Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 10: Overall Project Reflection

It is already the last week of my eco-chic lifestyle change! BUT this does not mean may change will stop at a dead hault. Everything I have taken from this experience will stick with me and so will many of the habits I have picked up due to it, as well as the class.


My original SMART goal was to not eat any red meat and eat less than 2 servings of other meats per week.
Of course this was a difficult step for me in the beginning, but i very quickly realized that the hardest part was just making that decision. As I got used to it, I decided to incorporate a hault on dairy into my goal as well. This non dairy step was not as precise so it was harder to measure, but I was able to say that I completely stopped buying both cheese and milk, so I know that was a definite change. Eventually I incorporated smaller everyday changes into my goal as well, such as using a metal refillable water bottle instead of buying disposable plastic water bottles. I also bought cloth grocery bags so I don't have to make the tough decision of paper or plastic when I go to the grocery store (and of course don't have to get disposable bags that are bad for the environment). 


There were many variables that added to my success in this goal. Feeling better about my impact on the environment as well as my health was the number one variable. I also impacted others behaviors with my changes which was awesome! There were a few things that did get in the way such as family meals when I went home that usually involved red meat, so there were probably 2-3 times during this change that I have had red meat, but that is much better than I expected. In the future I hope to take part in more of the cooking when I go back home, and maybe try converting my parents to ground turkey over ground beef!


This project benefited me much more than I expected. I thought this decision to stop eating red meat may result in a failure. Not that I don't have faith in myself, but I just never expected it to happen. Education in good nutrition is something I possess, so I know that eating red meat is really not a good choice for me, so having that extra push to TRY going without it for awhile was great!! I realized I could do it. I even impacted those around me. My boyfriend actually took part in the project with me almost 100%, and now he is also trying to cut out red meat and dairy completely even after I'm done with the project. I also impacted my parents and my brother a little bit; they have been forced to try a few meatless dishes. I cooked wild rice burgers for them one time and they loved it, so I gave them the recipe and they now have one item they can make that is meat free! 


I plan to continue this behavior. I cooked plenty of meat free meals this semester so now cooking them on a weekly basis is more of a habit than a limit. 


I think anyone who is even considering making a lifestyle change, even if it is extremely minimal should know that it's easiest taking it one small step at a time. And, just deciding to make that change is the hardest part, once it is a mind set it becomes a habit just like brushing your teeth! For me, just having it down in writing that I am not going to eat meat was one of the biggest parts. Also the process of incorporating meals into my diet that didn't have meat got easier as I began learning new recipes and tried cooking with substitutes.


blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 10 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.
 Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 10

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 9: Weekly Update

This past week has been quite the challenge for my lifestyle change.

My SMART goal is to not eat red meat, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats/ week.

Well, I would say this week wasn't a complete failure; I did eat red meat on Thanksgiving last Thursday, but it was a very small serving and consisted of venison which my dad caught! (very organic). I did stick to the less than 2 servings of other meats part. I also continued to not use cheese or milk in any of my cooking. (pictured below a delicious looking salad I'd like to try in the near future!!)

The challenges and successes this past week both had to do with Thanksgiving. I knew Thanksgiving would be a challenge, obviously, there is always a ton of food, and who wants to be picky on Thanksgiving? Especially when my mom has made so much delicious food! Also, I personally am not very fond of turkey, so when my mom mentions she has made wild rice meatballs, it was impossible to turn down. I had to try some! The successes were that there was a lot of other food that were vegetable based! So I tried my best to fill up on those. There were also tons of leftovers, so I was able to eat healthy for most of the week.

My feelings weren't hugely impacted this week, nothing was too different from the past weeks, but I did feel a little guilty about eating red meat. Although I think I may have felt worse not trying them. Maybe next time I will suggest making them out of ground turkey! 

I learned that it is not impossible to stick to your diet and your goals even in the most tempting situations! I watched Jessica turn down everything except for the veggies and bean dishes and I need to make it my goal to stick to my diet over Christmas. 

