Part Four of the 'Vegan Series': A Lifestyle.

Thanks for checking in with us here at Chasing Roman and welcome to the Vegan Series, Part Four: A Lifestyle.


If you'd like to read parts one, two and three then just click on the 'vegan' tag at the bottom of this post and press 'older posts' to read back. They're filled with facts, fun and food!


So, without further ado, I want to say that for me being vegan is more than just what I eat. It's a lifestyle for the rest of my life. I can't imagine putting meat or animal products into my body ever again. Why? Well, to make it really simple and easy to read, I made a list.


1. I don't want to eat those things. It might sound simple, but it's anything but simple. It would just be so easy to eat meat. Or it would be in terms of things to buy and places to eat out, when it comes to cooking being vegan is far easier. Also, for me, being vegan tastes better. I can taste my food. 


2. Roman is watching everything I do. If we're both unhealthy and eating poorly, it would be no surprise if he became an adult who ate poorly and became unhealthy, too. More often than not, this happens. For me it was easier to be unhealthy when I ate dairy and meat. There was more choice, so more junk foods to eat. Now obviously you can get vegan junk foods, but the options are smaller. 


The options are even smaller when you decide you're not going to buy those things and bring them into the home (which has been our choice) and when you're not too crazy about 'treats' for the kids and allow them some freedom of choice, then they will make smart decisions. My choice is to eliminate 'junk' foods for myself, from my home and my body, except on odd occasions (at which point I can only eat so much.) 


So, do you have to be vegan to do this? Absolutely not. Everyone and anyone can do this. I just choose to be vegan because it gives me a better chance of success at eating well. 


3. Animal cruelty. I know that most human beings are compassionate beings. I know that we don't want to do harm to other beings and I also know that the majority of people I know would say if they had to kill their meat, they wouldn't eat it. For me it's a matter of survival. If I had to eat meat to survive, I would do it, but hopefully I won't find myself in that position.  


As it stands we have the luxury to choose. To choose what goes on our plates and into our bellies and I choose veganism. You might not be ready or even desire to choose that, but I know you can make a better choice for you, your family and those generations waiting in the wings of our futures - and our children's futures. 


And, unfortunately so, animal cruelty seems to be abound in the farming practices with factory farming. 





Our social behaviour towards food seems to be more positive, but more needs to happen so that we're guaranteed and geared up for completely cruelty free food - because, let's face it, veganism isn't the desire of everyone. But having animals free of infections, pumped full of hormones and not being cramped into tiny spaces is probably a greater desire and a goal that's realistic.


4. Being vegan is who I am. It's a huge part of me. For 6 years now I have followed this lifestyle and it's a part of my whole life. When I decided to follow a vegan lifestyle I made that choice seeing how it felt for me. I didn't plan long term because I'm not good at sticking to goals. 6 years later here I am, saying it's a part of me and that I wouldn't swap that. Why should I? It works and makes sense for me. I feel more at home with myself, more at peace. Why would I take that security away?


5. My family is vegan. And with that, there is a massive support. Before I married, it was just me. At the start of my veganism I felt I had something to prove but the truth is that I don't have anything to prove, I can be an example just by the way I live my life, I don't need to shout my beliefs from the rooftop. 


With my family being vegan I would find it selfish to suddenly change the dynamics of that - sure, if I wanted to, I could eat meat. But I don't want to and I don't see the point of everyone eating three separate meals. What a waste of money, time and energy we can spend together rather than cooking, cleaning and preparing just so we can eat. Being vegan means less time is spent in the kitchen and more time enjoying, tasting and appreciating our mostly made from scratch meals. I notice a huge difference in the taste of most food if it's cooked from a packet versus cooked from fresh, tasty and wholesome ingredients.


Of course, every family can have that, you do not need to be vegan, but this is what works for us. I just know if one of us was to suddenly start eating meat and dairy that it would spell disaster because we've only ever lived as two, and now three, vegans under one roof. And I've lived in mixed meat eating and vegan households. It's definitely easier to live as a group, in unity and harmony than to divert from what works.


In short, being vegan is more than what I eat. It's about every part of my lifestyle, it has an effect on nearly every part of my life because I am conscious of the effects and how different things would be without this lifestyle. I was always a deep thinker and a little girl who asked a lot of questions.


