Turning Vegetarian (well, not really....)

This weekend I decided to heed the advice of my friend James, who told me that he is losing weight like a fiend by going vegetarian. Now, James is by no means a vegetarian but he was inspired by the book, Skinny Bitch, to go vegetarian for a while and see how he fares.

You see, James and I were workout buddies (and still are, I suppose) as we tackled P90X together. We worked out to the same set every night at our respective homes, coached each other on how and what to eat, and lamented our sore muscles every morning. We also shared our joys at feeling better overall and satisfaction at being able to even DO P90X.

As December had rolled around, I lost interest in P90X and needed a break from the daily grind of working out. Coupled with raising a toddler, I ran out of time and energy and motivation. My eating habits suffered and my rear expanded. James soon followed suit although he had not lost motivation. He just lost time.

James therefore, maintained his diet and read Skinny Bitch. For those of you who haven’t read that book, it is a girlfriend’s book of clean eating and tells it like it is. The authors are very hard critics of the meat industry and promote health by going vegetarian. I had read the book but was underimpressed with its preachy demeanor and quickly dismissed the entire book.

James read the book and decided to give it a go. In the month that he has been going vegetarian (although he professes to not be entirely vegetarian), he has completely lost his love handles, feels fantastic and exercises moderately 3 times per week. He helped another friend try it and she has already felt a difference in the way her clothes fit and she also is hooked.

So, as James bragged to me about his success and talked to me about the things I should eat and what my grocery shopping list should look like, I trooped out to Sprouts and Whole Foods to find the foods I would need to go vegetarian.  I may not have the time to workout as I'd like but diet is something I can controll very easily.

Today is my first day on it and I am feeling pretty good. I have lots of fruit and vegetables and I have nixed all sugar from my diet. Everything I have whole and natural and my animal fat is extremely limited. It is a great deal like the Primal Diet only it does not allow meat. I’m not a big meat eater anyways so I doubt that I will miss meat that much. Of course, it will be a challenge to feed the rest of the family, not that I have much luck in that area anyway.

We will see how long it lasts and if it works.