If you’ve read my blog for a while, or know me even a little bit, you’ll know when it comes to food that I’m a) very greedy and b) a big meat lover.
Chicken wings, ribs, bacon, sausages, gammon, roast dinners, BBQs… I love it all. I openly admit that I eat a lot of meat. I have quite a bit appetite and am definitely more of a protein fan than a carb fan. That said, it’ll be a rare occasion that I’ll say no to cake. God I love cake.
I know that eating a lot of meat is not great for the environment. I don’t live in a box. I know this. As humans, we eat too much of it. The way we farm animals isn’t great either. Animals are not treated with the respect they deserve. Though I won’t go as far to say we shouldn’t use animals as food, I do believe we could be doing it better for the animals’ welfare. And I’m guilty of putting my head in the sand on this front. Sure I’ll try and find free range products where I can but sometimes I’ll reach for whatever’s cheapest or easiest, and I eat out in restaurants a lot and many of them I’m sure are not ethically minded (Nando’s I’m looking at you).
So I decided to see what it would be like to be vegan for two weeks. It would be a (big) challenge to myself and also I could raise some money for a local animal shelter (the Stubbington Ark) –> please sponsor me if you can HERE. Yes of course I could do this in stages and gradually reduce meat and dairy etc. but I want this to be a shock to the system. Force me out of my comfort zone and hit my hard. I need a big shake up. Something to get me thinking, researching, planning and reinvigorating my love of cooking.
I also want to be see if I can take anything away from my two weeks. Make any long term changes. Changes I wouldn’t normally try because I’ve become so dependent on animal products. But now I can really test things out and force myself out of my usual routine and habits and open my mind to other options.
I knew going into this I had to be prepared. I researched what I could and couldn’t eat. I found recipes, created myself a Pinterest Board (check it out HERE), planned my meals for the first week and meal prepped like a boss on Sunday. If I was going to succeed and do this properly I needed to have a plan.I planned out the meals I’d be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next five days.
Breakfast was easy. I always eat porridge with almond milk. I currently add whey protein to it but I obviously wouldn’t be able to use that anymore. So I did a little bit of research online and decided that though I’d heard amazing things about the Awesome Supplements Vegan Protein it was just too expensive. Spending £26 (plus postage) for a tub was a lot. I’m used to spending about £12. So instead I went with the MyProtein Vegan Protein Powder. I’m happy to give it a go for the cost – I hate food waste so I’ll be using it up even if it’s not that great, don’t worry! Who knows, I might even change my whey protein habits.
Lunches I meal prepped on Sunday… lentil, chickpea curries and a beetroot and roast vegetable salad.
Dinners this week are actually easy as we went to the cinema on Tuesday night (we always get a Subway to eat during the trailers and they have vegan options now) and Wednesday we’re out and I’ve found a vegan-friendly restaurant.
I’ll do a post in more detail of how I’ve found it and the things I’ve been eating soon…
Again, HERE’s my sponsor page for a very good cause.
Are you a vegan/vegetarian?
Have you ever gone vegan?
Would you struggle?
Good luck with it.
You might want to listen to the Reasons to be Cheerful podcast they did about it (I think just called Reasons to be vegan)- they raised some interesting points.
I think eating out now it is easier than ever- I choose vegan options more often because although I do have some dairy (mainly in chocolate, or if I buy a cake from a bakery) I am not really happy with the idea of it, plus often now more cheese aren’t vegetarian. We went to Brighton last weekend and I had a delicious vegan pizza.
Looking forward to reading how you got on!
I’ve tried to be vegetarian but failed. I’d really struggle to go Vegan, although I think it’s a lot easier now as there are so many options.
Rebecca recently posted…I Burned 400 Calories in 45 minutes
I tried to sponsor you but the site won’t work for me here 🙁 Good luck with the challenge! I’m mostly vegan (I eat veggie if someone else has made food for me or if I’m travelling somewhere without many options as I hate making a big fuss about my own diet choices) but transitioned gradually. It took me about 4 years to fully switch from eating meat, to becoming veggie and then vegan. There are definitely a lot more options now which hopefully makes your challenge a bit easier!
Hi Anna, long time lurker here!
I just have to say – please please be aware that there are ways to ensure that the meat you eat has been farmed ethically, and a lot of the commercially available meat actually comes from small farms with the best welfare. Have a look at the red tractor logo. My dad is a small Aberdeen Angus farmer and our animals go to both Sainsbury’s and Burger King!
I just had to write a comment as a lot of people believe the Netflix documentaries – that are based in the US. We have very different standards of welfare and our government is a lot tougher on farmers standards! We also have to adhere to EU regulations, so the US documentaries don’t really relate to the meat you eat.
Just wanted to let you know, I’ve read your blog for years 🙂