I’ve never been a big meat-eater. Even as a baby and small child I refused meat when it was put in front of me. I like fish, but I never really crave meat the way a lot of people do. And red meat? Forget it. Unless it’s a burger at a summer BBQ, it’s pretty much not even on my radar. I literally couldn’t tell you the last time I ordered a steak. Is it possible that it’s never? But I’ve also never been on a fully plant based diet.
My husband, however, is a major carnivore, so when we started dating, I taught myself to cook with chicken, turkey, and ground beef more often. I used to hate handling raw meat. Everything from the texture to the smell set me off, but after 10 years I’m finally used to it and actually enjoy cooking and eating it… Just not too often.
The way we usually eat, as I’ve mentioned before, is an anti-inflammatory diet 80% of the time and eating whatever we want the other 20%. I’m a big believer in not restraining yourself too much. Whenever I try to do that, I end up going slightly crazy and it backfires in a big way.
But, I’ve had a tough time recovering from my sinus surgery, including an infection, a new polyp, and a clogged ear. Because of that, I wanted to turn things up a notch with healing from the inside out. While taking medicine to work that angle, Anel and I decided to try a plant based diet for two weeks to see if that would help with my recovery. It did, in a way, but we also felt really good doing it! I had more energy and just felt really clean.
It’s definitely not sustainable for us long term, but it was a nice change and we’re now committed to doing at least two meat-free dinners every week. Although we felt great doing it full time, we were both always slightly hungry and never fully satiated which was fine because I had a goal in mind, but I know that would not feel great for me personally in the long run.
Here are some of the resources that I used that might be helpful if you’re looking to go plant based forever or even a short period like we did!
Plant Based Recipe Blogs:
Oh She Glows
Inspiralized
Deliciously Ella
101 Cookbooks
If you have any other favorites, please share them as I’m always looking for good recipes for those two dinners each week.
Meal Delivery:
For one of the weeks, Anel and I did an organic plant-based meal plan from Sakara. I absolutely loved it because I knew everything I was eating was super clean. I was shocked that it also tasted delicious. There was one meal that I didn’t like, but the rest were all hits!
It’s definitely on the pricey side, but they also have a more affordable 10 day reset where they send you their detox water and tea along with recipes for a week of clean eating.
The Sakara team actually reached out and gave me a discount code to share with you guys too! If you buy anything on their site, use code REF_LEMONSTRIPES15 for 15% off. I recommend it highly!
Rules:
There were no real rules to us going plant based but this is what we lived by: If you feel hungry, eat. If you’re craving meat, eat it! Anel and I are both busy and can’t afford to be going around hungry or tired all day so we gave ourselves this out if we needed it. Luckily we never felt like we did but it was nice to feel like everything wasn’t so strict.
So what are your thoughts on plant based diets? Have you tried one? If so, how did you feel?
