Veganhood: My Plant Based Journey

Before going to university, my family already didn't eat pork - my mum didn't buy it and we ate healthy cooked meals at home. Then I went off into this big wonderful world of my own freedom and looking back; I rebelled a little bit and started eating pork and pretty much eating out everyday. I would eat at McDonald's at lunchtime and then have a KFC Fully Loaded Meal for dinner and think nothing of it (yes, I'm cringing at the very thought of it too!). I didn't feel good physically, and deep down I knew it was because of the food, but we all love a bit of denial from time to time, right?

Towards the end of uni I started to become more consciously aware of the food and beauty industry so that by the time I graduated in 2013; I had quit relaxers and started living a more natural lifestyle, eventually changing to a pescetarian diet in 2014. This was a goal I had set for myself before having any children that would be watching and following me as the first role model they would see.

Oct 2016 - 2 months post baby and start of vegetarian journey / Jan 2018 - now vegan a​nd 1 year 3 months plant based)

After having our first son, my husband and I started to educate ourselves more on the fishing industry and I just grew more empathetic towards the treatment of all animals, not just the ones running around on grass, and it didn't feel morally right that we were actively contributing to ending lives. We were a lot more into spirituality at this point, and for myself personally; I reached a stage where I valued the beauty of life - no animal should be seen as less valuable than a human - a life is a life. With that in mind, we went vegetarian just a few months after having our second son in 2016.

Eventually in 2017, we realised that we had stopped using dairy at home, we weren't eating eggs and pretty much only used honey. We had transitioned to an almost vegan diet without even noticing, so we ditched the honey and officially went vegan.

The changes I have seen have been great; my energy levels running around behind two wild boys are so much better, I don't have that tired sluggish feeling after meals and the baby weight I was finding hard to shift, is gradually dropping off more than it did before. I have anxiety, and I really think that going vegan has definitely improved my mental focus and clarity. I would have a LOT of depressed days before...now; I can count how many I've had in the last 6 months on one hand. So my number one motivation for sticking to a plant based diet is definitely how good I feel physically and mentally.

My advice for anyone starting their plant based journey is to not feel like you have to jump right in at the deep end, giving up everything you have been used to eating for so long straight away. Don't put a label on it, and just gradually let go of a thing or two at a time that feels natural to you. Have fun with it and look at what you're about to gain health wise as opposed to what you are losing food wise - get creative in the kitchen rather than getting disappointed that you're favourite restaurant doesn't offer a vegan friendly option. Follow a load of plant based Instagram pages so that they can keep you motivated on the days that you are thinking about giving up and getting that old thang back! 

Good luck :)