Mama said eat your greens

When I first went vegetarian, I had no solid knowledge of a balanced diet, except that I had to stop eating meat- boy , was I wrong. This is the educated, healthier do-over.

My party trick is telling everyone I was a full on vegetarian for nearly seven years, then watching as they ooh and aah over how one could possibly live without meat for so long, surely I secretly snacked on my family's meat at the crack of dawn while everyone slept. As funny as the whole meat-stealing antics sound, I didn't. I was however a pescetarian (which means I did eat fish now and then, sorry Nemo) and did maintain a fair dairy intake.

My vegetarianism was very sudden. One day I ate meat, then the next I didn't. It was so impulsive, I can remember my parents buying me a burger meal on my birthday, which was two days after my dramatic announcement (picture large poster, pink tutu, pom poms and a full split- okay, I kid), and their utter shock when I silently ate my fries and pushed the meal(meat) to the side. It's not to say my family is opposed to vegetables, my mom loves her greens but on a plate filled with meat, so naturally she placed a bet that I would be munching on steak within the week. I am very stubborn at heart, and because everyone thought I could not do it, I ended up sticking to my decision to not eat meat for nearly seven years just to prove that I could. This was part of the motivation I used to maintain my bunny-diet, that and the fact that I was truly tired of stomaching meat - which was cut short by various health conditions we will delve into in another blog, for now we focus on the plants.

So yes, the plants. I love, LOVE, vegetables! This is not a party trick, this is a genuine love affair. I thrive the most when I have veggies with almost every meal and even my body seems to do internal somersaults. This leads us back to the purpose of this post, I seem to digress a lot but you'll get used to it. As I was saying, after 2 years of being back on a meat-filled diet (Hi, my name is Queen and I am a recovering vegetarian- shock. gasp. horror. distant applause and cheering), my health is now back on track, so I have decided to go back to a mainly plant based diet.

“Hi, my name is Queen and I am a recovering vegetarian.”

Does this mean I will be vegetarian again? No. Nope. Nein.

But it does mean that my diet will be 80% plant based, with the 20% meat being to ensure that I get to still enjoy the benefits my body receives from meat. This means that I will be able to share food recipes and meal ideas that even my vegan friends can enjoy, so everyone wins (more cheering, more applause).

When I first went vegetarian, I had no solid knowledge of a balanced diet, except that I had to stop eating meat, and this lack of nutritional knowledge was very evident because I ended up with iron deficiency anemia. So this is the plant-based lifestyle 2.0, the reloaded version-backed by semester upon semester of Nutrition classes ,years of figuring my body out and the beautiful plant-based community online that shares their lived experiences and tips.

Take this short look into a growing part of my life as my extended invitation to you, to ask you to join me on this journey as I figure it all out. As we figure it all out. To learn, live and laugh through it all.

Till we meet again, spread love

xx Queen