My Vegetarian Project

This year has been the year of my big vegetarian project. I had been thinking about becoming a vegetarian for a few years, or at least trying it out and seeing if it was something that could suit my lifestyle. So, I decided to give it a try. In retrospect, it seems I approached it like a research thesis. For a few months before January 2014, I did my proposal and background research. I looked into different types of vegetarianism (pescetarian, ovo-lacto vegetarian, ovo/lact-vegetarian and vegan). I read a lot about the different types, what types of food you leave out and what you must then eat instead, and how to make sure you get all the necessary nutrients you need, especially as I was also training for a half-marathon. I didn’t want this to be a weight-loss thing, I wasn’t interested in vegetarianism because I wanted to lose weight, but because of overall health issues, environmental issues and, most importantly, animal welfare issues. 

On January 1, my data collection started. I became a pescetarian, eating all animal products except meat. It was not a problem at all. I fell in love with chick-peas and kidney beans, and of course ate lots of fish. This phase of my data collection lasted 3 months. On April 1^st, I became an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Which means that you can eat dairy products and eggs, but no meat and no fish or anything with fish-products in them. It was a little bit harder. I love salmon, and I missed it a lot. But I stuck with it ... for a while! 

Then I made a mistake. I decided to join a group of people doing a “Sugar-free May”. I eat too much sugar and wanted to do something about it, but I shouldn’t have done it there and then. It was too much. I fell of the sugar-free and vegetarianism wagon on a sunny Friday afternoon in late May, and got myself a Big Mac! Oh dear god, the joy! Of course, I cannot eat food like that without spiraling out of control and for days and even weeks, I got completely stuck in the sugar jar and in the sugar-induced coma, I started eating everything again. 

The summer that followed, was full of ups and downs. Sometimes I got back to my little project, but mostly I didn’t. On July 1st, I was supposed to remove eggs as well and become a lacto-vegetarian. I did, for a few days. Well, there were many days where I did indeed eat like a lacto-vegetarian. But there were also many days where I didn’t. I became an occasional vegetarian. Then, on October 1^st, my vegan phase of my project was supposed to start. I delayed it until November 1^st because I was in the midst of moving from Norway to New Zealand and the stress of everything was just too much. At least, that is my excuse. Of course I could have stuck with it, but my head just wasn’t in it anymore. Early in November, I tried my best to start the vegan phase, but it didn’t take many days before I realised that I didn’t want to be a vegan. I don’t want to be a vegan! So, I’m not. That is my result after trying it out. And now I know ;) 

In discussing my results, some might say that this project of mine was a failure. I disagree. I think it was a huge success. I educated myself a great deal about nutrition and about healthy eating and healthy living. About the environment and about animal welfare. So even though I may not want to join the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, I will do my best to buy oranic products from farmers that take good care of their animals. 

In my concluding remarks, I would recommend to all of you that are reading this to educate yourself as well about vegetarianism because you just might also learn a great deal!