Welcome to the 100th Installment of What I Ate Wednesday! It sounds like I’m being hyperbolic, no? It’s true, though. It seems like a whole other lifetime ago that I joined this weekly link party, and man, has the time flown.As always, thanks to Jenn for hosting. To see more WIAW from other bloggers, visit Peas & Crayons.

This week I decided to hop on the Meatless Monday bandwagon, just because. In that past lifetime during which I began these WIAW posts, most of my days were meatless, so I didn’t feel the need to make it a point on one particular day. Though I still have plenty of meat-free days, I definitely eat more animal protein than I did two years ago, and I feel much better for it.

I actually had a nice conversation with someone at the gym the other day—they asked me if I was a trainer, and after I stopped laughing, we got to talking about being active to stay well. I mentioned my experience working with a physical therapist who taught me to focus on staying strong to avoid getting hurt. For better or worse, it was a really crappy arm injury a few years ago that caused me to take a step back and redefine my relationship with exercise and food—and to stop listening to people whose advice/bullying was based solely on their own interests and narrow belief systems.  It was a difficult learning experience, but I’m grateful for it. I joke about being protective of my skeleton, but I’m not f***ing around—it’s the only one I’ve got!

Haha anyway, that’s the short version of the long story of why I eat meat sometimes now, though I still favor eggs, fish, and dairy.  I feel good, my labs are normal, and I couldn’t give a flying f*** what a guy thinks about my eating habits. I think some people do great with vegetarian/vegan diets but I’m not one of them. I’d be a hypocrite for telling people to tune in and listen to their body’s wants and needs if I didn’t do it myself.

Speaking of eating habits, here’s what I ate this past Monday.

Breakfast: zucchini bread oatmeal

Lunch: tortellini soup; side salad; dark chocolate

Snack: yogurt with fruit and cereal

Dinner: tandoori tofu with curried basmati rice, veggies, and avocado

Snack (unpictured): sliced banana with PB2 sauce with cocoa & protein powder mixed in—an experiment gone ok

Do you participate in Meatless Monday? What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently? Is your diet different than it was 2 years ago?