#meatlessmonth

Day 19: Do you think anyone could be a vegetarian?

I think that the vegetarian diet is more accessible and culturally accepted than ever before. However, there is definitely a privilege involved. There is a huge problem with low income neighborhoods and food desserts. For those individuals, finding fresh produce is difficult enough let alone protein alternatives to ensure adequate and diverse nutrition needs.

Just finished Day 6 of Yoga with Adriene's #30DayYogaChallenge and after doing core workouts at the gym on Friday, it was really difficult and I took a lot of breaks. But, I'm happy I did it at all and I'm feeling grateful :) I already feel some improvement with my yoga practice after almost a week, being able to hold poses stronger and straighter and being able to get deeper in my twists (twists are my favorite.)

We went to dinner with Dakota's family at Olive Garden tonight and I tried something new! The portobello ravioli (with the minestrone soup) and it was delicious. I actually finished the whole meal (I never finish the whole meal because its usually so heavy). Although, next time I think I'll request the regular marinara sauce instead of the standard cream sauce...

For the month of January, I took on goingveggieproject challenge to go Vegetarian for the whole month (no flesh, but still consuming dairy and eggs) as a step towards living a more compassionate, lighter, veggie filled life.

It has been one week and I haven't really posted an update yet.

So far, it has been surprisingly and relatively easy to accomplish. Most if not all restaurants have at least some version of a black bean or Boca burger patty substitute that makes it easy. Personally, I hate salads. I really do. For as much as I love leafy greens and veggies all around I really avoid eating just salads as a meal (as a side, its great). So I was nervous going into January that I would need to live on salads and live hungry for a month. Luckily, I've been able to avoid that.

When we went to buffalo wild wings, sure my mouth watered when the server brought D and M's wings and me y black bean burger but I was happier at the end of the meal and I got to eat with some of my best friends while being compassionate and feeling lighter when I finished.