I’ve been researching Veganism or plant based diets for a while. Scrolling through twitter feeds, pinterest boards and instagram bios. Watching probably hours of vegan chefs on youtube compiling playlists of recipes that look and sound delicious.
Don’t get me wrong I was never a fully fledged carnivore eating lots of different kinds of meat. I’m such a picky eater to begin with – no steak, lamb, ‘juicy’ beef burgers or even bacon and ham they have never been my choice. I remember an ex of mine was amazed and equally humoured when I didn’t know what Char siu was? Or when he talked me into trying his which promptly led to him having to pull over to spit it out as soon as possible gulping water to remove any residue or my hands to scrape the taste away – dramatic much – I didn’t think so?! Lol. Thinking back it must have been hilarious to see.
Eating mainly chicken for meat or meatballs/mince but still not keen on the actual texture it needed to be ground right down, no fat – only eating it because its just good for you right, that’s what I thought?
About 5 months ago I made the initial decision to start to become dairy free. I’ve got Sacroilitis among other things from Alden’s birth. I believe it’s from the trauma of it, but it’s still under investigation to find out how or even if it is this or something else. Anywhoo, I’d researched (out of desperation to be honest) and found that cutting out or reducing dairy can help with a multitude of issues including inflammation – so heres hoping!
It’s been going great so far. I’ve tried a lot of different types of dairy free alternatives. I’ve made a few non dairy choices along the way but only a couple of times – Hotel Chocolat gift set at Christmas I mean I couldn’t NOT. Also in the beginning I didn’t want to waste food so I was still using cheese that I had in the fridge. Overall I’ve been 100% dairy free and I feel alot better in myself for it. I’m still in chronic pain etc but it does feel different sometimes – placebo or not – I don’t know.
My success with being dairy free is one of the reasons why I’ve decided to try #Veganuary. After doing research there seems to be so many positives that would reflect if I changed to this.
I loved learning all about why to choose Veganuary from the Veganuary charity’s website. From animal welfare, health reasons to the environment it’s all on there about the benefits of at least trying Veganism for the month of January. Reading through their information the statement that really impacted and reaffirmed my decision to pledge is the following;
The lead researcher concluded that becoming vegan was ‘the single biggest thing’ a typical consumer could do to help protect the planet.
Found on the Veganuary aims section.
I plan on writing a week by week sort of journal on how my Veganuary journey is going. I’m also going to share some simple recipies, tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way and who has been an inspiration for this journey.
I explained in my 2020 hopes blog post. If I don’t keep up Veganism or it doesn’t fit into our budget, time or for whatever reason I do plan on being a Flexitarian and focusing on a mainly plant based diet. Or I may choose Vegetarian, right now I’m not sure but I am sure I have this new thought process towards meat and I don’t miss it.
Lets see how this goes! Wish me luck! Any tips or go to recipes/insta accounts let me know!
Life with Alden Jax 