Have you ever considered turning vegetarian? Or at least the kind that can also eat seafood and dairy products? For starters, that diet is called pescetarianism. On the menu: fish and vegetables. Strictly no mammalian meat allowed. Witness as the author takes on the diet for over two weeks.
There’s plenty of food on the table – rice, fish, and mixed vegetables. Good enough, I thought, to keep me full on this new diet I’m about to take on.
The diet switch
For over two weeks, sticking to a fish-based diet has left me feeling slightly dizzy after each meal. Somehow, although I take in variations of fish, vegetables, and fruits – the good stuff – I’d feel starved. My stomach’s reaction was a wee bit odd, given that the starving came prior to the eating.
Although the idea of losing weight has crossed my mind, I have never really imagined I’d do so by stripping down my food options while managing to stay healthy.
Pescetarianism is a diet that consists of fish and other seafood, vegetables, and fruits. It may or may not contain small portions of poultry and dairy products. The diet strictly prohibits the intake of mammalian meat – beef, pork, and chicken, to name a few.
The diet, although restricted in terms of food selection, is a source of omega-three fatty acids and high-density lipoprotein, which are known to be barriers against heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. Pescetarianism also promotes weight management since the intake of fish generally does not result in high levels of cholesterol, as compared to red meat found in beef or lamb, for instance.
Healthy phase vs. cheat days
Pescetarian Kryz Uy (III BS CTM) refuted my first impression of the pescetarian diet. She says that the diet is not closed to the perceived fish and veggie combo.
Surprisingly, she eats burgers and pizzas – veggie burgers and cheese pizzas, that is. Kryz also partakes of a wider selection of food than I had imagined – cereal, pesto pasta, and chocolates. Given that I’d still feel hungry after every light meal, the assurance of cake for dessert couldn’t have come at a better time, if that’s any consolation.
According to Kryz, there are however, certain disadvantages when one is on the pescetarian diet. Limited food options, pre-determined meals (like in school functions such as the OrSem), and the bland taste of the meals are some. Having tried the diet first-hand, another factor I had to consider when switching to an extreme diet is the people I eat with. When eating out, my family had to select restaurants that offered reasonable selections of fish and vegetable dishes.
It is the same in school, according to Kryz. She says that there is only so much one can eat when on a pescetarian diet. “I’ve learned not to be picky,” she says, “as long as there’s a meal that I can eat, I’ll buy it.”
Similarly, I push myself up to the challenge: settling for any meal as long as I have food to digest. Lunch for me revolved around the limited selection of salads, fish fillets, and tuna sandwiches. Sadly, I occasionally gave in to some cheat days when I’d secretly nibble on small pieces of meat when there is really nothing else to eat.
The parable of the sower
Switching to another type of diet, one that is completely different from mine, had been a challenge. Saying a quick farewell to my eat-anything diet was painstakingly difficult. However, giving the diet a shot proves the benefits reaped. Somehow, I am now more able to control my eating habits and perhaps for that reason, I am less stressed. The last time I checked, I haven’t gained a pound since.