I grew into an adult who thought so hard and deep about her food choices. I grew into an adult who was not comfortable about eating meat and then became increasingly disturbed by the dairy industry and it's processes. And now my choices fit perfectly into my life.


I am careful but not religious about finding vegan make-up and other cosmetics, but it's not always practical or financially possible. I plan on changing that in 2012 and working a bit harder on that part of my life as it's something I can only try, just as I tried to become vegan in 2006 and was successful. 


As for clothes and other things I have around my home: I am always careful to choose vegan clothes. After all, these materials are going against my skin and I'd rather not feel the hide of a cow or sheep up against my skin. 


If I'm choosing not to eat meat, I need to choose not to wear dead animals against my skin and it's something I haven't struggled with as clothes aren't ridiculously priced - if you're going to shop on vegan designer websites then yes, they may well be expensive, but I just as easily buy from the shops I bought from before. I don't buy Uggs and it's no loss to me. 


Tune in next time for a totally different Vegan Series.


Follow: @MamaChaser 
Email: carakirk@hotmail.com

Part Three of the 'Vegan Series': Bringing up Vegan Baby.

Parts one and two from the Vegan Series can be read here and here.


So, let's face it, when you have a child you become public property. In fact, it starts in pregnancy. Everyone has an opinion!


'Oh they didn't have car seats in my day and my kids did just fine.'


'Stand on your head and shout 1,2,3 three times a day for the next nine months and that baby will come sliding riiiight out.'


And so on. Then there are the comments about your size, the million times a day 'is the baby here yet?' questions and the odd compulsion for strangers to grab and rub your pregnant belly. Um. Okay. Do you mind. That's my stomach you're touching and if you move your hand an inch lower it might not be my stomach you're touching any more...


Then the baby comes. More comments. More advice. More questions.


'Are you breast or bottle feeding?'


Breast.


'Oh you'll need to get them onto a bottle when they're 4/5/6 months/a year so they don't become clingy/so people don't think you're weird.'


Um...


'And is your son/daughter going to be a vegan like you are?'


Yes. 


'Oh I knew someone whose child was vegan AND THEY DIED.'


Okay, seriously, I haven't had that conversation...but pretty damn close a few times. 


A baby is a comment magnet, everyone is an expert and I've found nearly everyone has a different opinion. When our son's hair was wild and free (and not that wild and free, I shall add) lots of comments were made. From 'when are you going to cut his hair?' to comparing him to Justin Beiber. Seriously. And anyway, it was more a Boris Johnson 'do (poor kid!). You would never point out someone's gross lady moustache (not that I'm a moustache hater, but you follow my logic, right?) or someone's dodgy wig - so why get so personal on a baby?


Is it because they can't talk back? Well...our son has started to form three word sentences, so you better straighten that wig and get the wax out on that moustache - he's got some lost time to make up for ;).


But seriously. Seriously. I've heard so many weird and wonderful things like 'aww that's a shame!' to 'that's SO cruel, you're depriving him and wrapping him in cotton wool by doing that!' and the cherry on top: 'YOU'RE JUST DOING WHAT YOU WANT!'


Aren't all parents 'just doing what they want' when it comes to their kids? No matter how perfect your parents were, you see their flaws. You see gaps in things you missed out on. You want to fill your child's childhood gaps, you do your best and in the end you're going to make mistakes. It's how we learn. And it's why Grandparents get it oh so right with their Grandchildren. Second time lucky and all that ;).


So to address the former comments, the 'that's a shame' comment. How so? What will my child 'miss out' on? An advent calendar at Christmas? I bought it. An Easter egg? I bought it. Mc Donald's? No thanks!


And for all the stories I hear about fussy eaters I am grateful we don't have that problem. He doesn't miss out on all necessary vitamins and minerals that will strengthen his growth and development. And I am all too aware of what he needs in order to thrive because I would never go into parenthood not knowing that - whether I was vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous.  


So, what do average* children need?


Let's take a child between the ages of 1-2 years, seeing as Roman is at that stage and to make things easy in explaining. 


Sleep: around 10-12 hours per day (Roman probably gets more than this as most parents might cut the nap in this age group) and he goes to bed around 7pm most nights. Before bed he has a 15-30 minute 'wind down' period which starts with a bath and ends in scripture study (basic) and prayer. We had a lovely book called 'Bedtime Peekaboo' we used to read to him when he was a baby (I would suggest starting this as early as possible) but these days he prefers to 'read' books to himself.


