Going Pescetarian
For those of you who might not have heard of a pescetarian before, it's basically a vegetarian except we still include fish and seafood in our diet. Now most people who decide to stop eating meat usually do it in steps by reducing how much meat they consume and eventually stop eating it all together. I think I made things difficult for myself because I just decided to cut out all meat there and then without ever having given it a thought prior to that moment. My decision was based on a complete mixture of things if I'm being completely honest from ethical reasons to just feeling that bit healthier. For the first 6 weeks, I went completely veggie and didn't include fish in my diet whatsoever but I kinda struggled with it a little and decided to eat fish until I'd found other appropriate substitutes, done more research and also I needed to let my body adjust to this important change. However overtime I grew to feel comfortable with the diet I was on and decided to find a happy medium and remain a pescetarian. My friends and family were all really supportive and encouraging which really helped, especially during the first few months because they were a little tough at times. The only thing I struggle with occasionally is finding new recipes to try so if anyone reading this has any suggestions then I'd be so grateful to hear them! I've had so many different reactions when people discover that I don't eat meat and the biggest question I get is "don't you miss it?" And in all honesty, no. I really don't. I think your body adapts and you eventually stop craving it so it really doesn't cross my mind. Now I'm not one of those people who tries to force this kind of lifestyle on anyone because everybody is completely different and some people have diet requirement which makes it difficult to adapt to a diet that doesn't include meat. But if you have ever given it a second thought before and you don't think you can do it - trust me when I say that you can. Take baby steps and do some research to begin with if that makes it easier but I certainly don't regret making this decision and I'm proud of myself for making this change when I did.
Chopping My Hair Off
Roughly 24 hours after deciding to go pescetarian, I made another huge decision regarding my lifestyle. Now this one had been on my mind for roughly 12 months before I decided to just go for it. When I say cutting my hair, I'm talking about a quite drastic change to my hair as opposed to a trim. Ever since I was little, I've had ridiculously thick and curly hair. You only have to see photos of me to see exactly what I mean. My hair was fairly short when I was younger because I never really did anything with it. I mean, do people really style their hair when they're 5 years old? Probably not. I'll always remember my hairdresser telling me that the longer I grew my hair, the thinner and more manageable it would be - so that's exactly what I did. As I got older I eventually found my 'style' which looking back was questionable but cutting it all off never really crossed my mind until I was about 16 years old. I knew that having short hair would be so much easier to deal with despite the fact that it was shapeless when I was younger. My argument was that now that I'm older I'm obviously going to style it more and I just knew that there was no talking me out of it. I wanted it to have a bigger purpose and so I did a little research and discovered the Little Princess Trust which is where I ended up donating 16 inches of my hair. I had so much anxiety about this change because I knew it would be a long time before my hair was ever that long again but oh my goodness you guys. I felt and looked like a completely different person afterwards and I was just thrilled with the outcome. It was so much easier to take care of and it just gave me that confidence that I'd been missing. Hair grows back and you only live once so if you're thinking about doing something similar to what I did, all I can really say is go for it.
Postponing University
Surprisingly, this was probably the most difficult decision to make out of the three. And that's because I've been in education my whole life knowing one day I'd be going to Uni. Whenever I thought about my 'plan' in terms of my education and career etc, I refused to see any obstacles that could prevent me from doing something or even delaying it. I'd finish high school, get through my A Levels and go to Uni and that was that. But after realising a little too late that I'd chosen the wrong subjects to study at A Level, it meant that I was faced with a decision that I really didn't want to have to make. I could either struggle through to the end of my two years at college and then go to University as planned or I could start again. Starting college again meant that I wouldn't be going to Uni the same year as my best friends and it essentially meant that I'd be alone finishing my studies which everyone else managed to get right the first time around. I really thought about it because it was possible for me to go to Uni with the grades I got in my original subjects but I knew deep down that it wouldn't be the right thing to do. I knew that I needed to drop the subjects that I despised with a passion and start over with subjects that I'm passionate about. And that was the best thing I could have ever done. I was dreading this third year in college. I thought I'd be judged for staying behind and I knew that seeing my friends in Uni would be a reminder that I'm not doing exactly that. But if I'm being honest, this has been the best year in terms of my education that I can remember. I love my subjects so much and I thoroughly enjoy going to my lectures and doing my assignments and I know that makes me seem like a nerd but it's truly been such an eye opener. I refuse to look at it as being me staying behind another year but rather me making a decision to study what I love in order to build the future that I want. Plus in the long run I'm only ever going to be grateful that I did myself a favour now as opposed to when I'm stuck in a job I hate. I've gone from getting E's and D's in my subjects to consistently getting A's and B's. Not only that but my mental health, my confidence and happiness in college has improved leaps and bounds which really is the most important thing.
This post was a little longer than I anticipated it might be but I hope you enjoyed it and took something from it. Never fear making decisions or changes to your lifestyle because you may look back one day and see that it was the best thing you ever did.
Lots of Love,
Meg X
Great post :)
ReplyDeleteThanks lovely! X
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