Girls Guide to Vegetarianism #healthandbeauty Mini Series #2

Many of you may not know, but I'm a vegetarian! Not that exciting, but I wanna tell ya alittle about vegetarianism, what it is and how it has affected my life. If you haven't read my blog on my eating disorder (you should!!), it talks about my battle with food and how it affects my life. During my eating disorder, I started to cut out certain foods from my diet. I haven't eaten red meat in probably over two years and I've been eating very healthy for over two years as well. After going through treatment, I started to research healthy diets that can allow you to eat more. Veganism and vegetarianism were two of the options. Now this may sound bad, but a lot of people who recover from disorders do go vegan or vegetarian as a way of eating more and feeling less guilty. Which I think for most people, this is what we all want. Like if cookies were only five calories a pop and they were good for you, you could eat like thirty in a sitting and not feel horrible after. I decided veganism wasn't for me because it's a little more expensive and I do enjoy some animal products. My style of vegetarianism is I cut out all meat and fish, except I include eggs, dairy milk and yogurt. The rest of my diet includes whole grains and fruit and veggies. I support vegetarianism because it teaches you a lot about where you need to be getting your protein and the right way you should be eating every meal. Meals should consist of a protein, veggie or fruit and whole grains. Even in meat eating diets, nutritionists recommend going meatless at least once a week. Why? Your body is able to process foods faster and convert more food to energy when you don't eat meat. I'm not going to go all philosophical on you, but it's important in a balanced diet to go meatless just a little bit. Vegetarianism can also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, your risk of heart disease and of getting cancer. I'm not saying that everyone should go vegetarian, but having some vegetarian tendencies can be good for you! Vegetarianism has helped me accept the food I eat. Having an eating disorder, I always battled with the food that I ate, even when healthy. Maybe consider a more plant-based diet as a way to eat more and feel less guilty. It's also helpful if you want to work out and tone, but don't necessarily want to "bulk up." If you have any questions or concerns, leave a comment. There's also plenty of valid sites on the trustworthy and truthful internet you can research about. Here's one to check out: http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian

Go veggies!