavin. Recently, I have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian. After reading your post, I have decided to also try vegan dishes for one month. You’re such an inspiration.
Gavin, I’m so glad I read this. I’ve been reading Jessica’s blog for a few weeks and I’ve been considering going back to vegan eating, for ethical reasons but your post really hit me. I remember that while I was eating plant-based about 10 years ago, I felt great. My skin was glowing, I had so much energy and no aches and pains. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wishing you, Jessica and you’re whole lovely family all of the best!
Hi Kathy! I’m so glad that I helped! This is also motivation for me to keep going! Thank you sincerely. I wish the same to you and yours.
congrats on your month as a vegetarian! 🙂
Thank you so much Kristin!
Thank you for sharing your experience Gavin. I struggle with food issues (highly sensitive to eggs, dairy and a few other things). I classify myself as a “meat eating vegan” but your post has inspired me to be more creative with my cooking and to try to veganize my favourite meat dishes to really embrace my path to feeling better….I am going to try the cauliflower wings. Its such a departure for me as I typically do the bare minimal for myself (IKEA veggie balls and rice – actually pretty good! but I probably shouldn’t have them 3 times a week) if I have made a cheese/dairy based meal for my family, so I’m excited to do this in the new year! Wishing you and Jessica a wonderful holiday season all the way from Winnipeg, Canada!
Hi Suzanne thank you for this comment and thank you for sharing. I highly recommend the cauliflower wings I was never a big cauliflower fan myself until I tried them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I hope you food journey is truly fulfilling! Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
What a wonderful post! Thank you for the inspiration. We are meat eaters and will most likely always will be – hailing from Uruguay, where cattle graze on pastures all year round. However, I love vegetables just as much and try to have at least two meat free days a week. I look forward to learning more about your veggie bbq recipes!
This is truly amazing and very helpful. I was so excited to read this. Thank you so much! It is truly inspiring for me. I’ve been/was eating meat my whole life. As of today, it has been 2 weeks and No Meat. It really helps to see/ hear a positive side. Thank you again for sharing. Please wish me luck on this journey. I’m trying my best to remain vegetarian, I know I can do it!
Hi Lovee! I’m wishing you all the luck and positive energy on your Journey! I believe in you too!
Your post was great until the “love is love” part. I’m here to read about food, not politics. Anyway, loved the article other than that!
Hi Raymond definitely didn’t mean it in a political way its just a saying from the Caribbean where I was raised. I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Fantastic Gavin. I am a very new Vegan, no gluten, no wheat, no soy. I am feeling so much better. My joints used to ache like crazy, but I can already feel a difference. I’m not missing meat, yet.
This is so incredible Sandi! I’m wishing you all the best on your journey!