Love: this is hard to quantify. But in it's most basic form children need to feel loved, accepted and safe. Of course you can only give what you can give and hope it is enough but safety is something easily quantifiable. 


Safety is knowing that you'll be there should they fall and hurt themselves. Safety is knowing there are boundaries to their behaviour and things they can explore; Roman used to love attempting to climb our fire place and radiators and would look at us as he was climbing them, looking for a response or a reaction, to which I would gently tell him to come away. If he wouldn't respond the first time either one of us would physically remove him. If it was an immediate danger I wouldn't hesitate to remove him. I believe this comes under love, because it is love that makes you respond to your child's behaviour - if you didn't feel love, you wouldn't care and you wouldn't react. 


On top of this he gets about a bazillion hugs and kisses a day - most of which he squirms free from. 


Food: it's our energy source, our enjoyment out of life, our nourishment, our joy to cook. Food is so important. But it's even more important that we understand how much we do and don't need of the stuff and what different vitamins and minerals food provides.


When I was a child, about 5, I knew about calories because my parents talked about them a lot. What I wasn't aware of was how many of these calories I needed in a day and even if I had understood, I was relying on my parents to feed me and prepare meals for me so it wouldn't have made much difference.


It falls on my shoulders to understand, at each point of his life and development, what my son needs from his food in order to be healthy, grow, play, learn and develop into a boy and then a man.

We are very fortunate in the sense that Roman isn't a 'fussy eater' so I don't have to worry about him lacking in minerals and vitamins. He also loves taking his supplement (VEG1, the same one I take, but in a smaller dose.) I remember being a child and having teddy bear shaped vitamins that tasted like oranges so I don't blame Roman. Every single food that is put in front of him, he will try.

Some treats Roman likes to eat and drink.

1. Orange juice. 2. Pffernuse, Christmas 2010. 3. A pirate. 4. Chocolate bagels.

According to the Vegan Society 45% of adult bone mass is accrued before 8 years old and another 45% between the ages of 8-16 years old (with the other 10% accumulating in the next decade) - so what does this mean? It means that every parent of vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous children need to be sure that their children are getting a decent intake of calcium (and other minerals and vitamins previously discussed to help the absorption of calcium.) 

For Roman it means fortified foods; non-dairy (soya, usually) milk, baked beans, dark leafy veg (brocolli) cous cous, and breakfast cereals. So how much calcium does a wee one need, exactly? 

This varies, but if we're taking an average 1-2 year old they'll need 350mg of calcium (as well as 10-20mg of Vitamin D to help absorb the calcium.) 

Calories? 1,500 or so but unless your child is underweight, you really don't need to count the calories. What matters is that they eat averagely well, that they are provided with enough vitamins and minerals to meet their developing needs, that you're on hand to explain what they are putting into their bodies once they understand and that they can make wise food choices alongside their knowledge of nutrition as they develop from child to teen to adult.

A healthy relationship to food and a greater understanding of nutrition is essential for children and I look forward to sharing the information I've gathered, and will learn, with Roman - much in the same way my Dad would tell me about how many grams of fat per day a person should have, how many calories we should eat in a day and passing on my love of fruit and veg inherited from my Mum, as well as the many (vegan and adapted to be vegan) recipes she has taught me over the years.

Another part of his nutrition started when Roman was newborn and was breastfed, right up until a few weeks ago, actually. He self weaned going from several (every 30mins to 2 hours at times) to one or two feeds, then down to just one and then no more feeds gradually and naturally, the way nature intends the relationship to end; amicably and happily. 

He would never 'ask' or even have a special sign for his milk, to him it was an eating/drinking/comfort process and nothing more, nor was he particularly interested in other people's breasts - asides from when he was a newborn and would try to get a piece at every door haha.

For me it kept me on track to eating well and gave me a great need to want to nourish myself as best I could. When he stopped feeding from my body he had reached a point in his life where he was happy to fill his belly with just food and drinks and I was happy to have reached a point in our relationship where we could naturally progress instead of being dictated to on when we should stop. 

It worked beautifully and I would hope to be physically and mentally able to do this if I add to my family in the future.

I realise food is emotional for a lot of people, it's a large topic and took up the bulk of this post, but it's so important. It's so important that no matter which diet you follow that you eat the best of the best, that you enjoy your food choices for the long term and not just the short term.

