Accidentally Vegan
Hi, I'm Mike. I'm a pretty avid meat eater. I always have been a fan of meat, whether that be in the form of burgers, steak, a full English, sausage and egg, minted lamb henry (although I'm not allowed to eat lamb that much anymore - wife's orders), steak & ale pie, etc. I've always, ignorantly, viewed vegetarianism with an air of "Well, why? What's the point?" and veganism was another level all together.
My lovely wife Nats, who is also a meat eater, has been watching quite a lot of Youtubers of late about veganism and the vegan lifestyle and, inadvertently, because I've been in the room at the time, I've caught snippets of it.
Don't get me wrong, some of it is bonkers and I really doubt the credentials of some of the so called 'nutritionists' out there but, on a whim, as I had my head buried in a book and only half listening to somebody talk about the merits of eating a plant-based diet, I casually dropped the old "I wonder..." card.
"I wonder if I could do it? Just for like a month or so."
The words slipped out before I even realised I'd said them and Nats jumped on this like a squirrel on the last acorn on earth. That's funny because it's vegan!
No amount of back peddling was going to work so here I am, two days into a vegan lifestyle and wondering why I'm not craving a burger, or cheese, or a cheese burger.
Day #1 (yesterday) seemed harder than today, and a lot of that was probably psychosomatic. I felt pretty wretched. Kept telling myself I was going to keel over without something cheesey or milky. I did try coconut milk in my coffee. That was awful!
A colleague, who is actually vegan, recommended Almond milk. That's more palatable thankfully, otherwise I'd be resorting to black tea and coffee.
Breakfast was much the same; peanut butter on toast but without the extra layer of butter this time. That was manageable. Dinner was a houmous and falafel wrap, crisps, a vegatable samosa and a smoothie. That was actually really tasty. Tea was something else entirely. I walked in and Nats had cooked mushy peas, chips and what looked like fish fingers. I got excited! Fantastic meal. It didn't even occur to me at that moment that fish wasn't on the menu so what looked like fish fingers was almost certainly NOT fish fingers. Schoolboy error! The first bite proved this. The chips and mushy peas were grand but the not-fish fingers were... well, the best way to describe them was they had the texture and taste of bland baby food. I ate them because it was a case of eat them or starve but they were a long way from tasty.
Today has seemed much easier although it started out rough - I was tired and headachy due to not getting home from the hospital until 0215 ish (a different story entirely). On the train to work, I bought a bottle of coke without thinking and then had to quickly google it to make sure I was actually allowed to drink it. I was thankfully! I needed it.
Breakfast again was peanut butter on toast. Dinner was a houmous and falafet wrap (Tesco don't have a great range!), crisps, a mixed berry medley and a smoothie. Again, really tasty if not altogether cheap. I had an apple mid afternoon to keep my energy levels up. Tea was where it came alive though. Nats had made some Linda McCartney sausages with a mushroom and onion gravy on the side and some greens. Now that was tasty. I've also wondered what the point of vegetarian sausages was but I was pleasantly surprised by how nice they actually were.
I'm drinking coffee with Almond milk presently but another friend who is vegan has recommended cashew milk too. Honestly, I didn't realise I had so many vegan friends! She's also recommended a couple of facebook pages to help get advice.
So, two days down! Twenty Eight to go. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
My lovely wife Nats, who is also a meat eater, has been watching quite a lot of Youtubers of late about veganism and the vegan lifestyle and, inadvertently, because I've been in the room at the time, I've caught snippets of it.
Don't get me wrong, some of it is bonkers and I really doubt the credentials of some of the so called 'nutritionists' out there but, on a whim, as I had my head buried in a book and only half listening to somebody talk about the merits of eating a plant-based diet, I casually dropped the old "I wonder..." card.
"I wonder if I could do it? Just for like a month or so."
The words slipped out before I even realised I'd said them and Nats jumped on this like a squirrel on the last acorn on earth. That's funny because it's vegan!
No amount of back peddling was going to work so here I am, two days into a vegan lifestyle and wondering why I'm not craving a burger, or cheese, or a cheese burger.
Day #1 (yesterday) seemed harder than today, and a lot of that was probably psychosomatic. I felt pretty wretched. Kept telling myself I was going to keel over without something cheesey or milky. I did try coconut milk in my coffee. That was awful!
A colleague, who is actually vegan, recommended Almond milk. That's more palatable thankfully, otherwise I'd be resorting to black tea and coffee.
Breakfast was much the same; peanut butter on toast but without the extra layer of butter this time. That was manageable. Dinner was a houmous and falafel wrap, crisps, a vegatable samosa and a smoothie. That was actually really tasty. Tea was something else entirely. I walked in and Nats had cooked mushy peas, chips and what looked like fish fingers. I got excited! Fantastic meal. It didn't even occur to me at that moment that fish wasn't on the menu so what looked like fish fingers was almost certainly NOT fish fingers. Schoolboy error! The first bite proved this. The chips and mushy peas were grand but the not-fish fingers were... well, the best way to describe them was they had the texture and taste of bland baby food. I ate them because it was a case of eat them or starve but they were a long way from tasty.
Today has seemed much easier although it started out rough - I was tired and headachy due to not getting home from the hospital until 0215 ish (a different story entirely). On the train to work, I bought a bottle of coke without thinking and then had to quickly google it to make sure I was actually allowed to drink it. I was thankfully! I needed it.
Breakfast again was peanut butter on toast. Dinner was a houmous and falafet wrap (Tesco don't have a great range!), crisps, a mixed berry medley and a smoothie. Again, really tasty if not altogether cheap. I had an apple mid afternoon to keep my energy levels up. Tea was where it came alive though. Nats had made some Linda McCartney sausages with a mushroom and onion gravy on the side and some greens. Now that was tasty. I've also wondered what the point of vegetarian sausages was but I was pleasantly surprised by how nice they actually were.
I'm drinking coffee with Almond milk presently but another friend who is vegan has recommended cashew milk too. Honestly, I didn't realise I had so many vegan friends! She's also recommended a couple of facebook pages to help get advice.
So, two days down! Twenty Eight to go. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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