I settled on Vegan 101 for a couple of reasons: firstly because I plan on doing this for 101 days, up until the end of my time working on a whale watching boat in Hervey Bay. Secondly, because I am a total beginner at living a vegan lifestyle - I can barely manage healthy living let alone an unforgivingly restrictive diet that bans meat, cheese, butter, eggs and milk from my kitchen. I initially 'went vegan' the day after moving up from Melbourne to Hervey Bay at the end of June to start my new job. I did really well for 2 weeks, but it all went downhill on my third weekend in the Bay when a 14 hour long 20th birthday party led to heavy boozing, the dreaded munchies and greasy hangover food (it was a spinach and feta pastry that eventually brought my vegan intentions crumbling down, and I'm ashamed to say it was delicious). The following week and a half was a complete disaster, and prohibited items including vintage cheddar, margarine and chocolate found their way back into my fridge. After 10 days of slipping back into old habits, I decided enough was enough and a blog was born to help me stick out the full 101 days.
My friends and family haven't been shy about voicing their opinions on the subject of veganism (but, but bacon?) with some raising relevant concerns about getting enough protein and iron. So why, after 25 years of carnivorous tendencies, have I chosen to remove animal products from my diet? It all started when I saw a video on Facebook about factory farming which revealed all manner of horrible, graphic truths about the industry. A few examples include:
*Keeping cows in a constant state of gestation and nursing to maintain milk production, causing them great discomfort - and taking their calves away as soon as they're born so they don't take the milk 'meant' for humans
*Holding piglets by the tail and slamming their heads against the floor to kill them if they're not growing quickly enough
*Filing down chickens' beaks so they don't peck themselves or others to death while they're caged up in cramped conditions
You can watch the video by clicking on the link below. Obviously, this comes with a graphic content warning. I've included the title of the video and the name of the company behind it - when I tried to access the link from my blog YouTube required a sign-in due to the distressing content, so it may be easier to use the search bar instead.
'Can you face the reality of factory farming?' Mercy for Animals
Since watching that, it's been incredibly easy going veggie - to be honest I didn't eat all that much meat before. It's giving up dairy which is proving tough, but if I'm ever going to do this, it should be now. I'm living a stress-free, cruisey lifestyle in a beautiful town right in the beach and working my dream job on a whale watching boat. For the first time since arriving in Australia, I actually feel like I'm on a working holiday. I've got no excuse for stress or 'emotional' eating, plus the family I'm living with is very health-conscious, which is great motivation. They have no qualms about telling me off if they see me snaffling a piece of cheese or munching on a Twix, so I'm slowly being conditioned to feel embarrassed about eating junk/non-vegan fare.
The second reason I'm going vegan is simply to lose weight. With pizza, cheese and chocolate off the menu, I'm hoping to shift a few kilos by the time I head back to the UK - and because I can't have butter I'll be less tempted to eat bread, another one of my downfalls. I'm also eschewing alcohol and cutting down on sugary tea, replacing it for the most part with peppermint and other herbal varieties. Since I haven't got a car, I'm walking or cycling to get me from A to B, but also for fun - the beaches and esplanade with coastal views make a cycle or power walk much more tempting than usual. Combined with Zumba and yoga classes that I'm planning on starting soon, and ladders up and down a steep set of steps I've been doing for 3 weeks, this should work in conjunction with the diet to get things moving! There are also places to hire kayaks and stand-up paddle boards - I'm hoping to hire out one or the other for an event on Saturday called 'Paddle Out For Whales', a peaceful protest against whaling.
I'll be recording my meals and snacks each day and uploading pictures and recipes of any main meals which might be of interest. There are a couple of vegan cookbooks winging their way to me from the States as we speak so I'll be learning lots of new tips and tricks (hopefully a substitute for cheese sauce) along the way. Wish me luck!
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