When I was in 13, I decided to try being a vegetarian.
And that’s where I’ve been ever since.
Honestly, sometimes I’d rather be vegetarian if it meanssaving both the planetand my wallet.
So that’s just what I tried to do.
Thirteen-year-old Audrey would have been so proud.
The first thing I had to do was convince my boyfriend this was a good idea.
My boyfriend was not enthused when I told him about my grand vegetarian plan.
As I said before, we like to share charcuterie platters.
I’d start on Sunday and wrap things up the following Saturday night.
Then I stocked up on veggies for the week.
So I went to the farmers market where I bought a ton of fruits and veggies.
In the beginning, I kept forgetting I was a vegetarian.
The rules were simple: Don’t eat any meat.
But the first few days I kept accidentally almost eating meat.
- This situation was followed by a disgruntled me trying to figure out what to eat instead.
Lethargic and not quite satisfied, I followed the meal up with a nap.
And I found that meat was hiding in the dumbest places.
Brisket, chicken and waffles, and po’boys (!
)all delicious, meaty options, that I cannot eat.
If coffee weren’t vegetarian, I honestly think I would have cried.
Fitness reporter, Alexa Tucker, understands my pain.
Did baked beansreallyneed bacon?
IMHO, they did not.
My new protein sources caused mildly catastrophic outcomes.
Lentils are a great source of fiber and protein so I was totally onboard.
The pasta had the same taste and texture as real pasta.
It was so good that I kept eating it and eating it and eating it.
Just as I started to get the hang of things, I began really craving meat.
Yet, despite all this apparent success, I couldn’t stop thinking about meat.
And in the end I was actually pretty dizzy.
By Friday, my meat cravings started to make sense, because I had become incredibly dizzy.
I’m a teeny bitanemic, but I don’t usually feel it when I’m regularly eating meat.
Meat is the number one source of iron, and what wasn’t I eating?
At brunch the next day, I treated myself to the ultimate vegetarian meal: a bloody Mary.
Would I do this again?
But I did learn a few things along the way.
How do you live without burgers?!
I like eating meat.
The whole experiment did teach me a few things about myself.
And I’m OK with that.
Photo Credit: Daring Wanderer / Stocksy
