Pescetarian to Carnivore

Over four and a half years ago, I made a hard decision to cut red meat, chicken and turkey out of my daily diet. Also, known as a pescetarian diet. I grew to tell people about this term when confronted at holiday dinner parties or college lunch tables about why I don’t eat meat anymore.

Why?

I did it for the animals.

Back in October of 2011, I sat in my childhood bedroom for a weekend getaway from college. I was on my laptop and decided to type “Why Should I Be A Vegetarian” into YouTube’s horizontal search bar.

What did I see?

Horrific documentaries on how these animals get from the farm to our table.

Once the video started rolling, I was immediately brought to tears. Seeing these innocent animals being slaughtered in the most inhumane ways was disturbing and sickening. Following the tragic ending of this, I decided to live a pescetarian diet because I did not want to support this.

So why the change?

Following a hot vinyasa class on a cool fall Saturday morning in 2015, I found myself standing at a local Italian deli that everyone has raved about. As I stood there, reading the lengthy meat filled sandwich list, I concluded with an eggplant, roasted red pepper and mozzarella wrap. As I ordered, a light bulb turned on. Right there and then, I decided there will be a day that I will indulge in a prosciutto, capicola, salami and mozzarella sandwich again.

January 2016

From pescetarian to carnivore.

I didn’t go back to being a carnivore by eating a luxurious and expensive steak dinner. I started slowly by only having a bite of grilled chicken, which slightly upset my stomach. The following week, I ate a plain piece of chicken every night to get accustom to the change. Shortly after, I was eating turkey, ham, burgers and bacon. 

My mindset had changed that day in the deli. My time on earth is short and I couldn’t imagine myself saying no to consuming meat for the remainder of my life. I want to enjoy meals and not have a restriction to what I can eat. A lot of people deal with celiac disease, allergies and diabetes, yet I am lucky to have none of those issues. Therefore, I will continue to eat meat until I come to a day where I can live without it again.

Why I’m A Pescetarian

Over two years ago, I never hesitated to order a filet mignon or BBQ pulled pork sandwich at restaurants. However, today, you will never see me ordering that for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Almost two years ago, sometime in September I thought it’d be wise to watch this YouTube video, Why You Should Be a Vegetarian (video below). I’m warning you, this video is detailed and traumatic. And after setting eyes on this lengthy video of animal cruelty, I vowed never to eat meat again. My eyes were filled with tears throughout the entire thing that it drastically effected and inspired me to put the meat aside and to become a vegetarian, or more specifically a Pescetarian.

Vegetarianism, pescetarianism and veganism are all different types of not eating this and not eating that. For me, living a pescetarian diet consists of consuming fish, eggs and dairy products. I whole-heartedly cut off eating any type of meat including steak, chicken, burgers, turkey and yes even bacon. Vegetarians, on the other hand, do not eat meat as well as fish or eggs. While vegans do not consume any meat, fish or dairy products.

When I first became a pescetarian people laughed and thought I’d jump on the meat bandwagon short after. Little did they know, I have been going almost two years strong and quite honestly I’ll never eat meat again. You would think being a pescetarian I can eat most foods then. Wrong. I am very keen as to what I am consuming because some foods can be cooked with chicken stock or bacon. So it’s not that easy.

It’s important to me at restaurants to make sure what I’m eating is truly vegetarian and what I buy at grocery stores doesn’t have any meat products in it. I don’t discriminate against anyone that has or does eat meat either. It’s my personal choice and I live by it.

Salmon Maple Pecan Salad

Today I went out to lunch with my mom and her friend to Joey’s Bar and Grille. Since i’ve never eaten there before I was hesitant on what to get. With a one page menu to pick off of I went with this maple pecan salad with salmon. I find all salads should have some type of protein in them, which is why I added salmon. The mixture of greens accompanied by sliced apples, pecans and blue cheese topped off with maple vinaigrette made it scrumptious! This salad was light, healthy and at the same time– filling.

Peanut Butter and Banana Protein Smoothie

Smoothies have definitely been my thing ever since I’ve become a vegetarian (well, pescetarian). Since protein is vital, I find these smoothies both nutritious and delicious. This peanut butter banana smoothie is one of my favorites to make after a workout or just as a healthy protein filled snack.

Ingredients:

Handful of ice

1/2 cup Almond milk

1 Plain non-fat Greek yogurt

1 banana

2 tablespoon peanut butter

Dash of honey and cinnamon