My plans for next week will be to continue my goal, and try out a few new meat free recipes to add to my collection.
Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 9 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.
lifestyle change post 9

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 8: Weekly Update

This week, my lifestyle change goal went pretty smoothly. It helped that I was trying not to buy anymore groceries before Thanksgiving break, so I had no meat left in my cupboards besides some tuna. 

My SMART goal is to not eat red meat, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats/ week. This week I met that goal with flying colors. I had a tuna sandwich one day, and ended up going with meat-free soups the rest of the week. 

The successes of meeting my goal this week, as I mentioned previously, had to do with me not buying groceries...it sounds weird BUT I had food that I had been avoiding eating that needed to be dealt with (such as potatoes, onions, canned spinach and some canned soups). So I had a cheap week I guess, but a successful one. I did stop and get some egg nog one day though, sometimes I get the weirdest cravings, and after a successful week, I thought I should probably have some sort of reward. The challenges this week were minimal, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I am hoping I can keep to my goal as the holidays begin to tempt me. 

My feelings about this week were pretty good, after reading a few other blogs, I too have been getting ideas to incorporate into my lifestyle change such as using a metal water bottle and just re-filling it, and buying products in bulk when I can to avoid small packaging.  I learned this week that basically you just have to tough it out once in awhile and save money!.. Especially this time of year when Christmas is just around the corner.

My plans for next week are to continue my regular SMART goal as well as to avoid dairy as much as possible. I would also like to add that I use my metal water bottle instead of buying one-time-use water bottles.                         (Thankful for the time I got to spend with my grandma.)         

Have a great thanksgiving everyone!! 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 7: Weekly Update

Week 7 of my lifestyle change wasn't quite as obnoxious as the last. My goal is to not eat red meat, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats/ week. The week slowed down a bit, and I was actually able to spend a little more time cooking and preparing my meals.
This week I DID actually achieve my smart goal, AND I was also able to cut way back on dairy and avoid it as much as possible. 

Successes: I had more time to prepare healthier food for myself, and only had meat once this week! (had to make up for last week). I made a really good fresh vegetable stew and had a lot of leftovers! (pictured below, the potato of love that went into my stew!! I couldn't believe I found a heart potato, I had to take a picture.)

Challenges: My friends and I like going on Perkins runs every once in awhile, and we allll have a big crush on the chicken tender melt, which was my weakness this week. It also had pepperjack cheese...but it was really good! and that was my one meat I allowed myself this week. ...so bad, but ooh so good!


The feelings I have experienced this week, are slightly less stressful than last week. I didn't feel terrible about my choices this week, but I am hoping with Thanksgiving just around the corner, that I'll be able to keep myself from over-indulging. But I AM glad that turkey isn't a red meat! :)


I learned that giving yourself a break is much easier if you plan ahead! It sounds weird, but when I planned ahead and made my soup, I didn't have to worry about what I was eating, and I had leftovers which are always nice! I may have talked about planning ahead before, but really, with anything, just simply writing out to-do lists gives you an idea ahead of time of what you will be dealing with during the week and then its much easier to plan around that. 


I plan on keeping the same goal for next week, as well as the cutting down on dairy part. I have completely stopped buying milk and cheese which is something I never thought I'd be able to do.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 6: Weekly Update

Week 6 was probably my most difficult week with my SMART goal. My SMART goal once again was to not eat red meat, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats per week.


I have had way too many challenges this week. It has been extremely busy, and basically I haven't had time to even think about what to eat and not eat; if something is available or offered, I just eat it. 




I am hoping that this wont be a problem for me in the long run.When under pressure I just need to remember its important to manage my time as best as I can, and I guess what I can take from this is planning ahead definitely pays off. I did have success when it came to my goal of not eating red meat, but I believe I had chicken 3 times this week, fish once, and pizza... :( I also have not paid much attention to dairy, but I did have ice cream one night. Sometimes there is nothing better than ice cream.


