Meat free for a month: 9 things l learnt

My theme for 2016 is habits.

They can be good (savings account), and also bad (hello kind baristas of Taylor Street).

This year, each month, I’m challenging myself to pick up a new positive habit or drop a bad one. Some I’ll continue with beyond the month. Some I won’t. But at least I will have given it a go.

January’s challenge was pretty straightforward, eat no meat (or fish). And I eat a lot of the stuff. In 2015, I honestly don’t think I had a single meat free day.

There’s a whole bunch of reasons why eating meat is both bad for you and for the environment. Google it. I was pretty shocked.

Here are 9 things I learnt being meat free for a month:

One — I didn’t know any vegetarian recipes
Apart from beans on toast. Seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating my greens, but they’d always be the accompaniment to the main meat act. The Watson to my Holmes. The Dassey to my Avery. Fast forward a month, and there are now at least five or six veggie recipes in my repertoire.

Two — Quorn is your friend
Mo was right, it is delicious and nutritious. When I was struggling for ideas, it was comforting to know that lasagne, chilli, stir fry and even a chicken and mushroom Quorn pie were all fallback options. And no, it’s not cheating.

Three — Don’t go to Nando’s if you’re veggie
No matter how much avocado and halloumi you shove in the wrap, it won’t mask the taste of the spicy soya and tomato burger. Plus you’ll have the misery of watching your mates chow down on delicious PERi-PERi chicken.

Four — You’ll visit the toilet less
Chalk this up as another win for the environment; cutting out meat reduced my trips to the toilet in half. Less water usage, less spent on toilet paper, good for my bowels, and my flatmate was pretty appreciative too.

Five — You’ll save a lot of money
Meat is expensive, like really expensive.

Six — It massively helped my choice paralysis
Stick a menu in front of me and I freeze. Getting it wrong is bad. No one wants food envy. Being veggie reduces your options by 70% which means less time choosing, and more drinking/chatting.

Seven — Linda McCartney built a vegetarian food empire
And the stuff is pretty tasty.

Eight — It made zero difference to my energy/health/wellbeing
This was the most surprising, but I honestly didn’t feel any different to when I was eating meat. I slept the same, I exercised the same, I concentrated the same. Fewer trips to the toilet was the only noticeable physical change.

Nine — I love meat
I really do. I broke my fast on 1 Feb with the Dead Hippie burger from my favourite burger place in London, MEATmission. It was glorious. I could never give up meat completely, I know that now, BUT I will have two or three days a week meat free from now on. It’s good for the environment, my bowels and the wallet. A new (half) habit successfully picked up.

Oh and February’s challenge? No booze. Shit.