Why I became (and am still) a Vegetarian

For most of my life, my body has been a battleground—marked by Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria, relentless back pain, and menstrual cycles. So many ailments to navigate at once made for a frazzled mind. With the menstrual cycles, I later discovered I had endometriosis. I had surgery to remove several large fibroids, but they (along with the pain) returned. So, like the other problems that surfaced in my body, I dealt with them through over-the-counter medications. My mother, my fiercest teacher in resilience, passed away from endometrial cancer a few years ago. She fought with grace and grit, and she’ll forever be my hero. We sought answers from countless doctors, tried every protocol we could find. But one thing I wish we’d explored more deeply was nutrition—not just in the general sense, but as a tailored, intimate ally in our specific healing journeys.

You live, you learn, and you try to pass the torch with more light. After my back surgery, it felt like life handed me a reset button. I took it. And with it came a refusal to normalize pain. I began revisiting my relationship with my body—not as a problem to fix, but as a landscape to understand.

Alongside metaphysics, mindfulness, and embodiment teachings, I turned toward food. Not as restriction, but as ritual. Not as cure-all, but as conversation—with my cells, my cycles, my ancestry. My wife and I decided to try a vegetarian meal plan for 1 month. As an avid meat eater (and if I’m being honest, an EVERYTHING eater) we had a rough start during the first week. I felt like I was replacing meat with large amounts of simple carbohydrates aka “bad carbs” (white rice, salty chips, etc.). Still, we stayed committed to the promise we made to ourselves, reminding each other that the goal is simply to observe any changes—positive or negative—that show up in our bodies.

Week two was a little easier. Being that we’re both chefs, we made it a fun game to shop more at farmers markets than grocery stores and come up with meal ideas while shopping rather than planning too much ahead. We also had a lot of chewing gum on hand to curb our cravings. By the end of the first month, we both felt lighter on our feet, more energy (without caffeine), and lost a handful of pounds in the process (though, that wasn’t the goal). For me, I was sleeping better and throughout the night. I felt more focused and clear-headed. Hard to explain with words but I just felt less swollen.

I decided to continue down this path and commit to a vegetarian lifestyle for the rest of the year. Once I reached the year mark, I thought surely I’d be excited to reach for a slab of ribs or plate of smoked salmon…but I didn’t. To be clear, I did TRY a small piece of fish, but it didn’t WOW me. It felt like I’d only just scratched the surface of the vegetable universe—there were still flavors waiting to surprise me.

Some rotating dishes in our kitchen include: Saag with rice, tofu scramble, chickpea fritters, spinach penne with roasted red pepper sauce, to name a few. I’ll share a few of these recipes with you all soon ;-).

Cheers!