Vegetarian Lifestyle {My Staples!}

In March of 2010, I made the decision to switch to being a vegetarian...more specifically, a pescatarian. A pescatarian still eats fish and other seafood, but no meat. No chicken, no beef, nada. The decision stemmed from reading the book Skinny Bitch and being absolutely disgusted, but at the same time, I had always wanted to "challenge" myself to see if I could do it {so far I have!}. I consider myself a pretty healthy person even before I embarked on this vegetarian journey...I work out 4 or 5 times a week, don't drink pop, limit the junk food and eating out to the weekends, and watch my calories.

With it being the beginning of a new year, I'm definitely planning on continuing this lifestyle (that quote above? so true) and I can honestly say-meat does NOT sound appealing to me anymore. Especially chicken. Sure, there are the occasional times (when boozing typically) that those BW3's wings everyone is eating looks sooo good, but 95% of the time, I don't crave meat at all. and yes..I still get full. Everyday.

It took a lot of determination to make the switch and much more meal planning than I imagined. However, this past year I've felt (not counting my soccer injury here) and looked my best, so I feel like it's the right lifestyle for me. I was never concerned with losing a bunch of weight when I made the switch..I just wanted to become healthier. I want to feel my best. If you are someone who doesn't think they could give up meat, I urge you to just try giving up red meat or limiting it. Red meat is filled with pesticides and is even linked to causing cancer. I'm extremely hard on my husband (who isn't a pescatarian) about eating red meat and he is really good about not eating it often.

So, for all those meat lovers out there, maybe you could try a meatless Monday once in a while? for me? :) Even one or two days a week of not eating meat is good for you. You would then have time to find new recipes to make for dinner and expand the types of things you cook in the kitchen!

Moving on (have I bored you yet?), the biggest part about being a pescatarian is making sure your refrigerator and pantry are STOCKED. I do make more trips to the grocery store than I used to, but mainly that is just for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Today I thought I'd share my grocery store "staples"

the things that I buy the most frequently

and can't go a week without

(from top left to right: powerade zero's, quinoa, almonds, pop chips, green beans, bananas, organic carrots, morning star black bean burgers, fruit, cucumber, sweet potato, chobani greek yogurt, larabar, and clif kid bar)

This pic was from a recent small shopping trip and so some of my other staples aren't pictured.
These staples not pictured are:
spinach (super food), strawberries, blueberries, organic beans (all types), red and green bell peppers, Vitamin Zero water, tomatoes, nonfat FAGE greek yogurt, string cheese, hummus, and broccoli.

Another small change I made was switching to almond milk. I rarely ever drink regular milk anymore (mainly use it for baking). Almond milk is a much healthier alternative!

There you have it.

The foods I eat the most often.

I'm THRILLED to report my PT has cleared me to run again. I sound cheesy, but I finally feel complete again...I can work out, run, and play soccer now! I'm easing into it all but so far, I've gotten up to 3 miles and I couldn't be happier. So is the hubby because I'm not sitting at home complaining all the time. ;)

Last word of advice?

Work out while you can.

while your young-healthy-and injury free.

...don't wait for an injury to make you realize

you need to get off your butt and work out!

I know that some bloggers find health posts boring

but if you do enjoy them, please let me know so I can incorporate more :)

...and if you have any questions about becoming a vegetarian (or a pescatarian), please let me know!
I'm all ears!

*on Day 3 of Advocare's herbal cleanse-so far so good! will post results at the end.