The Life Post || Trying Veganism

"A  healthy outside starts from the inside"

-Robert Urich

 Now anyone who knows me will know how stubborn I am so when I say that I want to try something or achieve something, I mean it. So, when one of my friends convinced me to try veganism for a day, I was adamant that it would be another fad that I was sure that I could do. The reality however was not how I imagined it...

 My first step towards veganism was finding recipes that I could make and would enjoy as I didn't want to completely change my palate. I had heard from so many people that Eat Smart had vegan versions of classic recipes so the change would not be as drastic as it would have been if I had changed my diet completely. 

So... one night I took out my sticky notes and found recipes for the week that I knew I would enjoy making, wrote down the ingredients and created a shopping list.

One thing that I didn't anticipate was how extensive the shopping list would be as the majority of the food I needed for the recipes were not already in my kitchen. My first list for 1 day of breakfast, lunch, and dinner was over 50 items that would no doubt all add up...

The Day

My first day began with a breakfast of porridge made with almond milk and maple syrup as I felt that porridge would be a nice way to start the day and help me to feel fuller than if I had just had some fruit and non-dairy yoghurt. I was not too keen on the almond milk as I found the flavour rather bitter and it felt like quite a shock to my taste buds in comparison to my usual milk.

My lunch was vegan flat bread with hummus which I personally didn't associate with veganism and I rather enjoyed as I was used to eating this on a regular basis!

A few hours after lunch I was feeling rather peckish so headed back to the kitchen for a snack. I was so used to going to the cupboard for a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar that it was a struggle for me to decide what to have! After a few minutes of perusing the kitchen, adamant that there was no food there, I found some non-dairy coconut yoghurt and some apples to chop up that I could have chopped up. After eating the snack it filled me up again, something that I was not used to being after a chocolate bar or bag of crisps.

Later for dinner I made myself a vegan Thai green curry. I was given the recipe from a friend and was assured that it was not spicy at all ... she was wrong. It was one of the spiciest curries I had ever had and had to have a glassful of water after every bite! I'm not the best with spicy food...

And that was the end of my vegan day!

The next morning I woke up feeling hungrier than usual feeling as though I had not eaten as much as usual the day before. I'm used to have meat at least once a day so I think that by not having it I felt quite different. 

However, my body definitely felt very fresh and I also felt that, even from one day, I felt very refreshed a slightly more awake than I would usually feel in the mornings.

Yays and Nays

From going vegan for a day I realised how much I enjoyed some foods but also which foods I didn't really enjoy.

I really enjoyed the flat bread and hummus as it felt so normal and you can't tell that it's healthy yet it laves you feeling like you have fed your body with clean food.

One thing that I didn't really enjoy was almond milk as I found the flavour quite bitter, watery and completely different from usual milk. If you enjoy really nutty flavours then I think that you would really enjoy almond milk, but, I personally did not enjoy the flavour.

My Tips

If you are thinking about trying veganism, there are certain things that would will need to consider:

• Try to not alter your diet too much. Keep some of your favourite meals but just substitute some of the ingredients!

• Before going completely cold turkey on things like dairy; experiment with a few substitutes to find one that you like and will enjoy eating!
• Use food that you already have in your kitchen so that you do not have to completely restock your fridge and cupboards! 

Thanking for reading and I hope that this will help you if you ever want to experiment with new diets! Until next time...

 Question of the Day: Have you ever tried any different diets before?