I've received a few criticisms for my food choices and now I receive the odd complaint or criticism (usually ill informed and sometimes well intentioned) for bringing up a vegan child but the point of the argument gets lost on me a lot. I know about nutrition, about food choices and I am very well advised on my choices - as I hope I've illustrated in my first and second posts.

My intentions are more than just a hunch, they're full of knowledge and plenty of nights I will never get back reading, reading and more reading many books, pamphlets, websites (for and against) and documentaries I have sat through, filling my little brain box up with info on vegan diets :).

I will be the first to admit I wasn't sure if a vegan diet was 'enough' for a child, but that's ridiculous. Any diet can follow that 'not enough' logic by lacking in a few vitamins here and a few minerals there. And it won't take long for your body's natural supplies to dwindle down - after all we eat because our bodies can't physically create certain vitamins and minerals, so every diet is 'supplemented' by food. And sometimes a lot of people don't strike the right balance and get it wrong.

When you understand the balances, when you understand how to nourish yourself and you follow through on that - you can't go wrong. 

Stuff your child full of Mars Bars or just fruit and veg and you'll go wrong, because a body needs more nutrition than that and it is easily achieved with a varied diet full of nourishment dense food, no matter if you're vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous. 

I really hope you can take something from these posts, no matter what diet you follow, and that it will have opened you up to trying something different. I'm doing a completely different type of Vegan Series next week, not related to food (okay maybe just a bit)  and I am thrilled to be sharing it here! 

Till next time!

*Average = average weight and height for their age group. Average levels of activity.

Part Two of the 'Vegan Series': Questions I get asked. A LOT.

Welcome the Vegan Series. If you've just stumbled upon this post then pretty please read through Part One where I shared with you my 'Becoming Vegan' story. 


There are many questions that people on vegan diets are asked, but my top three have to be:

1. Where do you get your protein from?


I have to admit this question drives me up the wall. Since when did anyone think about protein. Protein is important, but why the obsession I'm somehow not getting any? The question is usually well intentioned, but it's over used. So onto the important stuff: where I get my protein from.

Nut butter: a pretty pleasant protein.

Protein is known as a 'building block of life.' It's used to repair the body and build muscles ;). I suppose this explains the protein shake craze. So when you eat a piece of food containing protein your wonderful (sometimes wonderful?) body will break it down for you into amino acids, of which humans can create 10 (alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine and tyrosine if you must know) of the 20. And logic dictates that the other 10 must be taken from our food (which is why breatharianism is out.)


The good thing about our bodies is that 1. we have brains and scientists with brains discovered point 2. which is that our bodies make no distinction between 'complete' or so-called 'incomplete' proteins and this is important because animal proteins contain all the amino acids in substainal quantities whereas plant proteins don't always. But that's okay because it's possible to combine two incomplete protein sources to make a complete protein source (B's lentil, chickpea and pasta bake for example.) 


Plus let's not forget those 8 or so spiders we eat accidentally at night ;) (please note the half-sarcasm in that comment.)


2. What about iron?


Iron is present in everything we eat. And I mean everything; cereals, lentils, wholemeal bread, beans...the list could stretch on. Iron is never something I worry about and I know when you think of iron you picture a steak. Even as an omnivore I had anaemia problems (diagnosed when I was 16 and very much a meat eater) and I carried this anaemia with me into vegan-ism, where I overcame 'serious anaemia' (I add the quotations because these were the words my panicked doctor used) through my diet (and with a lot of praying and patience for things to improve.) And yes I had tried their supplements - they didn't improve things.


Also, I think it's worth noting that my iron levels dipped after giving birth, I didn't want to take any supplements because they don't get on with my guts and my doctor was quite happy that I brought these levels up through my diet - with some recommendation on how a vegan could go about doing that (lentils, plenty of them and dark leafy vegetables.) I was lucky that my iron levels weren't too low and I could do this. Otherwise I would have had to bite the B12 bullet and take the damn supplements. 


And for iron to be absorbed in the body, vitamin B12 plays an important role. It's worth noting that you can get B12 in a vegan diet through fortified foods and supplementation - it's not a naturally occurring vitamin in non-animal foods, hence why it is added and why supplements can sometimes be required.  B12 is an amazing vitamin because it plays a part in the functioning of our brain and nervous system.


