Tried It, and This Happened: Pescatarian Diet Adventures
Okay. It has officially been 31 days and I have successfully been a pescatarian for a month. I am proud—craving chick fil a, but proud. In May, I decided I would give up meat for a month and detox my body from the harmful toxins of all things meat. Now, despite my new proclamation as a non-meat eater, I just couldn’t abstain from seafood. I’m from Maryland, we basically live, sleep and breathe blue crabs—avoiding that in the summertime would be egregious. But, alas, I still went without meat for an entire month, and I plan on doing it again! The journey wasn’t exactly easy, but, ya know what? It wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be either!
I’ll be honest, the very first day I wanted to cheat. The universe had to be pointing and laughing at me saying “how can we mess with Milan” because exactly 12.5 hours after I declared myself a pescatarian, I began to crave Popeye’s chicken from the deepest part of my soul. Have no fear, I didn’t give in, but the thought was there. A month seemed incredibly long. While I’ve never been a huge red meat eater, I had an immaculate love affair with chicken. What the hell was I going to do?! What the hell was I going to eat?! To remedy my troubles, I decided to go to the only place I could think of to help me: Trader Joe’s. God bless that store! I bought tofu spring rolls (I ate them in only a few hours…they were that good), orange cauliflower (pictured below) which, although it didn’t taste like orange chicken was super tasty, and a host of other products, including a straight up block of tofu.
Now, I will say, be careful with soy. According to my research, large amounts of soy can be harmful. While the research still need to be further explored, and there are definitely benefits to soy consumption, animal studies suggest that a high intake of soy could lead to fertility and reproductive issues. Be wary! Okay, so now that’s covered. I have a ton of food, what do I cook? I asked my twitter followers for some yummy vegan recipes and this one was super delicious (I just made a few tweaks). One of my favorite things to eat even before I made the switch to pescatarianism was Trader Joe’s soy chorizo. Just cook it for a bit on the stove, heat up some tortillas, and add whatever toppings you like! Another favorite of mine is the Quorn brand (please, please, get their chicken nuggets). Once I got into the swing of things, eating at home wasn’t particularly difficult. I didn’t even have that many cravings. When I ventured outside of my home and started my full-time work schedule, I started having difficulties.
If I didn’t pack a lunch, it was damn near impossible to find lunch options without meat. But there is one place, conveniently placed minutes away from my office, that I’d go to even if I wasn’t on a dietary restriction. In fact, way before I converted, I would go to this restaurant at a different location. What’s the name of the restaurant you ask? NuVegan. And wow. Before The Conversion, I stuck to the vegan crabcake (it’s still a fave), but there are so many yummy options on the menu! If you live in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia), please try this food, even if you’re not on any dietary restriction. Just look at this beef and broccoli!
Everything I’ve ever had from this restaurant is absolutely amazing! If you’re in Baltimore, try the vegetarian restaurant, Land of Kush. I haven’t been here, but I’ve literally heard nothing but great things and it’s 100% on my To Try list. Come on, look at this crab cake. If you search, there are options out there when you want to go out to eat! You just have to search your city a bit!
Alright, now that we have the food covered, we’re going to look at what you guys probably care about most: the results. I can honestly say that while I was pescatarian (I’m taking a break for a week or so to binge, sick, I know) I felt so much better. I had more energy, my skin was clearer, my bowels were exceptionally healthy (look, that’s probably TMI but you oughta know). I never truly had bad skin, but there was definitely more of a glow. Naturally, I forgot to take before and after pics, but just take my word for it, ok? As far as weight fluctuations, I gained a few pounds, but that was intentional, as can be seen in the absurd amounts of black beans I ate. I was also doing strength training during this time period. Overall, I just felt…well…better. Granted, this was only a month, but I felt such great results, I plan on making this my preferred dietary way of life.
Of course, I am no saint, I cheated a few times—once during Memorial Day weekend, and once some other time when the glorious scent of whatever meat was cooking was attacking my nostrils. But that’s okay! If you cheat a few times, that’s okay! Get off the train and get right back on! And, if you decide you absolutely, positively hate this lifestyle, at least you can say you did it! Come on, give it a shot, and tell me how it goes when you do!