One Year

Today is my one year anniversary. No, I am not talking about my relationship anniversary, because mine is nonexistent. However, it's been one year since I have decided to become a pollatarian.

Pollatarian, for those of you who don't know, is a person that doesn't eat any meat other than chicken or turkey. I have decided to be a pollatarian, but did it semi-gradually. For a while, I only ate meat once or twice a month. Than, for my New Year's resolution in 2014 I decided to fully become into the pollotarian life. That meant saying goodbye to hamburgers, and steaks.
Since becoming pollotarian, I've only slipped up twice. Both of them were for medical reasons. The last time I've had meat was a cheeseburger, on Pi Day 2014. Since then, I had stuck to mostly eating grilled chicken, as well as vegetables. It sounds boring, but there is a lot of things that you can do with grilled chicken. I recently discovered guacamole, as well as the wonder that is honey mustard.
Many say when I tell them "how do you live?" It's actually really easy. The only time that I ever really had trouble was when I went away to California, because there were many hamburger options that only offered hamburgers. Other than that, most of the places I eat at have some sort of chicken option. I also have to take a special vitamin to make sure that I have enough iron in my system without getting really sick.
When I tell people a lot of them insult me because I don't eat meat. My grandma is often confused by the concept, and takes it personally that I don't eat her meatballs. I'm not sure how much longer I can go being a pollatarian, however I don't regret my decision. It taught me to expand my horizons food wise, and try new things. It also taught me to eat healthier, even though a lot of the times I end up eating starches. I don't think that I'll ever be a full on vegetarian, because of that.
So, today's my one year anniversary. I'm very proud of myself, to say the least.
Are you a vegetarian of some sort? Let me know.

How to Be A Successful Vegetarian

For those of you who know me personally, I am a pollotarian. That means that I only eat chicken or turkey for my meats. I've been a full pollotarian for over 4 months now, and I've never felt better about myself and my body. I feel more healthier, plus I don't eat any animal (except chickens, but that's okay).
Other than pollotarian, there's several different types of vegetarian. There's the full blown vegetarian who doesn't eat any meat. There's pollo-pescetarian which is when you don't eat beef, but eat fish and chicken. There's pollotarian, which is what I am. And of course there's vegan when you don't eat or use any animal products.
Needless to say, it's a big transition to go from eating meat to not eating meat. However, many people will soon become vegetarians, despite the fact that it isn't easy. However, I have some helpful tips to help all of y'all out!
Make it a gradual change, not a drastic one. Start by slowing weeding meat out of your life. That means instead of eating meat as often as you normally do, limit it to once a week. Then once a month. Slowly phasing it out helps your body adjust faster. At least in my experiences, anyways. When I first decided to become a pollotarian, I limited my beef consumption to once a month. Then gradually after a few months, I decided to eat none what so ever.
Take your vitamins. Talk to your doctor about your lifestyle choices, because chances are you're probably going to need a supplement for whatever you're giving up. I take iron supplements, because at first I used to get very sick and dizzy all of the time. Ever since I started though, I've been feeling like that less and less.
Discover new foods. During the times that I was waning myself off of meat, I began to discover awesome foods to eat in lieu of it. It can become very boring eat nothing but chicken, but I've begun to branch out. I now enjoy quesadillas, veggie wraps, and sweet potato fries to name a few awesome things that I've been enjoying. Discovering new foods are awesome because it could then lead to a new food obsession!

Are you a vegetarian of any kind? If so, what kind and why? Let me know in the comments below.

My Life As A Pollotarian

Hi, my name is Natalie and I am a pollotarian. A pollotarian is someone who doesn't eat red meat, but does eat chicken and meat products. So, that's right folks I don't eat meat, and I haven't touched beef in a few weeks. (the only reason why I ate meat then was because of medical reasons) I've decided to not eat anything but chicken in late November, making Thanksgiving a virtual nightmare, but sometimes ate meat. However, I decided to give this pollotarian a shot and actually try to actually not eat meat.

Some say that pollotarians are like the stepping stones of the process of becoming vegetarian. Others, called pesce-pollotarians, eat both fish and chicken. Some do this for ethics, others do it for health. However there are people, like me, who just choose to eat chicken and turkey.

I decided to do this as a push to become more healthy, first of all. Beef and red meat do have iron and al of that good stuff. However, I wanted to get more vegetables in my diet becaus those are important things to have. Ever since then, I've noticed a big change in my eating habits. I am eating more salads, and other vegetables. I also decided this because I really don't feel comfortable eating something that was a mammal. I thought that it was unethical because we're mammals, and it feels wierd eating a mammal. 

Ever since December, I have lost over 6 pounds. I feel a bit more healthier. However, I have a hard time getting my daily amount of nutrients, so I often eat a lot of spinach and other leafy vegetables. Some other sneaky ways to get protien are greek yogurt, and nuts. I also don't eat as much white bread, and have been subsituting it with rye or wheat bread. I also have been eating a lot of protien bars, such as balance bars and Special K, because they have about 30% of my daily value of iron. It's hard trying to get every nutrient that you need, so sometimes supplements may be neccesary. 

Are you a vegetarian, pollotarian, or semi-vegetarian?