I've sometimes heard people say; 'if you have to take supplements, why are you eating these foods?' 


Food is a supplementation. Supplementing your diet is not bad - it's only bad when you're peeing out expensive multi-vitamins that your body doesn't really need.


Most human beings; omnivores, vegetarians and vegans alike are lacking in vitamins and minerals, but not always aware they are lacking. Zinc, magnesium and Vitamin D being the usual offenders - and the Vitamin D is in my supplement. This is important for me especially as I don't make it outside as often as I'd like - and I live in Scotland. The sun sets at 3.30pm most days in winter!


3. Okay, we've covered iron and protein - what about calcium, Cara?


I'm glad you asked because this is my favourite question of all. 


All men and women have a calcium requirement of 700mg a day - sounds like a lot, right? Not really. Not as long as you're aware of what different foods contain and how you're going to get this 700mg. 


Also, it's worth thinking about why we need calcium. For our bones to grow healthy and strong, right? Yes, of course. But will our bones get healthy and strong just by eating calcium? No. For that it's a combination of being aware; aware that salt and caffeine cause calcium loss, aware that Vitamin D (mentioned above) is important in calcium absorption, as well as Vitamin K, protein and potassium. 


On top of taking these vitamins and minerals into our body weight bearing exercise is also important to help strengthen bone. This is especially important in the cases of those who are more prone to conditions like osteoporosis or those who have conditions that affect bone density.  

                          (Source: vegansociety.com)

I very easily eat above the RDA of 700mg every single day. It's so important to understand these things, even if you're not on a vegan diet and to be aware that calcium isn't the only thing we need in order to strengthen and grow our bones.

Our RDA of calcium increases and decreases throughout our lives. For instance teenage girls need around 800mg a day of calcium (teenage boys require 1000mg!), whereas children between the ages of 4-6 years require 450mg, this increases to 550mg a day by the time children hit the ages of 7-10 years. 

What is important for me right is understanding that children between the ages of 1-3 years require 350mg of calcium a day. It doesn't sound a lot when you look at the above table, in fact it's relatively straight forward to include the above things in my nearly 2 year old son's diet. Things he loves to eat. But there will be a separate post on that later so I won't get into it too much.

Suffice to say I have done my homework. I am aware of what is going into my body, I am confident in my own intelligence and common sense at fact finding but I can understand these questions - and I welcome them and actually enjoy when someone takes the time to ask. 

Even though it's taken me some time to put these posts together it's been great fun to write. So it's been fun for me, good for me, right? What do you get from these posts? Hopefully an entertaining read, more knowledge about what a vegan diet truly is - and is not. Plus I am sincerely looking forward to sharing more knowledge with my readers in my next couple of posts.

So tune in next time when we discuss 'Bringing up Vegan Baby.' I promise there will be more pictures to entertain you. This post was kind of one of those fun and educational posts I do ;).

Further reading:

Vegan Society on iron and calcium.

Part One of the 'Vegan Series': Becoming Vegan.

I've decided that this blog is long over due for some explanations. Some are hard to read in one sitting so for the sake of saving your eyes from RSI (or should that be RS-eye?) I've decided to break up my 'food essays' or 'Vegan Series' into parts - after all who doesn't love a good cliff hanger?


So, why have I decided to write a Vegan Seires? 


1. I have considered dietary choice posts for a while. 


2. I have been living, breathing and sometimes failing at following a vegan diet for the past 6 years (if you're really curious, I'm going to write about my failings in another post, don't worry, we'll unearth my imperfections at some point.)


And now for some more honesty on this subject; I didn't want to write it at first because I don't want to get into the politics of food (like really, really, really, REALLY don't) and although people are nothing but fantastic there are those whose life time goal is to troll folks endlessly and sadly a lot of vegan bloggers are the target for the internet trolls.


I also didn't want to be known as a 'vegan blogger' because then people would come to expect recipes or recommendations to things and I'm not always the most forthcoming on that. Another thing on the 'vegan blogger' badge is that you leave yourself open to judgements about animal rights. 


I love animals and I believe they should have rights but I am not crazy on this subject. I tried to go to lots of anti-fur demos when I lived in London but they were always on way too early on a Saturday morning. I'm too lazy for animal rights protesting. 


