Pesca-what? Life without meat?! + Exciting news (personal update)

Hey loves! I haven't been posting frequently for the past month, as you might've noticed. I'm not going to bore you with any details as to why, but I dó want to give you an update about some life changes I made the past month or so and share a major announcement!

So what've I been up to, aside from the boring mandatory stuff? You guessed it, planning my ass off! This newfound hobby of mine has just brought so much extra happiness and fun to my life, because it keeps me organized and serves as a creative outlet as well! Follow me on Instagram: pinknraw to see my spreads!

Another thing that's been keeping me occupied lately is watching my dietary habits. And it all started when I watched the following documentary (in combination with some inexplicable abdominal pains I was walking around with for a while):

Now I'm (or was) the type of person who just doesn't understand why you'd order a veggie pizza (especially for the same price as one with meat) or a vegetarian dish at a restaurant. Meals just didn't feel "complete" without such a piece of savoury protein on my plate. I've tried to cut down on my meat consumption numerous times, without avail. Then on one day, waiting for my bus with a bucket of KFC hotwings in my bag, I randomly wanted to find out how McDonald's chicken nuggets are produced. And their hamburgers. And fries. 

Although the videos were purposefully made by MD themselves to show their use of "real ingrediënts", it made me a bit sick to see all the assembly lines nugget chicken passes through before it ends up on our plates. I clicked and watched many related videos, until I stumbled upon "Our Daily Bread". There's no narration, storyline, or music in this documentary. It's basically just a compilation of videos shot in factories that produce for the bio-industry in Europe. You see how crops are sprayed with pesticides, how cows are skinned, pigs slaughtered, etc. etc. Stuff you basically already know about, but don't consciously think of when you shop at your local grocery store or chew on a piece of steak.

I was never really focused on animal cruelty, and I won't say that I'm an enthusiastic PETA representative now either. But, the inhumane treatment these animals receive during their already short and miserable life (being born basically to satisfy our cravings) left me with a bad feeling in my stomach. Not in any way planning to become a vegetarian or to give up meat indefinitely, still I've managed not to touch a piece of meat since the day I watched that film. And that was over 5 weeks ago! 

So what HAVE I been eating? Everything but meat! Lots of veggies, seafood, and meat substitutes! In other words, I've been adhering to a pescatarian diet, and I've been enjoying it so far without any (real) struggle. I honestly thought it would be way harder to give up meat, but for some reason that documentary mentally turned a switch in my head even health problems weren't able to accomplish. Noticing a positive change in my physical health, with my abdominal pains strangely (?) toning it down almost completely, and keeping a daily food log helped me to stay on track for this long.

And now for the exciting announcement... If you've been a loyal reader over the years you probably know all about my Toronto study abroad series from 2013. Well, this year I finally have the opportunity to record another likewise aventure on my blog and/or YouTube. But this time I'm going on a summer exchange to... ASIA!! To be precise, SINGA - EFFIN - PORE!! 

I'm super duper excited about the whole situation and can't wait to share more! Stay on the look out for updates and for some food files and/or reviews wherein I share some of the dishes I've been enjoying!

Lobi,