Vegetarian Junk Food

It’s 9pm and I’ve just gotten out of a meeting that ran a lot longer than I had expected. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet and my stomach was starting to churn in anger and discomfort. I knew I should probably go home and make something but I also knew that would take another 30-45 mins until I would get to eat so instead I optioned for something quick, easy and tasty. I remembered there was a pizza place downtown not too far from my office so I headed over to order 2 of the biggest slices I could find. Luckily for me they had a fresh veggie and not quite as fresh cheese pizza sitting under their warming lamps. No sooner after I had paid the long haired punk rocking looking man behind the counter was I shamefully devouring both slices on the steps in front of the building. The delicious taste of melted cheese, fresh ingredients and warm bread provided immediate satisfaction for my intense cravings and quieted my growling stomach. Unfortunately as quickly as the euphoric satisfaction had come it was replaced with a sense of guilt and discomfort. I thought to myself “Why did I eat so much greasy food so late at night? Ugh, now I feel bloated and fat…” I made my way home and crashed on my bed practically immediately after entering the door. My stomach now feeling stretched and uncomfortable I tried my best to sleep off my over indulgence.

I’ve found it interesting how often as of late I’ve indulge myself in this sort of short-term quick satisfaction eating. Carb filled meatless pizzas and pastas, store bought veggie burgers, ice-cream Blizzards, bags of chips, cheese buns, and other junk foods had become my regular diet. Now with half a month gone in my vegetarian challenge I was surprised to find that cutting meat out of my diet was actually making me less healthy than ever before! Instead of making myself a nice meal with a steak, veggies and a potato I’ve more often then not opted for quick and easy meals that although don’t contain any meat were mostly full of fat, sodium and who knows what other chemicals and preservatives. This wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted to be leading and it certainly wasn’t the diet I would have associated with vegetarians. How had I slipped so rapidly into these unhealthy eating habits?

The answer of course was simple; I had begun my new lifestyle woefully under prepared to take on the lofty dietary challenge. I didn’t know what good vegetarian meals looked like, I had no idea what groceries I should be buying or where to find them and I definitely didn’t understand where my supplements for proteins and other nutrients were going to now come from. This was all new territory and instead of finding what I needed to be successful I was supplementing garbage foods and quick solutions because I hadn’t really given myself any other options. To make matters worse this poorly planned diet was costing my a fortune! As a rule I found pretty much all pre-made veggie meals (substitute beef, chicken, burgers etc) were almost always more expensive than their meat equivalents and although eating out provided a nice, tasty and hassle free veggie dinner the extra cost versus eating at home was obviously far greater and unsustainable. I needed to get educated on how to be a better vegetarian and I needed to do it fast.

Always Go to a Pro

I initially tried surfing around the internet for some good veggie food blogs and some insight into how to better structure my diet. Unfortunately like most things on the internet I found an over abundance of information and a challenge trying to sort through all the opinions of so many overly passionate plant eating people. I opted instead to try and get a more local perspective; I wanted to talk to someone real who was living the meatless lifestyle, who had gone through the same challenges I was facing and knew the best places to shop here in my own community.

I reached out into my network and a good friend immediately reached back and introduced me to her friend Nick Schafer that had just recently gone Vegan the previous year. Like me he had apparently been a staunch meat eater all of his life but as my friend explained that changed when his girlfriend Amy contracted Lyme Disease and he had decided to switch to a vegan diet along with her to try and minimize the harsh effects on her body.

