Sooo, I thought I would document a lil vegan trial on here. It will hold me accountable for the month, plus it will journey the good bits (feeling lean) the bad bits (dry lips) and the ugly bits (really smelly farts.)

Why try vegan? When I love meat. Love it as in, I dribble at the thought of a lamb shank, or ribs, or an Honest Burger. Why try being vegan when Haagen Daz is my favourite cuisine and a cheese board is my second favourite. Ohhh cheese how I am missing you so...

Admittedly the reason I thought Id try it, was not for ethical reasons as such, but more because I was always feeling bloated. I've had a good nutritional diet for the last year and a half (bar a few binge moments) yet I still felt bloated. I also was breaking out in severe hives and I couldn't figure out what is was. Something in my diet was peeing me off. It wasn't weight I wanted to lose any more, but that extra body fat/bloat. So I started seeing people on insta doing 801010 or raw before 4 and it interested me. Everyone was saying how they felt cleansed and detoxed and lean.

To accompany these first few thoughts, the boyf had been trying to get me to watch some food documentaries for a while. My initial response a year ago was (hell no-ignorance is bliss) I liked meat wayyyy too much and I really didn't want to be put off mi spag bol with CHEESE on top (did I mention I love cheese?) But curiosity got the better of me and I decided to watch about 4 documentaries that talked about the meat industry. What meat does to our bodies, the earth and what we do to the animals. I was not ready for what I saw. At all.

I won't say too much, but I cried for 80% of the programmes.

Needless to say, I thought about what I was actually eating, whether I knew where it had come from, what they had done to it and if I wanted to put meat into me that had been so so badly treated. And for now, the answer is no. I have no judgement of meat eaters, gosh, I may return. I stand on the fence still. Sure of my ethics, but not sure how strong I am on them, I am yet to decide what choices I want to make. But I did want to give it a go. To see. The effects on my body, my mind and my soul.

Would I miss it, crave it, need it, dribble over it or not even blink an eyelid...

Right now I am 2 weeks in. I did a week previously, and then went on to eat fish and dairy for a week before deciding to try vegan again as I immediately felt bloated. This is day 10 consecutively. Currently I am not craving anything too much, accept I wouldn't mind some cheesey eggs. The one thing I think I would miss the most if I kept this up is ice cream in general. But one step at a time. Currently no one has forced me into an ice cream parlour, where I may not be able to leave without jumping in a tub and bathing in the luxury, creamy,sweet, milky gloop. My gaaaaad.

So far I have kept my cravings at bay with Nice cream, date and oat bars and scrambled tofu. Oh lordy. I may call my child Mildred-Augustos Bernadetta Vaughan-Smith and have her tell her friends that 'she doesn't eat cheese because Mummy says its not a nice thing to do' while she trots off to do her biology text book and eat her cashew cheese on Rye, aged 4. Throw me to the crocodiles and let them eat me slowly please.

Eeeeeek.

Tonight I am out for dinner with friends. I got through a hen weekend, so I am sure this will be OK. My only real issue so far is that I haven't been organised enough to get to hold foods and pick up some good vegan protein sources. Its in the diary for tomorrow.

Truthfully, I know vegans don't call their children silly names and force feed them buckwheat. It's a lifestyle choice that so many people seem to benefit from. The stigma surrounding being vegan is rubbish... and I do think a worthy, ethical cause. Who knows if I am strong willed enough to refuse Camembert or a Gaucho steak ever again. All I do know is I will never force my child to eat rye bread.

It will be a home made gluten free, oat free, dairy free, taste free loaf :)

To vegan or not to vegan...