meatcation
Oct 15th, 2009 by lissa
I switched to a largely vegetarian diet – more accurately pescetarian – last year before I went to Manila, in response to finding out what exactly the Filipino delicacy of balut was.
(gross. it is so gross. don’t even)
(actually I found out about balut and l’ortolan at the same time and it nearly ended me, let alone put me off most meat)
Everything was fine and dandy, especially in Manila where I had one company-expensed meal a day that was mostly sushi. If you ever are in Manila, I do recommend Circles Buffet in the Makati Shangri-La. All you can eat sushi! And good sushi at that.
I was getting plenty of protein then, but when I came home things got…dicey. I can’t afford sushi every day and I am not a fan of most vegetarian sources of protein.
Why yes, this is problematic!
I tried. I got protein powders for smoothies. I got reduced fat peanut butter. But I couldn’t do much because that was when I was way in over my head financially in the townhome.
My left leg began to hurt. Considerably and without ceasing while I worked out. And after. And randomly throughout the day. A doctor at the walk in clinic suspected gout or a stress fracture.. I couldn’t afford an x-ray to make sure it wasn’t a stress fracture. So I went home and I elevated my leg, I stopped working out, and things got better.
Round about March, I found myself missing running. I started that back up, and then I found hooping a few weeks later. I was suddenly pretty active again, losing weight and feeling great.
Untiiiiiiiil the naggity pain came back up. Annoying!
I ignored it. I figured it would sort itself out once I lost more weight. I assumed it was really weight related.
I lost twenty pounds and got bored with dieting and working out all the time. And the pain wasn’t stopping. Actually, it was getting worse. I decided it was my left leg because that’s my pivot leg and dominant direction in both dance and hooping. Maybe if I hooped to the right? That needed work anyway.
A little help. Temporarily.
Finally, after a year plus of this – when I couldn’t even sit still and not feel twinges – it clicked. JD used to say, if something is wrong, go back to the last thing you changed. That probably caused the problem.
The last massive change was the big diet shift. And I am pretty conversant in nutrition. I knew full well I wasn’t getting enough protein. More than I had been, but still. I was suddenly pretty sure there was a correlation between the lack of protein and the hurty leg.
I stopped working out again and rested, because I knew I had to give the gimpy leg a break. I also knew I was going to have to protein load in order to heal as quickly as possible. With my insensible aversion to beans, that meant going the quick and dirty route: meat.
It was great at first. I indulged in everything I had “deprived” myself of for over a year. Bacon, chicken strips, roast chicken, grilled chicken (I like chicken. what?), brisket, barbecue, you name it I ate it. I pretty much went Atkinsy. And my god, my first pepperoni pizza in a year and a half, I thought I would faint.
I will admit, my leg is doing much better.
But after a month, I think if I face one more hunk of dead land-dwelling animal, I’ll cry. I hit Meat Saturation today. I can’t take any more. I have to learn to live with beans, which is a big source of protein. I would rather develop a taste for legumes than touch another chicken strip. If protein is the problem – and it appears it was – then I have to solve said problem in a way I can tolerate.
I swear, I FELT my arteries clogging. And by the way, I’m 100% behind the theory that humans don’t digest meat as efficiently. Don’t ask me how I came to back that.
It’s stupid for me to eschew beans when it’s really just a texture thing. The taste doesn’t bother me too much, I just don’t like chewing them. Their waxy skins, the grainy insides, it’s misery. So I have to find recipes that don’t involve eating beans in the form of beans. Hummus is one way I like, but I can’t live on it. Soup, I guess, is another way. I have a bag of lentils to experiment on next.
GOD I hate beans.
But I hate not hooping or dancing or running even more. I estimate another couple of weeks before I can get really back into all of it, and I have to spend that time protein loading as much as I can. If I can’t stand meat, well, I know my options.
This ought to be lots of fun.
i hate beans too b/c of the texture. hate hate hate. yet I do love hummus….pulverized beans.
maybe not going all nutso over meat is the way to go. fish, chicken..do you like fish at all? tofu?
I’m mostly on a non-meat diet too…it’s rare that I have it, and usually only when eating out, for simplicity’s sake. How much protein does a person need? I don’t consciously incorporate protein into my diet.
Hmm Google says about .75g protein for every pound of body weight. I guess the next step is to start tracking how much protein is in the stuff I eat
Split peas are a good source of protien (if you like them-9grams or so). Lentils too. Of you like soy milk then you could drink that or use it on cereal. Kashi Golean Crunch has quite a bit of protien in it. But make sure you get the golean crunch. The regular golean is not good. I like to hide tofu in foods that are creamy. Then we get extra protien and my family doesn’t know they are eating tofu (just blend it up and throw it in). Also check out a grain called quinoa. It has a lot of protien. Good luck. And you’re right–eating beans is much better than dead flesh.