Nick and I sat down to discuss this major shift in his life and how he was dealing with the many challenges that came along with it. After chatting with him for only about 5 minutes I was actually quite surprised to find that his motivation for making the vegan commitment went much deeper than just the honorable sacrifice he was making for his girlfriend. “Initially my motivation was strictly for her health, but then we actually did the research and learned about all the negativity behind the meat and dairy industries; from there our motivations shifted to focus much more environmental and ethical reasons not to mention the many positive health benefits for the both of us.” he told me. I asked him how hard his transition from a meat based diet was and he told me “At first I was not having it at all. I was like how the hell am I going to have dinner if I can’t eat meat?! But the more we looked into it the more we realized the truth about what was happening and what was better for us and it just made sense to make the switch. And I’m the guy who used to hate vegetables, all of it, I hated broccoli, you name it and I was like that literally until 28 or 29 years old, but now it’s different, now I crave veggies, I crave peppers and it all tastes really good. I even feel mentally clearer and more alert than ever before. I no longer get that ‘2 o’clock crash,’ my energy levels are way up, I haven’t been lethargic, I haven’t been tired and I’m more motivated, it’s been great!”

His passion for his new lifestyle was almost infectious. You could tell he had obviously done his homework and I felt fortunate that he was so forthcoming with all of his knowledge and experience. I told him about the issues I had been experiencing with my unhealthy diet so far this month and to my delight he told me that this was a pretty common problem with new vegetarians. He said, he had gone through the same thing and that from what he had experienced and the research he had found he had noticed a list of major pitfalls most new vegetarians faltered on.

6 Veggie Fails

1. Have some recipes ready to go.
   • Before you start your vegetarian commitment look into some veggie blogs and do some trial and error to find the ones you like the best.
   • Check out list of The Top 50 Vegans Blogs, or Fully Raw, Minimalist Baker were a few of his favorites. Also his girlfriend Amy actually runs her own Vegan Vlog on Youtube under Elysia.
     • 
2. Don’t over look cultural cooking.
   • Different cultures like Indian for example live a mostly vegetarian lifestyle so there’s lots of different Indian recipes you can find that are delicious but don’t require any meat.
3. Know your nutrients.
   • If you know where to look it is possible and even easy to get all of your recommended vitamins, nutrients and proteins without eating meat.
   • Vitamins and nutrients usually come from greens, veggies, fruits and whole grains, where as proteins can come from beans, lentils and chick peas. Check out NutritionFacts.org for more info.
4. Know where to shop and what to buy.
   • Some grocery stores will cater to vegetarians more than others. In Kelowna we have Choices Market and Urban Fair but both can sometimes be expensive. Your best bet is to talk to your friends who are already practicing vegetarians and find out what their favorite spots are.
   • Some great go to products or brands are Amy’s Burritos, Daiya Vegan Cheese, Yves Vegan Meats, Coconut Ice-Cream, Soy or Almond Milk, Earth Balance Vegan Spreads, and Nutritional Yeast (which is amazing on Popcorn).
5. Not Eating Enough.
   • Your body needs to feel full in order to operate properly and when you take away a large amount of the food it was digesting than you need to replace that with something else. Realize that you will need to eat more often and have larger meals to get the same kind of calories on a veggie diet as you did on a omnivorous one.
6. Most Importantly: Know your reason Why.
   • Many people choose Vegan or Vegetarianism for weak reasons. Some as an experiment, some for weight loss reasons and so on but if you don’t have a strong social, environmental or health related reason why you’ve chosen this lifestyle then like any short-term diet you will falter and fall off.

Nick gave me 3 documentaries to check out that would help me find my ‘why’ and help me find a better understanding behind the social, environmental and health related impacts that a meat eating diet was making.

1. Forks over Knives (Netflix)
2. Cowspiracy (Netflix)
3. Earthlings (NationEarth.com)

I’ve committed to watching each one of these documentaries and I’m sure I will be sharing my reviews over the remainder of my month.

I left my conversation with Nick feeling far more confident than ever before. Knowing that I wasn’t the only one experiencing these road blocks with my new diet was great but now understanding what I needed to do to correct myself made me feel like my veggie exploration could finally begin.

I can’t thank Nick enough for all of his time, expertise and insight. If you’d like to connect with Nick he’s got an amazing Youtube Channel @ Freshly Finished Cinematography or find him on Facebook @ facebook.com/freshfinishmedia.