Stuffed field mushrooms topped with parmesan cheese served with mixed vegetable wild rice
This is the last post from me for a while as I am getting ready to go on holiday, and although the beach, the pool, lots of relaxation and an abundance of wonderful vegetarian food will be featuring, my lap-top will not! In any case I thought around half way is a good time to review my goals and consider the impact of my vegetarian diet so far.
When I started thinking about a vegetarian diet these were my goals:
- To increase my energy levels
- To feel less fatigue and tiredness (Not the opposite of 1, but linked to 3)
- To reduce the symptoms of my Psoriatic Arthritis
- To reduce my intake of tea from 6 to 3 cups, plus herbal tea at night
- To increase my intake of water gradually over the month from 0.5 litres to 2 litres
- To avoid processed foods as much as possible
I would say that I have achieved 1 and 4 definitely. My energy levels been up; I have been working very hard and have been raring to go most mornings. Re-discovering Jasmine tea has made number 4 easy to do!
I have made good progress with 6 – avoiding processed foods. I have cooked from scratch most evenings, and I have only eaten processed foods when I have been out and could not avoid it.
I have not achieved number 5 – I am still terrible at drinking water! I will practise this on holiday.
Numbers 2 and 3 are to do with the effects of my Psoriatic Arthritis – I would say this is inconclusive. I have still had aches and pains, swellings, stiffness etc all over my body and at different times. I think it would take a very long time for me to be able to conclude that this sort of diet has a healing or positive effect on a chronic disease. However, I think there are many other positive effects which are not as easy to measure – like the strength of my nails, hair and skin (which are all looking and feeling super healthy). My whole digestive system has felt as though it is working more efficiently and I have not felt bloated or gassy (which surprised me)!
I would also say that the psychological effects of this diet have been very positive. It gives me the feeling that I am in control of what goes into my body, (so why not choose good things?) and that the fresh food can get to work straight away as it’s being digested easily, without lots of synthetic ingredients getting in the way.
A colourful side dish of seasoned raw vegetables – I would not eat this as a whole meal, but as a little side dish, it is a crunchier version of a traditional salad
I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts. As always please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I promise to keep working on my goals whilst I am away and will bring back some photos to share 🙂