I first have to tell you why I became vegetarian. On September 2015, I moved to San Francisco to do my Masters in Social Entrepreneurship.
Before that, I had been quite the carnivore, definitely influenced by my family and nationality (Iâm Frenchđ«đ·).
Let me paint a picture. I must have been about 8 or 9 years old, sitting on the steps outside of my grandmotherâs house, watching her pluck a pheasant we would then enjoy later that evening.
Growing up, our Christmas meals often contained meat hunted by my father and in the fall, seeing my mom or dad pluck ducks in the backyard was a normal occurrence.
So you can imagine my familyâs reaction đł when I decided to become vegetarian after watching Cowspiracy as recommended by our sustainability professor. Watching that movie opened my eyes to the impact my personal meat consumption was having on this planet. I also was interning part-time at this amazing non-profit Made in a Free World fighting against modern slavery. My role was to create impactful social media posts to get peopleâs reactions. So I learned about men and women in South East Asia being enslaved for years in boats fishing or the women forced to peal shrimps by hand so that they coud be frozen and easy to cook, in the west.
It was too much to bare and I needed to make a difference. I needed to act in congruence with what I believed. I want to be a part of a just and fair world and if my food choices were not acting in line with that, a change needed to happen.
So from one day to the next I became âflexitarianâ. I chose this label because as much as I was convinced in my new way of life, I didn't want to force others to change as a consequence. For example, being invited at friends for dinner, etc⊠So I was vegetarian when I could control it and flexitarian when I couldnât. That changed later where I became fully vegetarian.
At first, it felt GREAT. I was experiencing eating more whole foods, introducing different types of vegetables and fruit into my diet.
Over the last 5 years though, I noticed a few things.
I craved meat. Going home was a nightmare. I wanted to eat everything and sometimes I would try the Christmas meals. Even though my family was amazing and very supportive (the first Christmas RaĂșl and I went home they made vegetarian meals for five days for everyone). Because I had created this restriction for myself, I no longer tuned in to my intuition. It wasnât even âallowedâ to explore what this craving might be saying.
I needed a LOT more quantities to stay full. I probably wasnât the âbestâ vegetarian. I didnât do a lot of research on how to ensure to get the right amount of protein and so I compensated by eating a lot of carbs. I always felt hungry and it seemed like I would eat 3x more than my non vegetarian friends around me.
The beginnings of my bloating journey. Tracing back, itâs when my bloating journey began and how I think I developed a gluten intolerance. I started over the years to get away from eating a Whole Foods balanced diet and towards eating more processed foods. Anytime new vegetarian options came out, think lab created meat alternatives, I was so excited to try. I was having dairy free milks full of canola oils, gums and other things I couldnât pronounceâŠ
I also had less energy, relied on coffee to function and was going through a burnout. I could really feel this frustration towards the deprivation, one that I was creating for myself. I started eating animal protein âin secretâ sometimes or only around RaĂșl or my family. In some ways, I could tell it was no longer supporting my lifestyle but I wasnât letting myself listen because of the important values I was standing behind by making this choice.
Of course, a lot of the consequences my body was going through have nothing to do with being vegetarian but the combination of it all made me question my choice.
By December 2020, I was ready to take my health back into the vitality I once had and I knew I was ready to reintroduce meat and fish into my diet.
I started out small but very quickly started seeing the difference:
I had more energy
I needed a lot less quantity of food to feel nourished and full
I felt free from restriction and deprivation
One thing that has remained extremely important to me is to ensure I take care of our planet in the process of coming to back to eating animal product. Turns out ensuring itâs good for the planet = good for our health.
Making sure things are: pasture raised, grass-fed, without GMOs, antibiotics, not mass produced, local productions, with respect and kindness towards our planet.
So I will prioritize shopping at farmers markets, or getting products delivered from places like Butcher Box or Water 2 Table. If out at restaurants, I ask where they source their ingredients from and I still prioritize having mainly whole foods on my plate.
I dream of having a piece of land one day where I can grow my own foods, having some chickens and maybe a cow and tend to the earth. I want to protect this beautiful home of ours and connect with the deep love I have for its nature and all it does for us. Maybe one day, I will be plucking a pheasant for my grand daughter to enjoyâŠ
If you take one thing away from this blog, let it be: âConnect with what feels good to you.â What feels good to me is finding a diet that nourishes me and sourcing the products from places that have the benefit of our planet in mind.
I am in no position to tell you what you should put into your body or how you go about your choices. All I can do is share my experience in finding what has helped me feel good.
With love and lightâš
Magali