I ended my last post with why I don’t think a vegetarian diet should be followed for an extended period of time. I think I said to give it a try for a week, but not for longer. Hmmm, for some reason I hear feathers being ruffled. Ok, fair enough. Let me explain. Goes a little something like this….

“In west Philadelphia, born and raised…” Oops, wrong post.

I’ve learned quite a bit doing this trial period of vegetarianism.

Pros:

1. Ate more fruits and vegetables than I had been before (I ate a bunch before, fyi)
2. Also ate more beans and legumes than I had been before
3. Upped my dairy intake (especially with my Greek yogurt…. #slightlyaddicted)
4. Ate a wider variety of foods and tried many new foods. And lots of soy.

Cons:

1. Ate a bunch of “meat-free” substitutes. These usually came from the frozen section. Pre-packaged and processed. Not good.
2. Have completely turned myself off from tofu for a long time… just cant do it anymore. And ounce for ounce, tofu has significantly more fat than boneless, skinless chicken breast or turkey breast or tilapia.
3. I lost 2 pounds. Wait, isnt losing 2 lbs a good thing?! Let me elaborate below:

                                December 30th                                          January 24th

-Weight:                       166.2 lbs                                                 164.2 lbs
– Fat %:                        12.6                                                         15.1     AAAHHHHH!!!
– Fat mass:                    21.0 lbs                                                   24.8
– Muscle mass:             138.0 lbs                                                 132.4 lbs

Get my drift?

These numbers aren’t entirely accurate as A LOT of it has to do with my hydration status. Although I tried to keep everything as close to the same as possible. Either way, I went in the wrong direction.

So to really sum it all up, I think that a vegetarian lifestyle, done right, is extrememly healthy. But I didn’t really do it right. I did it as I imagined the average American would do it. We are so hardwired into this whole “easy way out” mentality that I did this diet with that in mind. I took the easy way out. Bought up a bunch of “meatless chicken” and “tofurkey” slices. My argument is that baking tilapia, boneless, skinless chicken breast, and ordering fresh sliced lean turkey from the deli counter is just flat out healthier than the fake pre-packaged stuff. Now, my assumption of Americans eating the way I did may not be completely accurate. And I understand that. But I think it’s an interesting perspective to take. Don’t you?