Week 2 Kara

Kara 

Meatless Monday #2

3-10-14

I woke up semi early since I had a test in the early afternoon which made me rush my breakfast. However, I made a quick and easy bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal cooked with almond milk (with extra cinnamon on top) with sliced bananas mixed in with it. Since I was on the go, for lunch I ate a “Think Thin” protein bar which is nice since it is high in protein, packed with calcium, and doesn’t have high sugar, fat, or artificial flavors. Along with that I sliced up an organic apple to eat as well. I love eating protein bars when I’m on the go because they’re efficient and still provide the nutrient that’s packed in a typical meal. For a snack, I ate pretzels with red pepper hummus along with a serving of mixed nuts consisting of pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and peanuts. As for dinner, I cooked up fresh broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and green peppers in a pan and then added five egg whites to make it a mixture. On the side, I added brown rice with minced garlic and black pepper (something casual and boring). Last but not least, I ate a Wegman’s Greek strawberry yogurt mixed with semi-sweet chocolate chips which I ate after dinner as my dessert. I ALWAYS crave chocolate after dinner and thought it would be nice to switch it up and just add it to yogurt instead of eating it by itself.

What really affected me the most was my dinner once again. The only reason I say this is because my other meals were either already prepared, on the go, or were made in five minutes (my oatmeal). My dinner required a lot of prepping time cutting the vegetables, boiling the rice, and not to mention separating the egg and yolk to make them egg whites, it is such a pain!

This meatless Monday did not have any negative impact on me, but more positive. Having a test anytime throughout the day gets me anxious and I’d rather take time to study rather than preparing food all day. So, going meatless today actually benefited me since eggs do not take long to cook and all my other snacks/ meals were nutritious and quick to eat.

This week, I think I spent the same amount of money that I usually do on my weekly groceries. Only a few products were organic, and eggs, yogurt, and pretzels are pretty cheap if you get them in bulk sizes (which I sometimes do).

I don’t think this meatless Monday really affected anyone around me since I ate by myself all day. Like I said, I ate my oatmeal in a rush and had an apple and protein bar for lunch, which I ate while on the bus to south. For dinner, all my roommates were either at a meeting or in the library so I cooked everything by myself. Honestly, I didn’t use very many kitchen supplies except to cook the eggs and vegetables. I did have a little extra peppers leftover, so I saved them for another day of this week for a snack.

All in all, going meatless isn’t an inconvenience to me whatsoever. It kind of gives me a break preparing meat everyday, which can kind of get tedious after a while. I enjoy eating fruits and vegetables and eating those throughout the day gives me more of a satisfied feeling along with more energy. Even this being the second week, I can already tell this will get easier along the way since these actions become more of a ritual.