And here comes the controversy: I do not condone any violence towards others, be that damaging property or hurting someone physically or emotionally. I dislike the reports on the news that focus on these 'affirmative actions.' I believe in non-violent affirmative action which is protesting, writing to MPs and the like. I don't know the numbers on this but I sincerely believe (through my own experiences) that the majority of animal rights activists have good intentions and use non-violent affirmative action. 


So with all these things considered it shouldn't stop me from talking about something that is part of my life and has been for the past nearly 6 years. If people want to be negative, I am more than used to handling it and while I'm not expecting anyone to 'convert' to my way of eating, who knows, they might. But I'm not writing these posts for that reason. I'm not looking to recruit anyone into my Kool Aid vegan cult. And I'm not even sure Kool Aid is vegan ;).


I'm writing this post to share what works for me and my family. I'm not an expert on anything food related or what works best for everyone - I can't dictate that to anyone as it's a very personal choice (and I explain just how personal food is later on.) 


Although, I'm not an idiot, and as respect is a two way street I'd ask you to bear this in mind when writing any comments - be that good or bad.


In the nearly 6 years of my vegan eating I've read both conflicting and supportive evidence as to why a vegan diet is 'okay.' I've been through different phases; the passionate and proselyting new vegan, the meat curious vegan (and by this I mean researching the way meat is farmed and slaughtered), the convinced vegan (convinced the pros outweigh the cons), the vegan wife, the pregnant vegan and now the vegan parent.


I enjoyed each stage as it allowed me to learn  something new every time. When I was new to vegan-ism  I had so many ideas of how it was going to be. Most of which never came to fruition.


After my 19th birthday I decided to become a vegetarian. I'd tried being veggie when I was 9. Back in the day where Quorn tasted like cardboard and doctors were convinced you'd shrivel up and die - actually I lied about the Quorn, it was pretty tasty. I gave it up after a few weeks because the food was limited. 


 I can't remember the reasons for the vegetarian switch-over at 19, but I think me and my then boyfriend (who will never be named on this blog because I roll like that) had been talking about trying soya milk for a while but what this had to do with vegetarianism I don't know.


So I went vegetarian. It was surprisingly difficult for me - I would eat something with meat in it by accident quite a lot and so I made the decision I would go vegan. Why? Because it meant I wouldn't have to 'watch what I ate', sure there'd be label checking and the like but it meant complete freedom from accidentally eating meat - if you've arrived at the conclusion I am an air head, you're far from the truth. I am not. I just get rattled sometimes.


My parents, not vegans but omnivores themselves, were supportive of my change to a vegan diet. My Dad actually bought me my first vegan cookery book (pictured below) - after a long discussion about how I could eat better to improve my health, body and mind. On their part I suspected a little scepticism at first, but that's a good sign. We didn't know many, if any, vegans at that time but seeing as I'd been vegetarian for the better part of a year and improved my general health I think they were happy about the vegan change over.

Before I made the switch I researched, read and got my hands on any evidence - either for or against a vegan diet and came up with my own conclusions - that personally, for me, a vegan diet would be the diet I would follow for as long as was possible. 


So how did the rest of my family react? It was mixed. At first I am sure there were major reservations - especially from my older sister. She was sceptical and didn't think the diet was optimal for my health. This was not out of malice, bad feeling or to drag me down. It was a very real concern on her part - like I said we didn't know any vegans so I would have reacted in the same way. Out of concern to a diversion from the norm. 


My Aunt was another critic (and I have no bad feeling over that, I am just stating a fact) on the vegan diet. We would have lengthy conversations about it; she being opposed and me being on the side of a vegan diet and it's positives. When I lived in London there were weekends and even a few months where I lived with my Aunt. I really believe this helped shape her perspective on my diet for the better and she would mostly eat the same meals as me when she was around me. And as a side note: living with her and the memories we had are some of the worst and best. But mostly the best.


The rest of my family joked about meat with me - which you have to expect and take with good humour. These days things are very different with my family. They have first hand seen the long term effects (all positive for me) it has had on me as a person. I'm not dead, I'm healthier and as a person I feel I've changed for the better all round. Most of my family have tried non dairy alternatives, some they have liked and some they haven't. I'm the same. I can't stand plain tofu or hemp milk. 