Overall, this week was a semi-failure. But, I will admit that its nice to just not worry about what I eat once in awhile, and just eat whatever I had in the freezer.
Rule #1, plan ahead and make sure healthier foods are available when I don't have time to go grocery shopping!
Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 6 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 6

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Weekly Update

The past week of my Lifestyle Change has probably been my best, decision-wise. 

My smart goal is to cut down on my meat consumption, specifically cut red meat from my diet, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats per week. Achieving my goal this week was much easier than I thought it would be thanks to certain situations. (one of which was not eating at home so I could avoid my barbaric roots as my halloween costume shows below) My meat choice of last week is the sushi pictured to the right. 

My challenges were that there were 3 situations in which meat was very hard to turn down, but my successes were that I chose no meat in each situation. My friend's birthday on Friday was at Mexican Village, and I LOVE their sizzling chicken fajitas... but I knew that I would feel much better choosing the all veggie fajitas. 2nd was at our Halloween party, we ordered pizzas, but I am trying to cut down on meat and dairy, so I  chose to get Chipotle (awesome burrito place!) before the party. That brings up the 3rd hard decision which was turning down my favorite chicken burrito at Chiptotle for a veggie burrito, but it was still really good! 

One main reason I have been successful, is that after I eat, I don't feel terrible or tired but rather energized! Another reason is having support from my boyfriend who has chosen to also not eat as much meat as long as I don't, so its nice to just not have that temptation around most of the time. For the most part, I haven't had any problems this week, it has been a good experience. I learned that once again, just making that initial decision is the hardest part; I never thought I could turn down meat as much as I have. At home, our meals were based around meat, that's just the way its always been, so this is definitely a good step for my health, and one that I never thought I could do. 

My plans for the coming week are to keep at it. My diet has been going really well and there is nothing else I am willing to alter, besides cutting down on the amount of dairy I eat.

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.

 Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

The following week has been going well with my SMART goal for the most part. My goal is to eliminate red meat from my diet, as well as cut down on my intake of other sources of meat. I have been doing pretty good about finding sources of protein without eating meat.

One success I had was last weekend, I still had some ground elk meat that my mom had sent, but I instead decided to make my chili without meat. It turned out great! I replaced the meat with corn and black beans, and made corn bread on the side. Delicious. 

One challenge I had happened last night. I had a million things to do including starting and finishing a self portrait, as well as finishing a paper; the challenge was I was at my brothers house working on these things, and he offered to make me dinner. This dinner was spaghetti, that had a beefy meat sauce, and there was no way I was going to turn down supper when I had no time to make my own! So, spaghetti was my one downfall, but it was the first time I have had red meat since I started my goal, so its not too disappointing. 

So, what I have learned this week is you always have to be willing to have some leeway when it comes to your goal; you never know when your going to be lacking even an hour in your day to make dinner! (especially if your brother is ACTUALLY cooking for you.)

I will continue with my goal as is for next week. Last week I had mentioned cutting down on my intake of dairy, which has been tricky, but good, so I will continue with that as well.


Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3  hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

One more week down on my lifestyle change, and its going smoothly. 

My SMART goal was to not eat red meat, and cut down on my intake of other meats to less than 2 meals per week. This week was a success for several reasons. This past weekend I went home to celebrate my birthday and my "sister" Jessica's wedding which usually would mean a lot of tempting "bad" food. But, luckily Jessica is vegan so there were many options great for both of us! She actually made a vegan banana cream pie AND "chocolate" cake that were surprisingly delicious! So, I accumulated a couple new recipes.  :) On the challenging side, because of my birthday, my mom wanted to cook me a huge meal, which usually consists of a hamburger type hot dish. Luckily, my dad had been hunting and caught pheasant, so we had fresh pheasant which was awesome! I learned many more new things this week, especially from the movie in class as well as the discussion, and they all kept me positive about my goal. Specifically, when we talked about the mistreatment of animals, and how much grain it takes (12lbs) to equal out to 1lb of hamburger, I was satisfied with my semi-vegetarian choice. 

