I was 20 years old when I became vegetarian. It was actually the climate changes that made me become a vegetarian. At the time, I actually owned a car which I sold purely because of the recent studies how we were destroying the planet with pollution. Another study showed that the meat industry contributes more than twice as much to the climate changes, by transporting the meat from Australia to Europe for example. I had enough and WOW - It's now been 7 years and I could never imagine how much it would impact my health...
Learning About Nutrition
I used to eat whatever I felt like, whenever I craved something. I could easily go a whole day without even eating half of the protein I needed. When I lost 10kg at the beginning I asked myself "Am I really doing this right?" and short after got a nutrition app when I tracked everything I ate in a day. I realized I wasn't getting half of the amount I needed in carbs, fat and protein.
A Healthier Relationship to Food
With a history of several eating disorders (mainly Anorexia and Bulimia), I've had a dysfunctional relationship to food from 12 years old to 20 years old. From binge eating to starve myself or eat extremely unhealthy to prove a point that "I can eat whatever I want". This is my favorite on this list because I can honestly say that becoming a vegetarian finally gave me the relationship to food that I always dreamed of.
Snacks, Snacks and More Snacks
I love clean eating so the perfect food in a day for me would be: a fruit bowl and a cup of tea, a big salad for lunch with vegetables only and a vegetable soup for dinner. I realised that it was impossible to be on my optimal energy level. My two options was to either either eat "less clean" or to eat healthy, small portions of a snack between meals. I always have a banana between breakfast and lunch or a bowl of cottage cheese with berries/nuts between lunch and dinner. If I don't, I either: A. Get extremely hangry or B. Get the energy level needed to be able to feel on top at work or in the yoga class.
Six Meals A Day
Before my plant-based diet I would have quite a small breakfast, a big lunch and a big dinner. Nowadays I will have big breakfast, snack, big lunch, snack, small dinner and a cup of tea with something on the side before 9pm. I never eat after 9pm so I can get my 8-9 hours of sleep but a cup of tea and some frozen raspberries is always my go to when I crave something after dinner.
My Natural Weight
Before I became vegetarian I was actually 10kg overweight (as a result from living in Italy where my diet basically was wine, pizza and gelato everyday). So when I became vegetarian I lost over 10kg the first couple of months, and I couldn't believe it. It's not even about the amount of weight that mattered, it was more the fact that my body naturally adjusted to how clean I was eating in comparison to before.
Thank you for reading 🌿