I am going veggy

… at least for the next 2 weeks.

I was chatting with a friend of how i am inconveniently allergic to kiwis, pineapples, mangos, watermelons or even apples. Whenever i eat those fruits i get an itchy feeling in my throat. So he was explaining, that he as well was allergic to many different fruits, but apparently that changed for the better when he started to eat veggy. Naturally i would not exchange the taste of meat for the chance of eating fruits without a little bit of itchy feeling, however the challenge to drop meat out of my diet for a couple of weeks was intriguing. For 27 years i used to have three warm meals per day, each of them including at least some kind of meat. Now lately i have been trying to do intermediate fasting but still meat is present in almost all of my meals.

“The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is now.” Well let’s choose the third best time and start right tomorrow! 🙂

Some conditions:

• naturally no meat or fish, this also includes fish sauce and Haribos
• no meat substitute products. Since this diet is just temporary i want to avoid clinging on meat all together
• having variety – i am not too culinary inclined but i try my best to have a variety of dishes and not fall into a “pizza and scrambled eggs for two weeks straight” mode
• not only eggs or Tofu – although i like those products, and they are legit for a veggy lifestyle, the challenge would be boring if I’d eat eggs every day
• two warm meals per day

Saturday, 20.11.2021 – Day 1

Yesterday i came home late at night, consequently i had no time for preparations. Lunch has to be a veggy pizza with eggs, mozzarella and tomatoes. Afterwards i went for groceries and i just realized how many shelves are inaccessible for me now. Even cheese might be not veggy, depending on the production process. I managed to grab things i consider useful and went home half happy half worried. Tomorrow is Sunday and there is no turning back now.

Tuesday, 23.11.2021 – Day 3

Just about 3 hours after lunch i already am hungry again. I remember when i started intermediate fasting and reduced food intake from 3 to 2 meals per day i was also hungry but eventually got used to it. It is just a bit frustrating, that i can not look forward to my next meal. Since i still am missing something. The veggy dishes up until now consists of some form of pumpkin and although i also stuffed in some peanuts, it is still missing some texture.

All indoor sports activity are limited for now, since Corona did spread widely around my county, so in a sense that it is quite fortunate for my case or else i would be even more hungry than i am now.

Wednesday, 24.11.2021 – Day 4

My flatmate was frying bacon and the smell was just incredible. I am not missing the taste of meat in particular, but i guess some flavors can only be achieved with meat.

Friday , 26.11.2021 – Day 5

On Wednesday i went for (Asian) groceries in preparation for spring rolls and Gyoza. While i was familiar with making spring rolls, this would be my first time doing Gyoza. Nevertheless both dishes took an awful long time to prepare. I am a bit more satisfied with the spring rolls than with Gyoza though, and they were also the very first dish i was really looking forward to.

Saturday, 27.11.2021 – Day 8

Half time – in general i wouldn’t say it was particularly hard to eat well, even though thoughts of past-me might indicate otherwise. It’s just a matter of getting used to it. Not once was i sad or regretting my meal, but often times just frustrated about my lack of culinary skills. I am sure a more experienced cook would know, what is missing to create a deeper flavor. That being said, i actually never look up recipes but just cook as i go so that might be also my own fault. I guess cooking is a journey and i enjoy the walk and am looking forward to try out some new dishes in the next week

Another thing to notice is, that I’ve seem to be craving more for sugary things or snacks in general lately.

Wednesday, 01.12.2021 – Day 12

I received my booster shot on Monday so i am not entirely sure whether this is related, but lately I’ve been feeling weaker than usual (e.g. doing less pushups). Today i also returned some crates with empty beer bottles. Usually i am able to do that without too much trouble, however today i really did struggle quite a bit.

Saturday, 04.12.2021 – Day 15

The two weeks are over! Did my perspective change on eating veggy? – Definitely!
Did a lifelong habit change over a course of two weeks? – Probably not.
To be fair i am more willing and can see myself eating less meat than before. Others might judge me for that, but i still think eating veggy takes a bit more time and effort than including meat into your diet.
I normally shop for discounted products and see how the ingredients work together on the go. While often times my meals consist of meat, some form of vegetable, like broccoli+paprika and rice now i had to be a bit more creative and raise the amount of veggy on my plate as well as have a bigger variation to make it appeal and stand out more.
However i am certain, that with it just needs the right mindset and a bit of experience which will naturally come with time.

Speaking of experience i really do like the glazed aubergine dish. Although i still need to practice a lot i feel like my spring rolls were not too shabby either. It turned out, that pairing peanuts, spicy chili oil and honey with any vegetable combination makes a flavorful and filling dish.

Epilogue

I actually continued to eat veggy for a couple of more days, just because i still had ingredients left over and did not necessarily crave for meat or fish. The initial reason for the challenge was to figure out, whether eating veggy would actually help with my allergies against kiwi or the like. And after 17 days of eating veggy… it actually worked – I think?
I ate a whole kiwi without any problems. To validate that experiment i bought a mixture of kiwi, mango and pineapple and tried that as well – without any allergic reaction. Unfortunately i did no such test beforehand, so there is no saying, whether staying away from meat helped or i just lost that allergy over time already.
Maybe if i continue eating meat again that allergy might resurface, but that is a thing future-hung will probably experience.