Have you ever heard of Meatless Mondays? Have you wondered what it means and what all the hype is about? Same. So I dug into the deets and got some facts straight and I’m sharing my top 5 reasons why you should join in on this trend.

If it happens to make Monday’s better (and I think it does) is that NOT good enough?!

Let’s start with the basics. What is it? Meatless Mondays is a movement to get more people to reduce their consumption of meat (just 1 day a week) which has a number of benefits to not only health, but also the environment, agricultural practices, and public awareness. But why should you care and how does it REALLY impact things? After my own research into the topic, I’m listing out my 5 reasons you should join in below:

1. IMPROVE THE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF YOUR DIET

   When you look to replace the protein you get from meat with plant-based options for a Meatless Monday, you end up getting a wealth of other nutrients and health benefits along with it. If you opt for beans and peas, you load in additional fiber, iron, magnesium, folate and zinc. Not bad right? Choosing a different protein forces you to get creative and try new natural ways of getting the nutrients you need (if you do it right) which may even introduce you to new foods that you never tried before, and healthier nutrients to do your body good. Doesn’t sound too shabby right?

2. MINIMIZE WATER USAGE

   In my research on Meatless Mondays I came across the statistic that it takes nearly 5x the amount of water to produce a pound of beef than it does to produce a pound of vegetables. That’s alot of water. Water is a valuable resource not available to all, so I’m happy to take 1 day a week to help.

3. HELP YOUR WEEKLY BUDGET

   It’s no secret that the meat proteins you buy are usually the most expensive items on your grocery list. I started managing our weekly meat proteins more carefully to ensure that we don’t need to buy too many in a week to help us stay on budget. Certainly planning one less meal of meat will help your budget too.

4. CONTRIBUTE TO A LIST OF ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES

   Having 1 meat free day a week will:

   1. Avoid excessive O2 production
   2. Reduce methane/nitrous oxide production
   3. Reduce pollution to streams/rivers/oceans
   4. Reduce destruction of topsoil/tropical rainforests
   5. Reduce the destruction of wildlife habitats and endangered species
   6. Reduce the use of antibiotics, growth promoters and chemicals

5. HELP YOU RECOVER FROM  YOUR WEEKEND

   If you had a little too much fun or splurged a little more than normal in your weekend, getting back on track on Monday can be made a little easier by choosing a Meatless Monday meal. Focused on plant-based nutrition, your Meatless Monday selection will bring in a wealth of nutrients that will do your body good and help it recover from the weekend indulgences.

 

Now it’s important to note you’re not going to get the benefits of the above with a Meatless Monday meal that consists of pizza, dairy-filled pasta or other non-meat varieties that YOU KNOW aren’t healthy options. So where do you start? I’ve included a few of my own recipes below that are Meatless Monday friendly or can easily be adjusted to give you lots of options for a healthy and YUM Meatless Monday meal.

• Kale Pesto Pasta
• Chicken Veggie Quinoa Bowls (without the chicken, still filling and full of nutrients)
• Soba Noodle Salad (without the chicken)
• Minestrone Soup (SO YUM AND SO MANY VEGGIES)
• Falafel
• Kale Caesar Salad & Tomato Soup

 

Even if you decide Monday isn’t your day to go meatless, I do think you should challenge yourself to try to go 1 day a week without meat just to see how you think differently about it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably never go vegan and I’m certainly not here to make you do that, but I definitely see the benefits in reducing my meat intake especially when it’s as easy as 1 day a week. Either way, it’s always best to reduce your processed meat consumption and go organic, grass-fed whenever you are eating meat to encourage more responsible agricultural practices AND protect your health. But I still believe there is alot of nutritional benefit from consuming organic meats, so I don’t plan to ditch my grass-fed burgers anytime soon.

Learn something new today and are open to trying Meatless Mondays? Let me know what you’re going to make below!

 

XO,

JESS