Our View: thoughtful eating goals

When I decided to stop eating meat back in July 2017 my goal wasn't to become a vegan or even a vegetarian, my goal was to start putting more thought into what goes into my body.

Ask any doctor or nutritionist, health starts with diet. Whenever I've tried to lose weight everyone has always told me to remember its '80% diet and 20% exercise' but dieting isn't easy and I think what I needed was a lifestyle change, more movement less potatoes.

So I started putting thought into every meal I made. Breakfast has gone from toast covered in margarine to a bowl of yoghurt, fruit and muesli for protein with flax seed and pumpkin seeds for omega 3. My lunches are big salads or veggie meals and my tea is the same. I'm working on eating more at lunchtime and less for tea to help improve my energy levels but it's difficult when you're used to your main meal at night.

Most sources agree that more fruit and veg is good for you and that's why vegetarianism and veganism are so good, because you eat so many more plant based things. People disagree on whether you should actually cut out meat, some people think its the devil where as others think some meat is necessary for a healthy diet. In my opinion I don't want to eat meat because I feel healthier without it and it's better for the environment. Also everyone knows eating meat is a bit ethically squiffy but that's not really what this post is about.

Whether you eat meat or not I think everyone that can should put thought into what they are putting into their body. Take the time to think if your food is giving you the vitamins and minerals you need. Most of us have vitamin C when we start to feel ill or get a cold, but why aren't we doing this all year round? If you make sure your body has what it needs I think you are far less likely to get run of the mill illnesses, even bigger things like cancer are said to be reduced in likelihood by vegetarianism, but I think that's because of the quality of food vegetarians eat, a.k.a more veg, rather than the complete lack of meat.

Every meal I make for myself is now loaded with veg, I've gone past the typical meal of meat (or meat substitute) veg and carb and I now have totally plant-based meals. When I cook I make as many different types of veg as I feel like eating, I'll have a salad with roast veg and a baked potato, or rice and a veggie stir fry including 6 different vegetables.

I want to put the effort in to be healthy and that starts with diet. At the moment I'm worried less about how much I eat and more about making sure I'm eating things that are good for my body and make me feel healthier. Next up: working on actually moving more than getting out of bed to turn Netflix on and off.

#vegetarian #Vegetables #healthyliving #healthy #healthyeating #diet #EmilyJones