Up until this time last year I was meat lover, I never thoguht that I could last a whole month without meat but once I had watched “The Game Changers” on Netflix I was willing to give it a try and so I signed up for Veganuary. Fast forward to today and to my own disbelief I have somehow managed to stay vegan for about 90% of the last 12 months, with the most surprising thing being that I don’t miss the meat at all. (The fish and cheese however have been a bit harder to give up!)
The amount of meat that humans currently consume is unfortunately not at all sustainable and so there really needs to be a big shift in focus to a more plant-based diet if we are to sustain the world’s food supply in the future.
Even if you choose to eat just one more meat-free meal a week it will make a difference. I personally had to go all in otherwise my laziness in the kitchen would have meant that we would have just had meat-free burgers/sausages once a week and I would never have bothered to learn how to cook any of the healthy vegan meals. The result has been that yes I have had to learn a lot of new recipes but I do really feel so much healthier, lighter and energised these days.
I will be sharing my personal vegan tips over the course of the next few weeks, however for today I will just highly recommend signing up to the Veganuary website so that you can receive the really helpful information packs that talk about vegan nutrition as well as providing some really yummy recipe ideas.
For anyone that knows me and my previous lack of diet variety and cooking skills/interest you will understand just how much of miracle this last year has been for me. I frequently catch myself cooking in the kitchen and think “Who am I?” Seriously, I don’t recognise myself! But that is why I honestly believe that anyone can eat less meat and learn to cook some delicious healthy vegan meals. If I can do it, you certainly can too.
(As a visual example, I would never have previously bought 5 of the veg that is now pictured in my fridge!)