That Veggie Life

For years now I have contemplated removing meat from my diet. To me it just makes sense. I do not tend to crave a lot of meat, minus a few things, I do not particularly like it, and it just makes sense with my values.

Two years ago I attempted to cut out meat. I lasted 17 days until I nearly collapsed during a spin class! This is when I discovered that I have naturally low blood pressure and removing certain things from my diet caused this to drop very low. So that was a learning moment!

Since then I have learned ways to navigate having lower than normal blood pressure and the thought of going meatless once again crept back into my mind. Before leaving for Kenya, I made the decision that when I returned I would begin to lead a more vegetarian lifestyle.

Knowing that this process is not always easy, knowing that there are some things I am unwilling to give up (my mom's BBQ hamburgers for example) and knowing my blood pressure, I never put any pressure on myself to go meatless and keep it that way forever. Rather, I just wanted to make a more conscience effort to remove meat from my daily food intake as much as possible.

With all that being said, today marks one month of not eating meat!

I am incredibly proud of this. More proud than I thought I would be and I cannot believe how easy it was for me to transition to not eating any meat. I have actually only eaten meat once in the past 6 weeks and none for the last month.

I feel like becoming a "vegetarian" has been quite the process. I have had to share my new eating habits with everyone (Sometimes multiple times because it is just such a change that people forget!) and I've had to plan ahead to events that I never had to before. This has all been a little strange to me. I haven't wanted people to change their habits to adjust my new one, but I have found everyone to be overwhelmingly supportive of this!

Although this first month went very well, I am sure I will have hiccups along the way. Again, I am not trying to make this a forever commitment just yet, so these tiny milestones, like one month, mean a lot to me.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me so far. Without even trying, your support and understanding mean the world.

Now, to start learning new, easy veggie dishes to make to spice up my meals! These are next on my list:

Sweet potato, black bean and kale quesadillas. 

Pasta with just olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.

When did it become February?

Wow. The last time I posted was at the end of September. At that time it was still "warm", the Cardinals hadn't gone to the World Series again, Eagle Hall was not known for an incredible Haunted House program, I had not yet been offered the chance of a lifetime to advise a student group to Kenya, I had not hosted my very first Thanksgiving, I had not completed my first ever 5Ks, and I had not yet gone through one of the hardest experiences of my life: saying goodbye to a former resident who unfortunately passed away too soon.

I write all this as I'm about to walk out the door to head to the gym for only the 4th time since returning from Kenya. This blog is suppose to be about my weight loss and half-marathon training journey, but it is so much more than that. It's about life and the continual balancing act that I have to play food, exercise, work, stresses and fun. For some people, food/exercise might not be a constant thought in their minds, but for me, it is.

I have had an amazing past 4 months coupled with some of the hardest of times. I am happy and content in my own life, yet saddened and worried for the society I see around me. But no matter what, the worry of food is like a soundtrack playing in the background of my life.

At some point I will share more details about what is was like to live in a village in Africa for 3 weeks or how incredibly hard it was to say goodbye to a student while being in awe of the community my former residents had built to support one another, but right now I need to focus on myself.

This past week, after I was hit with yet another shocking reminder of how precious and short life can be, I was continually told by those around me that I needed to "take some time for myself". I ignored everyone at first. I knew there were things to do and I wanted to be present for all those students who I knew were hurting. I wanted to be strong for all of them. Besides, what does time off for myself even look like?

I had/still have no idea really, but I eventually listened to all those around me and took a couple days off of work and just sat. I had no agenda, no meetings, no to-do list. It took me mere minutes to realize I had no idea what to do for myself. I had been so wrapped up helping everyone around me that I completely forgot about me. So I sat with the Olympics on in the background and my dog at my feet. I was bored, restless, and was faced with dealing with my own emotions. Frustrated, I did the only logical thing: a puzzle.

A puzzle was the perfect distraction. It kept me busy, focused, and clear-headed. I was not having to constantly deal with the outside world, but instead just had this simple task to complete.

This weekend was emotional and draining on its own, but when you threw that on top of 3 weeks of struggles backed up to a cultural trip of a lifetime, it is only a matter of time before one would break down.

I used this time to refresh and recharge. All the pain and stresses are still out there, but they are more manageable when I am taking care of myself. I woke up this morning feeling more like myself again. Lately, there had been so much heartache around me that it was hard to think about the good things. Laughing was even hard. Crying seemed to be the only viable option. But, a new day helped and I am ready to continue the battle of building a better world around me; however, small my individual fight might be.

I will first start with me again, focusing on my training, eating healthy, and making overall good life decisions. I will continue to be the best version of myself while taking all the opportunities I can to make each day count.

Took me 4 years to start this puzzle, but only two days to complete.