About two weeks ago my husband and I decided to kick red meat for a bit. There was no real reason other than just kind of being sick of it. Tomorrow marks the two week point and in that time we have consumed no red meat. We have consumed chicken twice and ground turkey once; other than that most meals have been primarily vegetarian. This leads me to make a few observations about how it is going.
1. I don't miss red meat at all. More importantly, my husband doesn't miss it and he was a huge red meat eater (Loves him some steaks). That doesn't mean I won't at some point, but for now I have had no cravings.
2. In two weeks I have lost 6 1/2 pounds. In all fairness I have also been exercising 5-6 times a week. However, I was doing that prior to this little experiment and my weight loss was not that rapid while exercising, watching what I was eating, but still consuming red meat.
3. For the first 2 or 3 days I felt a bit sluggish. However, in the days since I actually feel like I have more energy and I don't feel so "heavy", if that makes sense.
4. My daughter has never eaten meat and so I have always had to make a vegetarian meal for her if we were going to eat meat for dinner. Since doing this, meal preparations have been a lot easier. (I still had to make alternatives for the nights we consumed chicken and ground turkey).
5 My grocery bill has gone down significantly. I never really realized how much buying hamburger, steaks, and roasts added to our grocery bill. I usually shop once a week to buy fresh produce, milk, eggs, and ingredients needed for a week's worth of dinners. For the past two weeks we have spent less each time by simply eliminating meat, while still buying more fruits and vegetables.
I can't say that we will forever forgo red meat. Like I said previously, I go through phases with food. However, for us, for now it seems to be working and I actually feel healthier. I acknowledge that much of that could be entirely mental, but either way I feel good.
** My husband requested that I mention he has lost 5 pounds in these past two weeks. And I will mention that he does not work out.
5 comments:
Wow, congrats on the weight loss for both of you! What a great benefit. You're right, beef is so expensive, that's another great benefit. I can't believe the price of a few thin steaks sometimes; to feed 4 of us, it's cheaper to go out to a sandwich shop for dinner, which is fine by me!
We don't eat alot of red meat now that I think about it - ground beef is usually the only thing.
I try to vary our meals between pasta, chicken and fish.
Oh, I seem to remember saying I would go through my vegetarian receipes for you (making myself an actual note!)
After reading Skinny Bitch, I went cold-turkey (pun intended) on ALL meat (except fish). After about 6 months, I incorporated poultry back into my diet because I hate tofu and definitely wasn't getting enough protein while working out.
I'm now almost 1 1/2 years with no red meat or pork. I don't miss it. I'm rarely sick and for the couple of months my husband did it along with me, his stomach problems disappeared.
I owe you some recipes, too. I've got some good ones (especially if you're ok with using ground turkey).
Nancy, you are right. Sometimes it is cheaper to eat out than even buy food at the grocery store, especially meat.
Nancy, I would certainly appreciate any recipes you have! :)
Robyn, I have heard so much about that book. I really need to read it. I hear you about the tofu thing. I can't bring myself to eat it. I'd love some recipes and I used ground turkey for the first time last night and thought it was great.
When my husband was suffering from very very bad intestinal issues (eventually diverticulosis/itis) we became vegetarians. I can't remember the cookbooks we used but I used to make a TOFU meatloaf! It was - odd. I also had a coucous and tofu taco recipe. That was was pretty good. We finally gave it up after about 3 years.
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