The things that made my transition easier were that my ex boyfriend then decided to start a vegan diet. Although he was less than desirable to be in a relationship with he was very supportive of the vegan diet. At the time my doctor had diagnosed me (wrongly) with IBS and   both me and the ex wanted all the help we could get to improve that condition so I could have a better life. A life not filled with fevers, cold sweats and pain worse than ten labours all at once. Shame that I didn't know what I know now.


I shopped in mainstream supermarkets as well as Whole Foods in Edinburgh and Holland and Barret - a chain of health food stores in the UK. The day I found vegan cheese I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. 

Vegan cheese on toast. Heaven on toast.

I ate relatively well in the first few years of vegan-ism; home made vegetable rolls, carrots sticks, cashews, peanut butter with OJ, houmous on everything (Zohan style), home made soup in varying forms, home made cakes, smoothies, home made sushi, tofu and mayola, lasagne, shepherds pie (with lentils, my Mum's recipe), apple crumble, pizza...whew I had so much fun creating dishes and being inventive with my food.  


But there did come a period in my life, mostly tied in with working and studying too much, when I began to really slip on eating. I had a full time job and full time studies - plus being full time sick and not knowing what my illness was. I didn't really have the inclination or energy to eat, even though it's what sustains us through life. 


At it's most basic we need food in order to stay alive. I've learned some very hard lessons from my period of not eating well - it caught up with me pretty quickly and I'm lucky I was able to remedy my poor eating habits fairly early on in life and stick to better habits.


 The truth is this: whether vegan, omnivorous or vegetarian we need good eating habits. We need 2,000 (2,500 for males) calories per day on average. Armed with basic nutritional understanding we can all form good eating habits.


Look I'm never going to tell you how to eat, you really have to make that decision for yourselves. It's a personal and private affair that is really none of my business - nor will I judge you on what you put on your plate. But I strongly urge everyone, where it's possible, to eat well and exercise, that's my message. 


And having given up chocolate for the better part of a year I really hope I am on that list of eating well (I know...I know. "Not chocolate!" but chocolate was taking over my life. And my jeans. It had to go.) 


I really hope this was a fun read for you - I loved writing it, re-living those early memories with you - and I'll invite you now to tune in next week when I write Part Two: Questions I get asked. A LOT. 

A Few Of my Favourite Things: Nakd Raw Bars.

Nakd treated me to some Raw Bars last week in the post to review.

I'm still on my 'get healthy, get happy' kick - you can read about that here - and so I'm on the look-out for anything that will make being healthy fun as well. 

Raw Bars, to me, are like bars of sheer heaven. I honestly like them a lot. 

I first tasted these wonder bars (see what I did there? ha!) around Christmas 2010 when my husband stuffed a few into my Christmas stocking (never too old for a stocking at Christmas I say) and well, stocking fillers for peeps on a vegan diet can be interesting and sparse at the best of times. And yes he did slip in a bar or two of chocolate, but most of my 'treats' were raw bars.

The Roman seal of approval.

Since then we haven't been able to get enough of them and guess what? Roman loves them, too. I break off a little piece for him and he will happily sit and munch it down. I'm happy to feed them to him as a treat because I know they're made from nothing but natural vitamins and minerals. They're also 100% dairy free, high in fibre and are a very tasty whole food treat - for Mum and Roman. Dad also likes them, too, and he does not have a sweet tooth.

Yum! A selection of the bars I received. 

So what did I like the most? My beloved cocoa orange bar which happens to be Roman's favourite, too, of course and some other new tastes that were thrown in there; like the ginger bread raw bar (um, yum!) which actually tasted like ginger bread, minus the bread, dairy and processed sugars of course ;). For the first time I tried the cocoa delight bar and wow...it was great. It tasted exactly like a brownie. But without the calories, sugar and fat of a brownie.


 I can say hand on heart that when you eat these bars you don't feel like you're missing out on the riches of chocolate (which I have abandoned for a while now) or other 'treats' that aren't too much on the healthy side. I honestly think our supermarkets should replace the unhealthy, over processed chocolate bars they sell and put Raw Bars in their place.


For Raw Bars I would honestly and sincerely give them a 10 out of 10 product rating. Their packaging is superb; high quality and in attractive colours. Their product is of course supreme - and very, very tasty!

A Few Of my Favourite Things: Graze.com.

The fantastic Graze.com sent me a treat in the post this week.

Do you recall when I said I was going sugar-free and on a personal journey to be a healthier person all round?

