Your Diet Change-Up Is Achievable!
The other night, Eric asked me what some of my health goals were before we'd met. It took some good pondering, because a lot of them were being met! I'd aimed to regularly work out, which I've been doing. I'd aimed to workout outdoors more, which I've been doing at least once or twice a week. I'd aimed to eat a cleaner diet, which we've been doing together (no more pasta for this chick). I'd aimed to cut red meat down to only once a week, if not entirely, which... oh, I hadn't done.
At the start of the year, I decided that I wanted to start building towards a more vegetarian-type diet. I'll be honest with myself, I don't think I'll ever be able to go totally vegetarian- I like the taste of meat too much! But I'd like to be a part of the change away from meat farming, especially concerning red meat (if you didn't know already, our reliance on red meat is a big contributor to global climate change).
So here's what my goal was:
Vegetarian lunches daily (salads, etc.)
Monday, Thursday, Sunday: Chicken Dinners*
Tuesday, Saturday: Fish Dinners*
Wednesday, Friday: Turkey Dinners*
*And I'm able to switch lunch and dinner any night, or sub in a vegetarian dinner for any night I don't want that meat.
But here's about what I've been doing in reality:
Carb and meat heavy lunches daily.
Approximately 3-4 meals including red meat a week.
Approximately 3-4 meals including chicken or turkey a week.
If lucky, 1 fish meal.
If lucky, 1 vegetarian meal.
So I'm not at all meeting my goals. I asked myself, why isn't my plan working? Well, for starters, I'm not living on my own anymore and cooking all my meals. I'm cooking for everyone we're renovating the house with, and they like red meat and pasta, not necessarily vegetarian dishes. Secondly, I live and cook with Eric, who eats about three times as much as me and relies on a protein heavy diet- not great for a vegetarian unless he's eating mounds of beans and lentils everyday (which would have consequences for me). Finally, this would have been a hard change for me to make alone. When I am enabled and told to relax on my diet plan, it's made very easy for me to coalesce. I'm going to need support from all over if I want to make this happen.
I'm guessing that if you've ever been in my shoes and looking to change your diet, you've faced some of my challenges (let alone the challenges concerning finances and schedules). But I want us to push forward on our nutrition goals together! We can do this, if we put our minds to it. Here are some tips to getting this done- tips I'll be using as soon as I get home to jump start my new diet!
1. Start with 3 smaller goals, not a new meal plan. I was setting myself up for failure when I wanted to cold-turkey jump into this new diet plan that I was not oriented towards. Instead, we should start with three smaller goals that are stepping stones to our end goal. For me, that will include: (1) eating fish once a week, (2) including more beans, eggs, and veggie protein sources in salads, and (3) opting for chicken and turkey alternatives to all possible red meat options on grocery store runs. Now we're working smarter.
2. Ensure the people around you will support you, or at least not enable you. It kind of sucks to be in it alone, but that doesn't mean that you're doomed to failure. Check in with your partner, your roommates, your family, etc. and make sure that they know this goal is important to you. If they want to do it with you, AWESOME! If not, ask them kindly to please not make it easier for you to fail. For me, that means not leaving brownies on the counter or surprising me with a pasta dinner.
3. Make it fun. Get on Pinterest and find recipes that really speak to you. This doesn't have to be a chore! For instance, I just found a great recipe for a vegetarian taco chili that I could gobble up bowls of, and I can make a side of ground beef to throw on it for the guys at lunch time. This isn't some burden you have to suffer through; you are making the choice to eat healthier and smarter. Take pride in that and own your choice.
4. Plan each meal. This was one of my greatest downfalls before, when I tried to change my diet. I didn't plan meals, but looked to see what we had thaw an hour before meal time. If it was ground beef, I grumbled and made ground beef. But if I had just planned and set aside salmon and chicken, I wouldn't have had a problem! Spend some more time planning and you'll eliminate the threat of unexpected surprises.
5. Consider more frequent, smaller portions. In a previous post, I talked about the Hobbit Meal Plan. This meal plan would especially work for a veggie-heavy diet, since your body will likely be screaming at you to get more food if it feels it hasn't had enough protein. Always listen to your body when it talks to you!
Like I always say, your success in your goals depends on YOU! Don't go blaming the people around you if you fail, because this is something that is important to you and your happiness. Take every day step by step and, together, we can reach our nutrition goals.