My vegetarian adventure

I have completed another book in my adventure into becoming a vegetarian/healthier eater. It didn't take me long to get through this one because half of it is recipes but I think I took a good deal away from it anyways. I'm pretty much convinced now after reading about five books on different diets that I am not cut out to be a Vegan and that a lacto-vegetarian diet is probably a good fit for me and Andrew as well! They still eat cheese, milk and eggs and fish and occasionally have poultry as well. I didn't know much about that particular diet until I read this book.

I learned a lot from this book about planning meals and even planning meals if everyone in your household isn't ready to venture into the vegetarian way of life. They suggest you start with one meal a week, probably dinner since you will eat it everyday. When you start shopping for your food pay attention to how many vegetables and fruits you are buying and read the labels on everything you purchase. We are going to get started by cutting out pork and red meat, so this week I purchased catfish filets, ground turkey, frozen chicken breasts and lots of salad ingredients. I also got fruit which we can cut up and have for a snack instead of chips or something equally fattening (okay I'll admit we do still have two boxes of girl scout cookies). Obviously once we start eating this way our body is going to have an easier time digesting our food since carbs, fruits, veggies and unrefined grains are easier to digest than fatty meats.

There is only one thing in this book that I don't think I can do - give up coffee. Its like my life blood during the week and sometimes on the weekends. I already rarely drink pop and I suppose candy will be a hard one too. I'm a dessert person and I like to have something sweet after dinner. They suggest mixing plain yogurt with fruit instead of having chocolate or a piece of pie.

There is also a really great section in this book that breaks down what vitamins you can get from various foods. I never knew that Vitamin E could be found in eggs and sweet potatoes or that whole grains were a good source of Magnesium. I say if you're ready to start thinking about going vegetarian or just cutting certain foods out of your diet, then this is the book to read first. I wish in a way I would have read this one first instead of Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman because I didn't take a lot of what he had to say seriously.

I will keep posting about our vegetarian or lacto-vegetarian adventures as they continue!