nicol wong

No Meat for 50 Days

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sushi wasabi leeds starbucks green tea matcha almond milk latte pescatarian

Today marks day 50 of this no meat phase. In my family, if an immediate family member passes away, we stop eating meat (red and white) for 4 weeks but fish and seafood is allowed. Not everyone follows this. Even though my auntie wasn’t an immediate member, she had treated me like her own daughter ever since I was born, therefore I’ve adopted this and decided to change it to 50 days instead. We’re not religious, nor is this a Chinese tradition (I don’t think).

I had started this at the beginning of last month and today is my last day. If I mention that I was turning vegetarian, I know I’m going to get a lot of hate and rage for calling a sea eater a vegetarian. Instead, I had turned pescatarian. I’m not a massive meat eater in the first place so it wasn’t difficult to adjust my diet to this.

So How Did I Find It?

Initially, I had thought “ALL THE SUSHI” but then realised it’s not good to constantly eat sushi all the time. I was tempted though. Moderation guys, moderation. There were days where I had eaten vegetarian meals and they were delish. This change had helped me explore what is out there, find new ingredients to cook with, try new flavours and to be more adventurous. Enhance my palette despite being a picky eater. I think the biggest challenge is protein intake and trying to find an alternative to chicken and protein shakes especially after a workout. Quorn came straight to mind.

My first week was easy. The second week, my energy levels had started to feel low and my workouts were affected. This could be a number of things from a change in diet, to my anaemia, to the lack of food and sleep to overworking myself. It’s hard to pin point the exact cause. But it did get a lot better after that week, I felt stronger in my workouts. On the 30th May, I did have a big craving for KFC, like I was ready to demolish a whole bucket. That was the only craving I had throughout the 50 days.

I didn’t have an issue with eating out as most places did have vegetarian options. Some didn’t tickle my fancy so I was able to pass and save some money too.

Any Results?

Less bloated for sure but that would be counteracted by whenever I eat out. All the white carbs! I do feel lighter and have lost some weight, nothing drastic. Physically, I haven’t seen much changes to my body as I haven’t really kept in check and my daily routine has changed midway through. Do I have more energy? No. My energy levels have been the same as when I ate meat. Apart from that one KFC craving, I don’t crave it as much as I had initially thought. Whenever I see chicken wings, chorizo etc on the menu or any dishes on Instagram, my body doesn’t yearn for it now. The way I perceive food has changed. I fancy meals that are vegetable heavy now. It’s strange how a change in diet can affect the way you look at food.

What’s Next?

I thought I would miss eating meat a lot but am surprised I only miss it a little bit. I would slowly incorporate it back into my diet yet tone down the quantity. Maybe have it as a post workout treat only, there might be some days where I don’t eat any but who knows ey. Meat free Mondays will become a thing for me now and this is for certain. There’s a lot of vegetarian recipes I would love to try and make. For now, I’m going with the flow and listening to my body. Now pass me the spinach!

Have you given up anything for a certain length of time or possibly forever?

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21 responses to “No Meat for 50 Days”

  1. Gareth Torrance says:

    I could not give up meat for 50 days… I would love to say I could, but I love my bacon too much…

  2. Donna says:

    I could totally do this as long as i could have my fish fix!! Well done you, what a fab thing to do!

  3. Jen says:

    My soul says don’t eat meat, my body says I need it. I’ve been vegetarian and vegan in the past, and suffered for it. I tried all kinds of substitutes, but if I wasn’t keeping a regular check on things, then I was breaking out in spots, hair going thin, and generally looking like I needed something else. Six years ago, I started eating some meat again. Very picky still, and still prefer not to eat it, but I think I benefit from it.

  4. Oh wow I don’t think I could go for 50 days without meat, I am one of those people who needs it in their diet, but what a nice tradition to partake in for those you love, it is interesting to hear of different families ways.

  5. Vivian says:

    wow 50 days is an achievement!

    Vivian | LIVE . IN . LOVE
    IG | @VIVIYUNN_

    ~

  6. Agata says:

    I had a period of time with no refined sugar at all… no shop bought snacks, as they all contained sugar, just homemade meals and treats… it wasn’t as hard as I thought it will be, but I am not sure I could give up meat…

  7. Jessica says:

    I admire those that don’t eat meat or very little of it. Good job on going 50 days. I couldn’t give it up. I have given up sweets and desserts before. Sugar is my down fall. I lost weight when I gave it up. You are right, moderation is key for everything. If we don’t overdo something we should be ok.

  8. I’ve done two month’s of vegan eating before, just to see if I could do it and to push myself into eating different things. Well done for keeping it up you’ve done so well x

  9. I’ve not tried to give up meat before but I have given up sweets for lent before x

  10. Wow! You really have done an amazing job on this. My daughter went Vegetarian last June which means our household has pretty much cut out 75% of our meat consumption, but I just cant give it up completely.

  11. Jade Bremner says:

    I’m interested in how your family tradition started. I couldn’t give up meat partly because I can’t eat seafood due to allergies and I would really miss meat. Respect to you for doing this x

  12. Ali Rost says:

    Good for you for trying something new (and sticking with it!) I know I’d have a hard time not eating meat, my body seems to need it. That being said, everyone is so different My daughter-in-law has been a vegetarian for years and feels great. At the very worst, like you said, it pushed you to try more vegetable forward meals and truly, how can that ever be a bad thing? So nicely done!

  13. My heart is sooooo excited as soon as I saw that box of sushi. I am all about sushi … especially before the pregnancy. So the no meat in 50 days is quite a great thing in my book as long as it involves sushi.

  14. I think giving up certain food group is a great way to explore other foods you wouldn’t necessarily pick… and ultimately it leads to better choices.

  15. Sarah Ann says:

    I think I would really struggle to give up meat for 50 days. Particularly as I don’t like seafood – it would be so challenging!

  16. Lilinha says:

    I eat meat twice a day, lunch and dinner, but went through a vegetarian stage (for around 6 months).

  17. Anosa says:

    Interesting tradition of sort, I love my meat too much but I could survive with just fish as I eat and prefer that more than anything else.

  18. Jessica McDonnell says:

    Well done for lasting 50 days, I know a lot of people who would struggle at 1. I’ve been vegetarian for 13 years now (no fish) and don’t miss it at all.

  19. Louise says:

    You’ve done so well to go 50 days without any meat! We don’t eat meat every day, but I think I’d struggle not to have any in a week (if that makes sense)

    Louise x

  20. Michelle says:

    Ah I practiced the 49 of no meat when my Granny passed away – it’s a Buddhist ritual! (: I went vegetarian in the summer of last year but am now just listening to my body as I suffer from anaemia which makes things a little tricky depending on my activity of the day. Meaty Monday helps, so one day eating meat and six days veggie! x

  21. Nelu Mbingu says:

    I’ve been vegetarian for several years now, but not for any of the traditional reasons. I think you still have a very wide variety of food to eat without meat. Meat is not everything lol

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Nicol Wong

Nicol is a British Chinese blogger, using this blog to document the good, the bad and the ugly experiences, thoughts and personal journeys.

欢迎您来到我的博客!Nicol是一名英国华裔博主。她用这个博客记下来一些经历过好的,坏的及丑陋的时光,想法与自我之旅。