1 Year of No Meat Mondays
So I officially finished my No Meat Monday adventure that began last year (2020). The rule was simple — don’t eat meat on Mondays, and I’m happy to announce that I accomplished it. Was it easy? No. Some Mondays, I was craving meat, and drinking a lot more protein shakes because I was constantly hungry. Some days were: just avoid meat, while other days, I was actively seeking out vegetarian food. Thailand made things easy, as there were lots of vegetarian options, but there were also Mondays when I ate with other people, and watching them eat meat made me envious.
Did I notice any health benefits? No, not really. Weight stayed the same, but that’s likely due to protein shakes and constantly going to the gym. Did I sleep better? No idea. I track my sleep on FitBit, but I’m too lazy to go back and isolate each Monday night’s sleep score and compare that to other days.
All in all, it was something I wanted to try, and realized that I don’t have the “stickwithitness” to be a complete vegetarian, nor do I desire to be. It was fun while it lasted, and though I might need to change my diet as I get older, I will continue to eat meat, daily, though some days, I can see myself going full vegetarian, just sort of a “what do I feel like today?” sort of situation, rather than a structured plan.
Best thing I ate? Honestly, it was the fake chicken (tofu) in curry with chilis over rice. Tasted just like chicken and had a similar texture.
No Meat Monday 52
Japanese style omelette over rice // pasta with mushrooms // baked potatoes // spinach covered with cheese
No Meat Monday 51
Greek yogurt // Egg & cheese sandwich with red cabbage // falafel with pita and veggies
One more No Meat Monday to go, and it will be a full year. Will do a recap next week.
No Meat Monday 50
Greek yogurt // Some cheesecake (though a bit dry) // Squid-ink pasta with garlic and chilies, with a side of roasted potatoes.
I also had some bananas, a protein shake, and some nuts, but was too hungry to snap a pic of them.
No Meat Monday 49
Cheese pizza // Fresh pineapple
Pretty simple day and for some reason, not hungry. *I did not put the pineapple on the pizza.
No Meat Monday 48
Spicy noodles with 2 eggs // Falafal salad with hummus // Fried tofu fish, french fries, and cabbage salad
No Meat Monday 47
Falafel pita sandwich // Bagel sandwich with fried egg, avocado, sprouts, and tomato // Bagel sandwich with scrambled egg, cheese, avocado, and pesto // Cheese and veggie pide
No Meat Monday 46
Eggs, cheese, avocado bagel // 2x fried egg, avocado, sprouts, tomato, and pesto sauce
Found a bagel shop on Grab (food ordering platform) and decided to just get three to last throughout the day. I had yogurt around 8pm, but who wants to see a picture of yogurt?
No Meat Monday 45
Cookies (with raisins) // Falafel wrap with french fries // More falafel with pita and assorted veggies // Hummus and Babaganoush
No Meat Monday 44
Pad Thai // 2 slices of cheese pizza // Avocado and pesto sandwich // Falafel with cabbage and salad
No Meat Monday 43
Japanese rice snacks // Crackers with herb cream cheese // Spinach puff pastry // Messy black bean and cheese quesadilla
No Meat Monday 42
Vietnamese salad rolls (usually there’s pork added, but I went with all veggies) // Falafel & hummus with salad // Falafel & veggies with hummus, coconut jelly things shaped like roses
No Meat Monday 41
Spicy tofu soup with veggies // Falafel with pita, hummus, salsa, and veggies // Falafel salad with tahini and hummus // Pesto and avocado sandwich.
No Meat Monday 40
Eggs with garlic & chili // Pita bread with some sort of Greek cheese // Ratatouille sandwhich with boiled eggs and tahini sauce // Peanut-covered doughnuts (I only had 1)
No Meat Monday 39
Apple // Hummus with avocado and pita // Falafel sandwich // Spicy ramen with 2 eggs
No Meat Monday 38
Cauliflower, boiled eggs, chickpea, falafel wrap with tahini sauce // Almond milk // Fried eggplant with tomato dip and some kind of cream cheese and pickled veggies // Hummus with avocados, chickpeas, and pita bread
Today was definitely a vegetarian day and not just a “avoid meat” day.
No Meat Monday 37
Noodles with 2 eggs // Veggie spring rolls // Spicy tofu salad // Tofu curry
No Meat Monday 36
Omelette over rice // Spicy bamboo salad (has clams, didn’t eat them) // Pad Thai with tofu // Mango with sticky rice
No Meat Monday 35
Pineapple // Mango with sticky rice // Bagel with cream cheese // Egg, cheese, and avocado bagel sandwich
No Meat Monday 34
Fried doughnuts with sugar and some weird flowery filling // Coconut cream things // Spinach & ricotta pizza // Fried bananas with caramel sauce // Blue cheese pizza