You all ever needed to go to the grocery store so badly, but you open up the fridge and decide that you can have bread and butter pickle chips as a meal instead for the next few days? That’s where I’m at as I sit down to blog. It has been a rainy Saturday morning, but man has it been a productive one – minus the whole not eating breakfast thing. I’ve done two loads of laundry (we’ll see when all of that actually gets folded, but I have high hopes for the afternoon) and applied for seven jobs, and it’s literally only noon as I’m writing this. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but when each job requires a slightly modified resume, cover letter, and endless retyping of information found on your resume and cover letter onto the application itself… it is exhausting and so time consuming.
ANYWAY.
Dropping by to talk about how I had been a vegetarian for one full year and then unknowingly ate chicken on the anniversary of my first day as a vegetarian. To read more about why I decided to become a vegetarian and my initial experiences going meatless, check out my blog: Reflecting On Being An “Almost Vegan Turned Vegetarian .
People ask me all the time if I miss or crave it and the answer is: YES.
Yes, I still crave a Chick-Fil-A breakfast biscuit. Yes, I still crave a juicy Five Guys burger, with a bag full of fries, of course. Yes, I look at Outback’s menu and die inside when I have to ask if they can leave the bacon off my order of cheese fries.
That being said, the amount of times I eat food like that is so rare. When it comes to the food that I cook for myself (when I’m not surviving off pickles), I don’t miss meat at all. I think that’s why I have been able to go so long as a vegetarian without being tempted to eat meat again. That, and the fact that I’m genuinely terrified of eating meat because I’m convinced I’ll be throwing up all night long.
So July 9, 2018, marked one full year without eating any meat. My boyfriend and I had been sipping on some leftover boxed Franzia wine from 4th of July (because we’re classy like that), and he was making himself some chicken wraps. It smelled amazing and as I watched him saute, season, and sauce the chicken, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to have a bite and after he confirmed that he wouldn’t judge me, there was no hesitation…
That is, until he determined the size of the bite I had to take, which was probably the size of a chicken wing! This was the bite I originally wanted to take and I probably would have gotten more onion than anything else. Well, he made sure to fill up that entire top portion and then cheered me on from across the table, “C’mon, baby!”
The flavor was amazing, as I had suspected from the heavenly scent filling my kitchen. But as I was chewing it, the texture just seemed all kinds of wrong. Once I finally managed to actually swallow the huge bite (probably four times the size of the bite I wanted to take), I looked at him and said, “I heard that when people re-introduce meat back into their diet after so long, it has a strange texture to them. And I mean, it’s been a while for me… like a year-ish.”
I grabbed my phone to find the exact date and looked in horror at “July 9” staring back at me. It hadn’t been a year-ish, after all.
REPORTER: “Melanie, how did you celebrate being a vegetarian for one year?”
ME: “By eating chicken.”
I haven’t had chicken since, though, I swear! And I’m still calling myself a vegetarian, because as of right now, I don’t have intentions to go back to eating meat. In fact, once I publish this post, I’m going to go draft a blog featuring recipes of my favorite vegetarian meals that are perfect for all those like me who like to meal-prep. I’m hoping it will inspire me to go to the grocery store and meal-prep for myself. But then I just remembered the rain… and the laundry that has to be folded… so maybe tomorrow?
FEATURED IMAGE BY: NeONBRAND
Haha you got me laughing. Nice post. I think it’s safe to say you are still vegan 😁. I think of becoming vegan but whenever I try, I don’t go pass a week 🙈. Hope you finished up the laundry. Cheers
Hi Huboshi,
Thank you for reading! I’m so glad that you were laughing. I love to make people laugh and am thankful that I am able to communicate my sense of humor through my words.
As for trying to be vegetarian or vegan… I think as with anything that takes you away from your “normal” routine, the hardest game you have to play is the mental one. I was able to stop “cold turkey” as they say meaning I had been eating meat all my life and then I just stopped completely. However, if you’re serious about trying, I’d recommend trying it in increments. Start with having meat 3-4 days out of the week instead of all seven (if that’s what you currently do). Then, once that feels comfortable, take it down to 1-2 days. Comfortable again, shoot for an entire week without it. Then allow yourself a week where you have it 1-2 days again. Then do two weeks without meat. You get the picture. 🙂 In that process, you’ll be developing a nice catalog of vegetarian/meatless meals. I swear my energy levels skyrocketed when I eliminated meat, and I think you’d notice these changes, too, just by moderating the amount of meat you’re eating throughout the week.
And YES! Laundry was folded and put away!!! This entire weekend has been so productive. Thanks again for reading and commenting! 🙂
-Melanie
HAHA! That’s amazing! So funny. I’m vegetarian too but I totally get it. I’ve had a few cheat moments when I’ve had a bit too much wine. Mine is McDonalds double cheeseburger.. but I’m sure there is hardly any actual meat in that anyways. Love the way you write by the way. Very relatable and down to earth 🙂
Hi Victoria! Thank you so much for your thoughts! Glad I’m not alone in those moments of weakness as a vegetarian. 😂 And thank you so much for the compliment on my writing — I always write and then read out loud to make sure it sounds exactly like I would say it “in real life.” Thanks again! 💛
-Melanie