If you have eaten in a restaurant or a
cafeteria, or even visited the doctor within the past two years you have probably
seen many campaigns to stop eating meat on Monday’s. This campaign is called
“Meatless Monday”. You may be thinking to yourself… “Okay, so if I don’t eat
meat for one day, what good is that really
going to do…?” Or, if you’re like me, my first thought was “How the heck do I
even get my protein in then?! Guess they want us to carb load that day…”. I
finally did some research to see what all the hype is about and the statistics
were pretty shocking.
“People who eat fewer animal products have lower rates of
obesity, dementia, arthritis, high blood pressure and other serious medical
conditions. Nutrition experts worldwide are on board; the American Heart
Association, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Kaiser Permanente are
among the leading public health organizations that support reducing meat
consumption to improve health and
prevent disease.” – The Humane Society
So what can going meatless for one day do for you?
- Start out on a good foot. Typically we start everything on a Monday. We say that our diets start next Monday, or that on Monday we will start to get up at 5am, workout, eat a healthy breakfast, and conquer the world. Well… how many times have you fallen short of your “conquer the world starting Monday” promise? By going meatless on Monday’s you’re actually starting your week out on a positive start! Meatless Mondays are there to say, “Hey, lets have some veggies and a great salad with healthy fats, carbs, etc. and maybe an Iced tea with a lemon instead of our Coca Cola”. This isn’t meant to starve you and have you reaching in your pockets for vending machine money. Meatless Mondays make you think differently. It switches your mindset to having a healthy egg and veggie omelets for breakfast, fruits and veggies as snacks, and some great salads and vegetarian meals (listed at the end of this blog) for lunch and dinner.
- Great for your heart. Okay, so before I did any research on this I kept thinking to myself “I don’t eat red meat so I’m okay. I only like chicken, and that fat free, so it’s heart healthy, right?” Wrong. Although chicken is a great source of lean meats, it is always good to take a day or two off of eating meat. Cutting back on meat decreases your risk of heart disease, can lower cholesterol, and can decrease blood pressure. Studies have found that vegetarians have a 32% lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease than omnivores. Studies have also shown that eating more leafy greens and less red meat can help you live longer.
- It reduces your environmental footprint. Have you ever taken an online quiz to see how large your footprint is? According to EarthDay.org it is a resource that measures how much biologically productive land and sea is used by a given population or activity, and compares this to how much land and sea is available. Basically, how “green” are you. Eating less meat makes you greener! Eating vegetarian, once a week, is using less oxygen and water to produce the meat you love to grill out!
- Lastly, going meatless is fun and easy! Make it something you look forward to. Try out a new recipe once a week! How fun would it be to skip the drive through on Mondays (or any other day of the week if Monday won’t work for you) and stay at home to cook up something really nutritious with a loved one? You don’t have to eat tofu and rice every Monday in order to become vegetarian on Monday’s. Linked below are some really great Meatless Monday recipes!
Try it out, and I know you will not be disappointed. After all,
what do you have to loose? Click here for more information and recipes! Give it
a go J
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