So this next week, I probably wont modify my goal, but of course I am going to try and turn down meat as much as possible. (pictured above, my mother, happy I finally came home, making home-made tortillas with a plethera of fresh garden veggies!) 
"Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy."

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

Week 2 of my lifestyle change has been going really well. My goal was to cut down on how much meat I eat, and completely rid my diet of red meat. The second part of my goal was to only eat 2 servings or less of chicken or fish per week, and that goal was also achieved last week. I actually made wild rice veggie burgers one day with an awesome recipe that I partially acquired and partially made up. *great success* 

For the most part, I have not faced too many challenges on my way to switching over to vegetarianism: I guess my main challenge has been the fact that my parents have a very small hobby farm and raise chickens, so of course my mom loves cooking chicken hot dishes and sending them my way, but at least it is organic and I can limit myself and save it in the freezer. I DO feel better about this choice I have made. Not only is it environmentally friendly and better for animal welfare, but also making wild rice burgers last weekend for my friends was awesome because they all really enjoyed them, and now they also have a healthy alternative to meat, that they can try it on there own as well. (specifically getting one of my stubborn roommates AND my brother to like them was a landmark occasion). I guess what I have learned so far was that once you put your mind to a huge lifestyle change like this, you realize that the hardest part is actually just making that decision ( I never thought I'd be able to give up meat), and I've hardly had any problem so far with my change.  My plans for this next week are just to keep up with what I am doing, I already believe I am challenging myself, yet I don't want to make it any easier. I would at least like to challenge myself to eat more organic foods. 

Here is an interesting website I found that has given me motive to keep up with my vegetarian choices.

21 reasons to become a vegetarian! 

( toothpastefordinner.com )

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

Over the next ten weeks, I will reduce the amount of meat that I eat, more specifically I will completely eliminate red meat from my diet, secondly I will reduce my overall meat intake to chicken and fish: no more than 2 meals per week that include chicken or fish, starting today 10/6/09. 


I did some research on why becoming a vegetarian is eco chic, and I found many good reasons why everyone should! For example, many rainforests are destroyed in order to make grazing fields for beef cattle (more info here), much grain is shipped from countries over sea to feed our beef cattle and that takes energy to transport and could actually be used for starving people in these countries from which it is shipped, rather than to fatten our cattle. I also found this information from the same site: It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. If the US meat industry wasn't supported by the taxpayer paying a large proportion of its water costs, then hamburger meat would cost $35 a pound. I found many more interesting facts at Vegan net, including this fact: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the world's livestock herds are the largest source of human-induced emissions of methane which is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
This particular lifestyle change is important to me for several reasons. One of which is because being a vegetarian is environmentally friendly as my explanation above suggests. Additionally, being a vegetarian has many health benefits for my personally. As quoted from a pro-vegetarian website I discovered, avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption. Modern farm animals are deliberately fattened up to increase profits. Eating fatty meat increases your chances of having a heart attack or developing cancer. Personally, the term meat usually makes me cringe; we don't always know what is in our "meat," especially "ground beef."  Also, we can avoid eating as many chemicals if we don't eat meat. For example, I know that cows are injected with loads of chemicals and hormones, it is terrifying that we can sell this poisoned animal as food. 
Overall, this change is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and have been slowly stepping into; I have all the reason in the world to make the change now!

I thought this comic was funny, its definitely true. 

Welcome to Danielle's Discoveries

I am Danielle Wall, an art and community health student, and I am all about discovering the beauty in our natural surroundings. So far I have highlighted my interests in art and nature, and I would like to tie that into my blog and doing my part in preserving our natural environment, and helping others become healthier, well informed decision makers!



Thanks for checking out my blog, I hope you enjoy!

Blogged for the Welcome Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy