Soooo... I went Vegan

A little impromptu lifestyle news from me today folks! I'm a little bit nervous about posting this one, if I'm honest, so I'd be really grateful if you'd all refrain from calling me a nutter in the comments box after you've read it haha. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you may be able to tell by now that I recently made the HUGE decision to switch to an entirely vegan diet. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all militant on you and get all preachy about how 'meat is murder' and all that malarkey (even though it kind of is... Sorry not sorry). I just wanted to do a little post to let you know my inspiration and reasons for choosing vegan and why it's been such a positive change for me going into 2014...

I've never been a huge consumer of meat or dairy in general. I was vegetarian for almost 9yrs as a teenager and, to this day, never really ate anything more than Quorn (which isn't vegan either) except for maybe once or twice a week. However, I recently came across a very inspiring film, whilst working on a University project, called The Ghosts in Our Machine which really made me stop and think properly. I'd been suspicious for a long time that meat and dairy farming methods weren't how I'd assumed they were. Again I'm not going to go into telling you all how cruel and barbaric things are, it's not for me to tell you that what you're eating is wrong after all and it is a choice every person must make for themselves and for their own reasons. I just think we're not as informed as we should be, as consumers, on how our choices affect other sentient beings, with whom we share our planet as well as our planet itself.

The fact is I'm really enjoying my vegan diet, regardless of my reasoning. I also feel more content in myself knowing that I'm making lifestyle choices based on principles of non violence and which are kinder to the environment. I'm enjoying finding alternatives to foods I used to enjoy and discovering new foods that I love that I never would have tried had I not become vegan. The photos above are just a couple of recipes I've been trying out this week. I made a dairy free super-creamy courgette soup and my breakfast this morning was a berry chia pudding that I'd soaked overnight in almond milk. I must admit that I am mourning the loss of eggs and Cadbury's Dairy Milk BUT, on the upside, I can eat all the Oreos I want! Really though, nomatter how good something tastes, is it really worth it? I know my conscience couldn't cope with it in the end.
I've spoken to a few people via social media while I've been making the change to Vegan and a few people have said that they'd be interested themselves but don't know where to start. As well as The Ghosts in Our Machine, there is another brilliant US documentary called Vegucated (available on Netflix) which really helped me get my head around the types of things I can eat and gives the basics on why and how you should go Vegan. Even if you just swap one thing at a time. I found a trip to Holland & Barratt very inspirational as they have so many egg/dairy alternatives. I've also decided to start sharing a few vegan recipes on this blog every once in a while. I'm learning to 'veganise' a lot of the things I used to enjoy eating so that it doesn't feel like so much of a loss. I've already started pinning loads of recipes on my Pinterest account for veg-spiration. On the whole I feel amazing, positive and pleased that I can do my little bit towards saving the planet.

If anyone has any vegan tips, questions or recipe ideas for me I'd love to hear them in the comments.
Have you considered Veganism as a diet/lifestyle option?? What would be your main concern about making changes like this??