Pescatarians are NOT vegetarians. Even though they do not eat animal products, they still consume seafood. As a matter of fact, the word “pescatarian” derives from the Spanish word for fish, “pesco”. Why did I choose to become a pescatarian? Quite simple: I didn’t! I simply woke up one morning and realized that I hadn’t had meat in months and that my primary protein sources were some seafood, eggs, and peanut butter, the crunchy kind of course. Wondering whether there was a special word for people whose diets primarily consist of similar ingredients, I came across the concept of pescatarian in my web search and later decided to learn how to properly become one. After all, I come from the River of Prawns! The goal of this blog is to introduce you to the world of a pescatarian living in the South, a place where ordering food without meat in eat gets you “The Look”.

http://ehow.com/how_2338051_become-pescatarian.html

The two key points from these articles are:

How do I survive in a town where most restaurants stuff meat with meat? By cooking almost all of my meals myself and exercising more often! Don’t get me wrong, I still eat out once in a while, but not nearly as much as I used to. I have to admit that creating my personal menu at the beginning of each week is quite enjoyable.

There is nothing else to add here, except advising you to make this transition gradually.

Not everyone might be as understanding as you would like, but it better to inform them in advance than inconvenience them when you have to eat at home or select a dinning alternative. Besides, it might even motivate someone else to do something about their health!

Whether by yourself or with a group, at home or at the gym, staying fit will definitely pay off when combined with a diet. After trying Salsa and Swing dancing, I felt a more comfortable with simply balancing jogging, bicycling, and ParKour.

Not only are they fun activities, but they do neither require much preparation, nor equipment. I also love playing racquetball and football (real football, not American) occasionally, and am planning to check out a Zumba class one of these days.

Read, search, read. I took the diet switch as a personal challenge and consequently decided to discover the world of pescatarians and vegetarians in the best possible way:

I signed up for vegetarian newsletters and forums, as they are not many for pescatarian. I do not eat that much seafood anyway

I looked up what it means to be a pescatarian, particularly the nutritional values of different fruits and vegetables. As a matter of fact, my goal was to try to take vitamins and iron supplements as naturally as possible.

Watching cooking shows in my spare time, as well as looking up different recipes help me out a lot! If you haven’t tried already, check out RecipeMatcher, an amazing interactive website that recommends recipes based on the ingredients you have in your pantry, or at least can easily acquire.

A simple web search also revealed to me more vegan, vegetarian & seafood recipes than I could have ever imagined!

I must point out that two of my personal favorites are Chef Alton Brown’s lentil soup and V Monte’s zucchini bread recipes.

Last, but not least, getting good ingredients at an affordable price (I am only a student) was one of my main goals. I discovered CSA during my first visit to Philly and decided to give it a try once I got home.

Let me change topics for a moment: If you ever find yourself in Philly – Yes, I know that it is not in the South-, do not hesitate to check out National Mechanics and the Basic 4 Vegetarian Cafe at the Reading Terminal Market (I recommend the “Vegan Philly Cheesesteak”).

Now, let’s get back on track. It turns out that I did not need to join CSA, because my neighbors are actually agriculture majors and work part time for a local farmer. What better way to buy fresh ingredients than to visit the farmers (and their herb garden) down the street? They even inspired me to start my own (after reading through “Gardening for Dummies)! Furthermore, the Fisheries department’s seasonal sales help reduced my trips to the grocery store. Another advantage of attending a Land-grant university.

This goes without saying!

Overall, it is not impossible to stay healthy at low cost. I sure wished that there was at least one seafood, vegetarian, or vegan restaurant in my city to minimize my ordeal of picking a place when going out with friends. On the bright side, a couple of health food stores recently opened in the next town and are doing well enough despite the current state of the economy. Finally, in case you are why I mentioned vegan and vegetarian recipes in a pescatarian, my answer is: “Why not?”