Well, I have definitely been sticking to that goal. But I think we all know what happens when you make a pledge with yourself; you suddenly start noticing all those foods you're avoiding. And you really want to snack on something very unhealthy (Or plant your face right into a vat of chocolate bars/crisps/cakes/whatever food vice you have.)

Well, I have been staving off those pangs with more healthy alternatives; dried fruit and frozen fruit smoothies at the end of my meals. I have also upped my intake of nuts; protein, good unsaturated fat and calories, which we all need to fuel us. So long Atkins, hello healthier food choices.

I was so excited to get my little brown box of healthy goodies (above image) today and I felt good about the selection I was offered in my well being box; plenty of nuts, plump moist dried fruit and of course some very yummy dark chocolate coated cocoa beans.

The inside of the box was split into four generous compartments and inside these compartments was an individual box of healthy antioxidant rich snacks. 

I just want to add this wasn't the box I was sent - no olives for me!

Inside the Box:

Eldorado was by far by my most loved selection; a mixture of chocolate covered cocoa beans, cranberries and hazelnuts. When I eat the punnets I like to mix the flavours together by eating a few pieces of fruit, nuts and beans together - it was delish! 10 out of 10!

Lost was my second favourite. I say second because I'm not much of a fan of banana in general and this had banana 'coins' (dried circular banana shapes) in the mix. However, for the interest of trying everything once in life I gave them a go. I was very surprised as they're about the only dried banana thing I would eat ever again; they were moist and I had expected a crunchiness. Mix up the banana with some coconut and jumbo raisins and you're laughing. Okay, you're not laughing, you're drooling because it is very yummy. One of these boxes is one of your five a day! 9 out of 10.

Love Mix is in a close tie breaker with the Lost selection. Good points; tastes brilliant with the most moist dried cherries I've ever had and the fig like taste of the goji berries but I'm not too keen on the apricots. This didn't matter because the cherries were a-maz-ing! Seriously. Why can't dried fruit you buy in the shops taste like this? Graze definitely have a superior quality when it comes to these healthy snacks versus the supermarket brands. I was quite surprised to find out that one of these boxes was two of my five a day. No effort required other than enjoyment. 9 out of 10. 

Rock The Casbah. I rate this lower than all of the other three boxes because I really do have a sweet tooth after all and this mix was definitely more of a nutty mix with walnuts and pumpkin seeds. It did have dates in the mix which are probably one of the sweetest fruits going in terms of taste and this gave it a nice sweet kick. One of your five a day, too! 8 out of 10.

I've bought Graze boxes in the past and have always proclaimed that they were pretty amazing. I'm also happy to recommend them to everyone who will listen. The only downside to Graze is that they only deliver in the UK! Keep everything crossed they'll smash the European/rest of the world market.

My favourite features of the Graze box itself is that the box, little booklet and napkin you receive can be recycled. The punnets are individual and are completely sealed so it means you don't have to eat everything right away (although I dare you not too.) When you choose a selection on their site you can see what you're buying - and trust me when I say there is a huge selection on there. 

What I loved was that their fruit was so soft but juicy. The nuts weren't hard to chew and when you mix all the flavours together you really get a full on flavour experience party in your mouth ;). Lovely! 

The thing I like about Graze.com is that they care; about the environment and they also have a Graze school of farming that teaches students how to grow, maintain and then harvest fruit from their orchards. This is to help the local people improve their nutrition and create sustainable sources of income - absolutely love the scheme. 

Graze were fantastic and put this box together especially for me as they know how hard I am working towards bettering my eating and nutritional habits - they are lovely like that! The selection is huge and varied. As you all know, we are a vegan household. So I enjoyed snacking on healthy vegan treats in my box, but you can tailor your box to fit whatever needs and dietary requirements you have.

YUM! Ro gets stuck into the coconut shreds from the 'Lost' punnet.

Not only did they send me a whole box of healthy snacks free of charge, they've also done you readers a fan-dabby-dozzy deal! Just for you lot they're going to give YOU a free box, too! And, there's more; if you order another box they'll give you it half-price.

Just use this code:

3YL768K

When you order you won't need to wait in for delivery of the box, it fits straight through your letterbox. You could even have them deliver it to your work; better than running to the vending machines for a Kit Kat, right? Or do you know someone who needs a little healthy snack pick me up? Pop one in the post and take advantage of free postage. 

I do love free postage and lush healthy goodie boxes!