What I've learned in March

Happy April! 10 more days before I'm a grown-up

:D haha...

I did it :). March is done and so I've spent 31 days being a vegeterian, not consuming alcohol or anything smokable. What did it give me?

First of all, I feel really good. It might ofcourse be also because it's spring or because I believe that this kind of clean month makes me feel good and my thoughts make me think I feel it, or just a coincidence, but I have a lot of energy, I feel very motivated and inspired to do things and I enjoy myself in the things I do :). 

*All in all it wasn't a great challenge. Partly probably because as it turned out I dont eat much meat anyway and partly because as I made the plan from the start lasting a whole month, it wanst hard to stick with it, as I knew the thing is going to last for a month and there's no point thinking about it before every meal for example.
What was interesting, however, is that even though I didn't miss eating meat, after about two weeks, I started missing the feeling of it. I didnt realize it first and thought that I've just discovered that sun-dried tomatoes are good and kept on eating them, but later I figured that it's probably the texture, that it's a bit like meat. I somehow missed how it feels in my mouth - not as crunchy as raw vegetables and fruits, but not as soft as the other things I was eating.

*I also learned that although there's been a lot of discussion whether or not it's possible to have sufficient amount of proteins and micronutrients like iron, zink, magnesium, b12 and so on in your diet when you're a vegeterian, it's actually quite easy. I double-checked myself using the webpage www.tap.nutridata.ee and managed to post almost everything I ate every day, to keep track of myself, and to me it seems that it's not very difficult to have sufficient nutrients as long at least, as one is not a vegan.

If anything, I might have run a bit low on iron. As the recommendation is bigger for females as it is for males anyway, as we loose it through our blood, and a great deal of iron comes from meat, (and heme-iron only comes from meat), it is, I'd say the micronutrient I had most troubles with.
The symptoms of mild iron deficiency are having difficulties to focus, feeling tired and moody. I think it's my symptoms you can read about a couple of posts below ;). 

*What surprised me was the social factor in it. Wouldn't it make sense, that what I put into my mouth is my decision and problem, and not supposed to affect people around me? Well, that's not how it worked. And even my hypothesis that it's gonna influence my social life because I might start avoiding parties and not feel as if I'd wanna go, was wrong.
What happened was, my friends, started to be all weird to me. For example when just going out to lunch they suddenly said 'ooooh, but you're a vegeterian now, huh? So you can't eat anywhere...what can you eat? Is there a place you know where you could have something normal?' And I was like..hey, I do eat fish..and I can just have a salad or soup..naah :D. 

And my smoking friends didn't felt weird smoking in front of me a'la you're all so healthy now and do you mind if i smoke, i can have the cigarette later if you want to, are you sure its ok with you etc etc...
AND what surprised me the most were conversations like ( I promised it really happened. repeatedly) oh it was a really great party yesterday, but we missed you so, you sooo should have been there, parties are not the same without you...and I'm like..well, you could have just invited me..:/. and they would be like yeaah, but you're not drinking anymore.
So the thing is, if you dont drink, you cant have fun and you won't be invited, probably based on the assumption that you'd say no anyway. 

So my friends became very aware and conscious about their own actions and felt..i guess kind of weird around me, so they (unconsciously I hope) started to avoid me. And I find it's crazy that thats how things work.

 Of course it might be just cause I'm friends with the people im friends with :D. 

And actually some really nice things happened as well, like for example a couple of them joined me for running, as that's a thing we can do together, and I went swimming many times with my roommate, and when I suggested for example going rollerskating and watching a movie later at home on a friday evening, my friends were up to it and enjoyed it. So the people, who managed to keep an  open mind or not think about 'my march', actually start doing what one could call 'higher quality' activities with me :). 

*I also learned, where in Aarhus, is the best Salmon salad; that tofu is actually ok to eat and so are olives and sun tried tomatoes; and that I do not like Falafel even if I'm a vegetarian.

*With a lifestyle like mine in March, there's no...place nor need nor..reason..for junk food. I mean..first of all, if you dont eat falafel (I dont even know how widespread as a junk it is..) then..how many items of junk you could get, is there at all? French fries..yeah..but boring..a shrimp pizza? not in the middle of the night.
Plus if no alcohol is consumed, I dont actually feel as if wanting something..and if there's no hangovers, then..yeah. When or why should you eat junk at all? So I didn't..but on the other hand I never do anyway..but it took me zero thinking about it. 

*There is awful ways to be a vegetarian. If you think about it ice-cream, candies, fried potatoes, potato chips, salted peanuts, cookies, pastries and so on and so on..don't have any meat in them :D. 

I did not practice that. much. 

*Once I really really dreamed of a (sorry I dont know how it is in English, but) a viiner. I really really wanted to have a viiner - that's like a little sausage you put into oven or eat as it is. And the craving lasted almost the whole day :D and at one point I was so focused on it, that I actually caused a dangerous situation in traffic. :/. :D.
But then I slept on it, and it passed. 

*And I really missed getting drunk. I'm sorry, I know how awful it sounds, but i did. I missed it for social reasons. Apparently thats like a..real proper way to slappe af or relax among a lot of people and my friends to it and they feel uncomfortable if they're drinking and Im not and think Im bored and uncomfortable and I dont want to make them feel like that, so it's easier to not be there. Plus there is only that much you can tolerate a bunch of people getting drunk when you're sober :D.
To put it in a really harsh way - life is boring without alcohol. And
*weekends actually seem shorter without partying - when I go out partying, so many things happen and I see so many people with who we do so many things, then arrive home so late that it's almost early already :D, and then go by the pronciple 'have energy to party hard, gotta have the energy to study harder', then I study and clean my home and train and maybe even party again on Saturday and then relax on Sunday and..it's like doing so much. But in March I like basically train-clean-study-meetfriends-sleep-meetfriends-study-clean-train. go to school it's monday. kind of.

* I like to have a cigarette after handing in a n exam and I cant remember the last time I didnt. Again, Im sorry and know it's not nice. And I wanst even aware of it before I was in the situation. But I had a fruit smoothie instead and discovered, it was at least as good, so that's gonna be my new thing to do. (haah, it might get difficult to find one every time tho..:D)

Basically, I've learned so much about myself and other things during this one month, that I could write forever. However, these were the main discoveries if you can call them that, that I brought out here. I'm so glad I did it and I feel physically good as well. I have decided to not eat meat until next Sunday as it's..:O:| what the is that called in English?:D:D..it's...Lihavõtted/Paske and then Im going to start eating meat together with all religious people who were fasting as well. 

And the future looks oh so bright:
We have started our Paske holiday, lasting for a week, during what I'm going to participate in an intensive training camp for throwers, that the coach Simon, Im going to do my work placement with, is throwing. It includes two workout sessions and a bunch of social activities every day, started yesterday and last for the whole week. People participating are all around Denmark and seem to be a lot of fun :). 

Then it's two weeks of school again, then free for almost a week before a 48 hour exam, a little free time as Simon is travelling and then my workplacement for 8-weeks starts :)! I cannnot wait, i promise. And then it's the end of June and time to enjoy the summer :). Plan is to be in Denmark mostly in June and then in Estonia in the beginning/middle of August. And in the end of August come back to start the new schoolyear focusing on overweight and obesity. Haaah, gotta love life, right? :):P.
I'm looking forward and I keep you posted :)
:O and run to gym now, the camp is waiting :):)

Have fun!