Approximately four years ago, I slowly started making changes to my diet just to see if I could enjoy eating vegetarian meals for any serious length of time. First, I went thirty days without meat, chicken, or fish, but once I saw how easy the journey was for me, I went longer. Before I knew it, three months had passed.

Although I'd always ate somewhat healthy by eating plenty of raw foods, I had my moments through the years of not caring what I ate because I had the luxury of being slim without having to work at it. Luckily, I genuinely like healthy food options, so I'd always incorporated them into my diet.

Once I learned that there were plenty of vegetarian meals that I enjoyed, it became even easier to let go of saturated fats, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial foods. But there were actually three other significant things that helped me to decide to alter my diet. One, I noticed pounds adding up, and the older I got it became more difficult to get rid of them through my sometimes lazy attempts at exercising. Two, a woman who I barely knew and looked like she had two kittens stored in her belly had the audacity to say that she thought I was pregnant. Nevermind that I was still a size 6 while she was at least eight sizes my senior. Three, I saw a documentary called Food, Inc., which is a disturbing look at the American food industry. And although I was never trying to get back to my modeling size two, I am back to a respectable size four, which is a good size for me.

Slowly, I incorporated animal protein back into my diet, and I ate it a couple of times a month. Today, I usually eat meat, chicken, or fish on the weekends. This is the best option for me because while I feel fine and still enjoy vegetarian meals, my intent was never to give up animal protein completely. I love beef too much to consider never having it again. Even that scary, yet informative, documentary only had a temporary effect on me. I can live with smaller doses of beef today. In fact, I never really ate it often; it was always like a treat to have a big fat burger or steak.

During the week--breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner--my meals generally contain much of the following: yogurt, oatmeal, legumes, fruit, edamame, various nuts and seeds, vegetables, popcorn, hummus, tofu, and sometimes healthy chip options. Even on the weekends when I allow myself animal protein, I don't eat it at every meal. But I still allow myself to go outside of this eating schedule at times and will have fish or chicken and even cheesecake during the week. However, I've trained my body so well to this eating pattern that these moments of eating pleasure have no major effect on my body.

Some other reasons I decided to keep with this eating lifestyle is for my overall health. Let's face it, we all have unfortunate medical issues in our families that could make us more susceptible to illnesses if we don't try to set up roadblocks in our bodies to stop them.

This eating lifestyle has kept my weight in check with or without working out. However, I choose to have cardio and yoga as constants in my life, not only for my physical health, but for my mental well-being. And quite frankly, for the well-being of others.

#vegetarian #healthyeating #exercise