Today is January 14, and it's been 14 days since I had red meat (2 weeks!!!). So, can I now officially say that I'm pollo-pescetarian (someone who doesn't eat mammals)? I know it doesn't sound like 'WOW' for now, but knowing that this is the longest type of diet, which I was able to sustain since I started eating solids (plus the fact that I am a wife of a meat eater) ...I feel like it's a really huge achievement! Come on, please agree with me! And I'm blogging now coz I'm happy to share things I've learned myself thus far:
1 - It's important to first have clearly defined intentions. When I attempted to eliminate red meat in the past, it was all because "I want to cut the calorie intake", or "I don't want to hurt animals" -- the answer varies, depends on the kind of conversation I'm engaged in. At the end of the day, it was easy to revert back to old ways because I had a more firm reason - "I need to satisfy my hunger, therefore I must eat.".
I then contemplated on why I really want to ditch the red meat, and came up with answers I hold on to each time I eat. Like, "I don't want to feed myself with the same food that might have contributed to my father's death." or "I'm really tired of getting frustrated after gobbling an unhealthy meal." or "mammals are so cute. I cringe inside when they gaze at me and I know I eat their kind!" (I could write the whole day about my reasons, but I must reserve that for another post. hehe). Point is, if something keeps on nudging you to change your diet, understand that "something" -- see if it is really reasonable, add that "something" into your life bible, and think of it each time you put something on your plate. Otherwise, changing your diet may not be necessary for you, yet (and that's fine!).
2 - A diet cannot be changed in a snap! Honestly, my ultimate goal -- which I started a few years ago -- is to be a vegetarian. But it was only in the latter years when I figured out that whenever I attempt to do so -- by saying, "from now on, I will eat nothing but veggies" -- everything just worsens: I eat vegetables for the next 3 days, then I badly crave for meat on the 4th day, then I succumb to my craving, then finally end up eating more meat than I usually did on day 0!!!
This time I hold on to the same goal, without rushing. And I'm not even referring to the way I've first eliminated red meat at the start of this new year. Actually, early last year I started with "buy organic red meat" rule, followed by "no red meat during lunch" rule, followed by "red meat only during weekends rule", followed by "red meat only during parties" rule. Only then I finally felt I was ready for "no red meat starting new year" ..and it worked! Right now I'm actually transitioning to being a pescetarian (vegefishian) and part of my gradual transition is to first omit the chicken skin, if possible. If that practice takes another year before I finally shift to "chicken breast only" rule then to "no chicken" rule (yes I'm slow like that!), it will still be fine, I will still call it progress!
3 - A decision can't be firm without the support of your loved one/s. When I planned to change my diet last year, one of my mistakes was to just tell Lou, that "From now on, I don't want to eat red meat anymore.". He didn't object. BUT I don't think he (nor I) treated it as something that must be incorporated in our current lifestyle as husband/wife - we still bought pork/beef together without proper meal planning, we still randomly chose restaurants during dates, he still enjoyed refilling our 'pulutan plate' with anything during gatherings, and all those stuff. My diet rule is just a "want", which has nothing to do with his diet rules. Therefore if a circumstance offered red meat, then it's something I had to deal with by myself.
At the start of the year, I seriously talked to him. keyword: talk. I didn't just tell him that I want this, I want that, etc. in one line. But specifically I told him that I REALLY want it, and that I also need his support. That's when deciding where and what to eat (when dating) became a responsibility for him as well. He does not only make sure that a restaurant has meals other than pork/beef, but he also takes part in choosing MY meals, which I can share with him. Whenever we ocular a buffet table, he would take note not only the dishes that would look forward to, but also the dishes I will be able to enjoy. Eventually, we also came up with a few home pointers, like for example, I will cook only veggies and white meat (which he also eats anyway), but we will still have some red meat stash in the fridge for his own cooking once he craves. And many more! I guess this doesn't apply only to your partner (bf/husband). You can always try to get that kind of support from whoever cooks for you (like your mom) or anyone you share meals with (like your housemate). That is because -- little do you know -- these people actually respect your diet decisions, as much as you respect theirs!
4 - A diet shift is also a practice of CREATIVITY. I once thought that eliminating red meat was a hard thing to do because it automatically strips off 1/3 of what you can possibly eat on earth. Well, that's actually true ...if you look at it as a restricting act. That's how it felt when I spent my lunch with meat-eater colleagues while I had bland, steamed fish and vegetables. But it changed bit by bit as I started playing around with spices in the kitchen. I started making pollo-pescetarian counterparts for the old meat dishes I used too cook: From chili con carne to chili con chicken, from bistek tagalog to bangus steak, from bolognese to puttanesca, from lumpia to chili cheese sticks, and many more! I also started redefining my comfort foods. They're now composed of 4-cheese pizza (of any pizza parlor), CBTL's greek salad, and Army Navy's tortilla soup. Eventually I learned that what I wanted in other people's meals was not the meat, but actually the flavor that should have gone to my dish. It was all a matter of perspective ...and creativity that goes with it!
5 - Lastly, It's OKAY to fail. It's never going to be perfect. The universe will always give you unfavorable circumstances, and that's totally fine -- as long as they don't appear like cheat days which you wish to happen everyday, as long as it meant valuing someone (or something) more than your diet, and as long as you know that you will go back to your real diet the next day.
For me, that's when 1) we entered a ramen house for our anniversary dinner, to find out that even their "vegetarian" ramen still has pork broth, 2) when I looked forward to my friend's "chili sticks" in her party, to find out -- after eating -- that it was actually stuffed with pork, and 3) when I did not reject the homemade asado siopao from a thoughtful friend ...because she made them with love. It's like unintentionally skipping a prayer before meal - it's not grave enough to say that your faith is weak. Consider these things as inevitable lapses, otherwise you'll find yourself dwelling on "failures", thus restarting the whole process to day 1!
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I wrote this so for myself, too. Admittedly, even though 2 weeks have already passed, I still have those cravings for meat time to time (jamaican patty and/or bacon, most of the time. hahaha!) ...that I need remind myself how I was able to do it in the past few days. There has been huge progress though because I don't even have to resist most party (meat) dishes anymore ...such as lechon, roast beef and lumpia. Just imagining them makes my tummy feel a little bit funny, actually. Also, I now P0*p 2-3 times a day because of my greater fiber intake (Sorry for the too much info! hahaha!).
I hope this post helped - not only to those who want to give up red meat, but also to those who want to cut certain food groups in their diet! :) And if you have more tips to share, just send them away and I'd be so glad to add them in my daily reminders!
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