Let’s be honest, the main reason that most of us write-up these tag posts are because of a serious case of writer’s block. Am I right? They are a nice way of easing yourself back into writing again and pave the way for more creative ideas to flow.
All I can think about at the moment is heading back to Ireland for a week and my brain just won’t function it all. I saw this tag online and although, I was against writing such a post initially, I thought it would actually be quite interesting as these are the types of questions I get asked often. This tag was originally ‘The Vegan Tag’ by Daniela June, but I made some slight changes to suit my lifestyle and changed it into ‘The Pescetarian Tag’.
How long have you been pesceatarian?
I have been a pesceatrian approximately two and a half years.
Why did you become a pescetarian?
There were a number of reasons really. The main reason was that every time I ate meat, especially red meat, my stomach hurt really bad for an hour afterwards. I wanted to test whether this pain would go away once meat was eliminated (it did). Also, I was becoming more and more uncomfortable about eating animals. A meat-free diet was one that I really wanted to adhere to, but it took 25 years for me to bite the bullet and give it a try.
Why pescetarian and not vegetarian?
Initially, I was only going to give up red meat but decided to include poultry as well. I actually didn’t eat fish before I became a pescetarian, but I did eat very unhealthy. I had a fear that I would not get enough nutrients so I decided I would eat fish as a source of protein. However, I don’t eat fish that often and one day I will also exclude it from my diet.
What did your family think?
They didn’t really understand why I was making the change, but they supported my decision. Like mentioned above, they were afraid that I would become ill from a lack of nutrients, but become more confident in the lifestyle when they saw how good it was for me and learned more about the ways nutrients can be sourced from different foods.
Have you had any resistance from friends/family?
Not really. I did get a lot of questions about my choice as well as lectures about how the body needs meat and why couldn’t I just eat it, but this calmed down once it became yesterday’s news.
Is it hard not eating meat?
I thought I would crack after two weeks but I actually didn’t, and still don’t find it hard at all. There are so many tasty alternatives out there and I never get cravings.
What are some of your favourite foods?
I love chickpeas. They are so good for you and so much can be done with them from salads, to curries to hummus. I have also become a big fan of halloumi and use it as an alternative to meat in my burgers. It also tastes great warmed on a salad.
Do you spend more of less money on food since becoming a pescetarian?
I would definitely say less. In these past two and a half years, I have learned a number of great recipes. Because I now have to be more mindful of what I eat, I have also learned to be thrifty with meals and buy just what I need. Plus, wonderful meals can be made with vegetables which cost next to nothing to be. Bags of lentils and similar pulses are so cheap as well and there is so much to do with them.
Will you raise your children on the same diet?
This is not something I have really thought about but I guess I would like to feed them as many meat-free meals as possible.
Joyful Antidotes 