Is Veganism Hard? Is it Expensive? And Other Questions…

It’s that time of year again – Veganuary has rolled around, and with more people signing up than ever before, I want to chip in a little. Help out, in whatever way I can. I’ve been vegan for nearly four years now (you can read my full vegan story here) and so I think I have a wise word or two to spill on the topic.

In this post, I thought I’d answer some common questions asked when people first hear about veganism and want to give it a go. This is all based on my personal experience, being vegan in the UK, so my situation may be different to other people’s. I wanted to focus on subjective questions here, so you won’t find health and environment stats in this post. There are plenty of wonderful sources to learn about these things, so I will highlight some of my favourites at the end of the post – if you want to know more about the facts then I advise you give those a browse!

Advertisement

My 8 Self-Care Spring Rituals ft. Mia

Spring is a time of growth and fresh starts; if the daffodils have the courage and strength to push their way up into the sunlight after such a long and cold winter then we can at least try too. The sun has been shining the last few days and my mood has definitely taken notice. I have more energy, am finding it easier to get up early and feel like negative things have less impact on me. Oh, and I can actually wear shorts without risking frostbite. So there’s that!

The world is beginning to thaw out a little and people are starting to crack out the barbecues. This weather actually makes me want to get out more and be a little more sociable (I know right, shock horror for an introvert like me) and so this feels like the perfect time to take part in a wonderful collab with a wonderful human being, Mia from Beautiful, Creative, Inspiring Life.

January Reflections – My New Job, Uni Decisions and Mental Health Struggles

If someone asked me to describe January 2018 in one word I’d probably say ‘whirlwind’. The first month of the year has really picked me up and tossed me around a bit, and I kind of feel like I’m writing this post from within a washing machine of chaotic thoughts and day routines. I have a feeling the spinning isn’t going to halt for February, but maybe it can slow down a little so I can get to grips with life.

I know I’m not quite walking and controlling the dog known as life yet, but I’m hoping February will give me the chance to chase after it on foot, rather than being dragged around desperately clinging onto the leash, not knowing which way is up. That doesn’t mean the month has been full of stress and nothing wonderful though, it’s just been quite full on in every direction, both positive and negative emotions.

What I Eat in a Week as a Vegan – Veganuary

‘What I Eat in a Day/Week as a Vegan’ kind of content is very popular in the YouTube community, and to a slightly lesser extent the blogging community, and I can see why. When you first go vegan, even if you only have to make a small change, you’re going to need some inspiration. For me, having been a lifelong vegetarian, perhaps it should’ve been easy to come up with meal plans. That wasn’t always the case though; I still felt a little lost for the first month or two as I tentatively stepped into veganism.

How would I make delicious food without cheese? Or create nice cakes without eggs? These were probably two of the concerns most relevant to my diet at the time, but every person making some kind of dietary transition will experience different worries and come up against different barriers.

Ice Cream For Breakfast? – Veganuary

The best moment about becoming a vegan has to be the day you first hear about banana ice cream, aka nicecream. For a lot of people, this will be in the early stages of veganism, in which scrolling through Instagram or trawling sites for food inspiration is a common activity. For some reason this phenomenon doesn’t seem to have spread much outside the vegan community, but I think this makes a brilliant breakfast, regardless of your diet choices.

Either way, once you’ve discovered nicecream there’s no way to not see it on social media; it seems to pop up everywhere. And once you’ve tasted it yourself, there is no way to go back: ice cream really is the best breakfast, and now that childhood dream can be fulfilled in a healthy way!

Starting My First Minimalist Bullet Journal

I’ve fantasised about starting an arty bullet journal for years: in a heavily-influenced-by-Pinterest phase I went through a while back, intricately drawn pages with curly typography tumbled out of the screen at me in gushes of overwhelming beauty; I felt way too intimidated to begin one myself as I was consumed by the thought ‘mine won’t look that nice’.

The new year has just rolled around again and the bullet journal posts have begun to resurface, which at first, tugged on that creative and organisational part of my character and tried persuading it to pick up a pen and fill hundreds of pages with detailed, illustrated notes.

Comparing Plant-Based Milks: Which Is The Best? – Veganuary

If you’re attempting veganism this year, or focussing on cutting down on dairy, then great news – there’s a huge, and I mean HUGE, variety of milk alternatives out there. But here comes the bad news: switching from a taken-for-granted singular option of cow’s milk to a baffling array of new options which all seem equally unusual/weird/exciting/*insert your own adjective here*, can be overwhelming to say the least.

Staying a Healthy Weight: Can Veganism Help? – Veganuary

People often talk about three main reasons for going vegan, two of which are ethics and the environment. Today, however, I’m going to be discussing the other point on the ‘why go vegan’ triangle: health. We all know our physical health is extremely important, it is one of the top categories for resolutions in the new year (quitting smoking, losing weight, doing more exercise, eating better, drinking less…) and something a lot of us, including me, know we could do better at.

Most of us, even if we don’t follow them, know the basics of how to keep our bodies healthy. Or at least, we know what we’ve been told are the most impactful things we can do to live longer and healthier lives: drinking more water, exercising regularly and maintaining a balanced diet.