On December 24, 2017, on the snowy drive with my family to pick up our new puppy, I decided to stop eating meat. It was not something I had thought much before, although a few of my close friends were vegan or vegetarian. While I admired my friends’ healthy lifestyle choices, I never thought I would decide to stop eating meat. I mean your girl was gifted a bacon ornament for Christmas one year because I really loved bacon!
On that car ride, I watched a very persuasive video about animal cruelty and how consumerism and demand for meat contributes to animal abuse. It hurt my heart to think any of my choices could contribute to hurting any animal. I also learned so much about the underlying health diseases associated with eating meat. At this point, I put my Dunkin’ egg and bacon breakfast wrap down and told my family, “I’m going pescatarian.” “Pescawhat?” my brother said, and he and my mom exchanged glances that were the equivalent of the smh emoji. But if you’ve met me, then you know that once I make a goal I’m determined to see it through.
The First 3 Months
At the start of 2018 I felt on top of the world! I had my new diet, or should I say ~lifestyle~. Being pescatarian allowed me to eat fish, and simple sushi became my new bf. I began marathon training and overall I felt super healthy. I was eating my salads and spewing out vegetarian facts to my friends and boyfriend who most certainly did not want to hear it. I noticed I was sleeping better. I lost a few pounds and started feeling a lot lighter and happier. I was sure this was the best decision I had ever made. It took a few weeks to get over not enjoying my dad’s steak and mashed potatoes dinner, and not picking up Wendy’s chicken nuggets to go with my chocolate frosty, but I knew I was helping my body in the long run…or so I thought.
The Summer of No Protein
As summer came around, I made amazing memories at prom, graduated high school and although it was a little ugly, completed my first marathon. About 5-6 months into my pescatarian journey, I began noticing I wasn’t feeling so on top of the world anymore. I experienced a huge decline in my energy and running longer distances became a lot harder for me. Besides feeling easily fatigued, I was getting migraines. I met with a dietitian who thought I had the saddest diet ever because I’m probably one of the pickiest eaters in the world. I love my plain buttered noodles, my plain cheese pizza (sometimes even no cheese) and plain bagels. What I don’t like is nuts, lentils, tofu, and oh my freaking gosh, don’t try to get me to eat beans. So if you can’t already tell where this is going, your girl was very protein deficient!
A Sad College Diet
Trying my best to continue on my pescatarian diet, I started college and the greasy doors of the dining hall opened to me in all of their glory! How I didn’t gain the freshmen 15 is a miracle I will never understand, because my diet became carbs, carbs oh, and more carbs. Now that I wasn’t running competitively anymore, I no longer felt the constant pressure to keep up my protein intake (BIG mistake.) At this point, I was getting little to no protein every week and I was definitely feeling the effects. I would fall asleep everyday around 3:00, running- even for a little bit -became exhausting, and I was getting sick every other week. It was at this point I began to realize my own health was being compensated for a lifestyle I deeply admired, but could not sustain.
New Year, Old Diet
As 2018 wrapped, we popped champagne bottles and welcomed the New Year with open arms. My health on the other hand was at an all-time low. Food became more of a worry or challenge than an enjoyment, and I knew it was time to make a change. On January 1, 2019, I started incorporating some meats into my diet. It wasn’t an easy process by any means. Immersing myself into the anti-meat lifestyle for a whole year, and becoming educated about the meat industry, and then deciding to eat chicken and turkey again, came with a lot of guilt and frustration. At first I felt like I had failed but in reality, I was failing more by not nourishing my body with the nutrients it needed.
So before the vegan community comes after me with pitchforks, I want to offer a disclaimer that by no means do I think that having a no meat diet is unhealthy or “not right.” There are plenty of people out there who are doing just fine without meat, but for someone who is as picky as me, I could not get all the nutrients I needed to be healthy and feel happy! While I’ll put away my “I’m a pescatarian because fish aren’t that cute” t-shirt. I’ll be rooting for those who commit to this lifestyle…even if I’m eating chicken nuggets while doing it.