SPOILER ALERT: a year after my '30-day pescatarian challenge' and I'm still not eating meat.

This isn't what I thought would happen. I truly did the challenge solely because I wanted to know if I could. But when I did, something changed. Well, a lot changed.

1. I didn't crave meat. This was the biggest surprise for me. I thought it would be a constant fight to say no to meat but it truly wasn't. The hardest part was just breaking the habit of what I was used to eating. I would crave a certain dish, like chicken enchiladas, but I quickly realized it wasn't the chicken that I was craving, it was the enchiladas. So once I adapted to ordering and cooking without meat, I didn't crave it one bit. In fact, I didn't want it.

2. You know that feeling when you're so full that you want to crawl in a hole and die? Yeah, I haven't really had that since not eating meat. I don't know if there's a lot of science behind this or if it's just how my body reacts to meat. But for me, there's such a difference in being full off of vegetables and other whole foods, instead of being full off of meat. It is true that meats take longer for your body to digest, and I think that impacted me more than I realized. When I cut out the meat, I didn't feel that overly-full feeling after every meal. And trust me, I was still eating plenty.

4. You're forced to be more creative in the kitchen. When I think back to my staple meals pre-pescatarian, I would do chicken and grilled veggies, chicken tacos, chicken and rice bowls (I guess we ate a lot of chicken?). But you can't just cut the meat out of those and expect to be satisfied. You need to be creative and find ways to make veggies versatile. It gave me a challenge in the kitchen, and I loved it.

5. Everyone has been super supportive and helpful to my new eating habits. With dinner parties with friends, Sunday night dinner with our family, and even work events, I was very aware that my decisions impacted those around me too. I really didn't want to be a burden to others. But, everyone has been so supportive and welcoming of my new eating habits (thanks friends!)

So here I am, more than a year later and I haven't had one bite of meat since. Actually--that's a lie. I ate bacon once. But at this point, I'm happy without meat, so for now I'll stick with that! I certainly don't think cutting out meat is for everyone and I'm not here to convince you to cut it out. But if you're curious how you'll feel, try cutting back for a short period of time to see how you feel!