The good life.

When I was fourteen, the organic era was in full swing & mère wasn't letting anything else into the house.  I made the executive decision, that I too was going to go 100% organic.  So, I swapped my Walkers crisps for Kettle Chips & my Dairy Milk for Green & Black's.

A year later, just before my fifteenth birthday, I decided to go vegan.  Veganism wasn't really a big thing in those days & so, on my birthday, reluctant to forgo my annual double chocolate fudge cake, that mère made, I quit being a vegan for the day.  Of course at the time, I had no idea you could make such things without eggs & dairy.

As the years went on, more & more stores began to fill with vegan friendly products.  Soy milk, vege sausages, dairy-free ice-cream, even dairy-free white chocolate!  As is usual with my, seemingly uncontrollable, glutinous desire to try everything, I went a little crazy for a while.  The rule of organic went straight out of the window & everything processed & packed full of E numbers, colours, preservatives & flavourings came in!

It's odd to think how, when I was simply a carnivore, or a vegetarian, I would eat healthily without even thinking about it, yet when I became a vegan, it was as though everything suddenly became a treat!  Like, 'oh they've got vegan fudge!  I must have some…(everyday!)."  Soon I became over-weight, intolerant to soy & my body clearly hated me!

Then, becoming too obsessed with losing weight, I went all the other way & ended up with an eating disorder, living off a bar of chocolate & a salad everyday & excessively exercising.  It was about that time, I met The Ex & soon went back to eating meat again & regained my lost weight.

Now, five or so years later, I've come full circle again & am back to being a vegan, except this time, I have a much clearer idea of healthy eating & thankfully, a lot more resources at my fingertips.  In fact, a recent trip to Waitrose caught me by surprise when, strolling along the milk isle, I see not only soy milk on offer, but rice, coconut, almond, oat & even hemp!  Like it was normal!  Which, I guess, now it is.

In fact, being a vegan in 2014, seems so much more mainstream than it was, back in the day & far less hard work!  Especially healthy options, which is great for me, as I really want to cut out processed food & really start eating well.  Both for my health & also to shift some of this damn pasta weight!

As well as exploring all the new foods available, I'm also looking into the new wave of organic cosmetics available on the market.  Whilst traveling, it was quite hard to find anything decent at times & to be honest, I started buying whatever was the cheapest I could find.  But, it seems ridiculous to spend so much time & effort refining what I put into my body, if I don't give a damn what I'm putting on it!

I like to think of it as a two pronged attack.  Firstly I'm a vegan because I prefer to live a cruelty-free life & help the environment in the process.  Secondly, I'm a vegan because I want to treat my body better, both inside & out.  You'd be surprised how much better you feel after a week without those daily chocolate bars/handful of biccies/can of Coke.  Yes, I'm sure the thought of a salad, versus an iced bun, isn't very alluring, but you can take my word for it, when you're getting all the nutrients your body needs, you stop craving these things, almost altogether.

If you're still doubting me, I shall attempt to convince you of the good life further, by posting regular recipes & product reviews.  I swear there won't be a Birkenstock or hemp jumper in sight!