Vegan Q&A | Blogmas Day 6

I have been vegan for an entire year! I am proud of myself so I thought I would do a little impromptu Q&A on being vegan with the questions I get asked all the time!

Why did you decide to go vegan?

I had been thinking about veganism for a while before I decided to take the plunge. To be honest, I had never really been a big meat or dairy eater to begin with. The only meat I really consumed was chicken and even then it was on a very rare occasion and I have never liked fish or beef. I also have a slight intolerance to dairy anyway so I have always tended to avoid it. It just made sense for me to try being vegan since on most days, I was probably already accidentally eating vegan.

The other reasons that prompted me to become vegan were the health benefits: your internal body benefits so much from a vegan diet and so does your skin, the environmental benefits: you are not consuming any animal products or contributing to any of the processes involved in the preparation of the animal products that are incredibly damaging to the environment and lastly I just don't believe we should be taking what is not ours to take or hurting animals for our own unnecessary pleasure. Cows milk is for calves, chicken's eggs are created to become chicks and animals are born to live, not to die for us to have five minutes of pleasure.

Were your friends and family supportive of your decision to become vegan?

My friends have always been very supportive. They don't necessarily share my beliefs but they support my decision and are always conscious and considerate when we go out to eat. My family, on the other hand, do not understand veganism in the slightest. They think it's pointless and do not share or attempt understand any of my beliefs. They are all hoping I will just "grow out of it". Unfortunately for them, I am 22 years of age and I am most definitely not going to grow out of veganism. My mum is getting better and is at least attempting to check whether foods are vegan before she buys them so that's an improvement!

What's the hardest thing about being vegan?

I have definitely got to say that eating out it probably the hardest thing about being vegan. There are vegan options in 90% of places nowadays but there doesn't tend to be much variety unless you are going to an actual vegan restaurant. Most places will have a vegan curry on the menu and fast food places have a vegetarian burger that is vegan as long as you as for the mayonnaise to be removed! I don't actually think it is that hard to eat out as a vegan, it is more frustrating because of the lack of options available but it is definitely possible! As for cooking and eating in general, a lot of foods and snacks are accidentally vegan and there are thousands of recipes out there for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks so you will never be stuck for an idea!

Do you miss any foods you can no longer eat, like cheese or chocolate?

There are a lot of vegan alternatives to most foods. I am actually allergic to chocolate and I was never a big cheese lover beforehand but there are some really good smoked and cream cheeses that are vegan and perfect to have with crackers and there are is a good selection of dairy free chocolates and dark chocolate out there! Every day there are more and more vegan options popping up so there is never anything that I could eat before that I miss now. There is a lot of accidentally vegan food out there, a lot of it being junk food. You are probably eating a lot more vegan foods than you realise! 

Is it expensive to be vegan?

If you shop at a health food store or buy fresh and organic everything then yes, it can be expensive but if you are fine with dry herbs and spices and willing to go to more than one supermarket then it can be quite cheap! 

Some tips and tricks are frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are cheaper than fresh, rice and pasta are a necessity, branded products don't always mean they are better, plan ahead as much as you can and always look out for deals! I recently came across a deal on vegan sausages and I definitely stocked up!

Are you lacking in any essential vitamins?

Nope! All my vitamin, iron and calcium levels are absolutely normal and I don't actually take any supplements for deficiencies. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

Do you think you will always be vegan?

Yes! I love being vegan and I really wouldn't have it any other way! I just wish there wasn't a stereotype attached to being vegan. I definitely do not plan on changing my vegan lifestyle anytime soon.

I hope this cleared up any misconceptions surrounding veganism! I will be posting vegan recipes on my blog every now and then so keep an eye out for them if you are interested!

Merry Blogmas!

Disney and Doughnuts

I have a lot of work to get through this week for university and then on Friday I am finished for Christmas. Next weekend literally cannot come quick enough. The thought of the amount of time I will be spending reading psychological statistics and data this week is extremely off putting so I figured one last day to myself before I knuckle down was acceptable, so my mum and I went shopping.

The three main shops I wanted to go in were Primark, Superdrug and HMV. In Primark I didn't get much, only a hat, some cosy tights and some gloves. My mum on the other hand went a little crazy and got two pairs of boots, two cardigans, a Christmas cardigan, a Christmas jumper and slippers for my brother, jewellery for some friends and a flannel shirt! I did pick up a few things from Superdrug (*hint hint* Zoella) but they are going to be kept back as Christmas gifts so you'll just need to wait and see what I got! HMV was where I went a little crazy, along with some Christmas gifts for my dad, I got a couple (haha!) of Disney DVD's that I haven't already got.

Surprisingly these are six classic Disney films that I love but didn't actually own and I had vouchers given to me by a family member to spend so I couldn't help myself. I already had Lady and the Tramp 2, Cinderella 2 and 101 Dalmatians 2 so it made sense to get the originals. I used to love Pinocchio, Tarzan and The Jungle Book when I was younger but haven't seen them in years. I sense a Disney marathon occurring once I have finished all my uni work! After going a little Disney crazy, my mum wanted to go into M&S to pick up a few things for my nana for Christmas. I may have accidentally found myself wandering the Christmas section and found the pillow I have been looking for. It's quite small and was quite pricey (£12) which is not what I would normally pay for a small pillow (Primark or Tesco will do me) but it is perfect and has a little fawn on it, it's not directly Christmasy but it works with the rest of my decor. After a long day of shopping, the best thing to do is definitely to go and pay the brand new Krispy Kreme that has just been opened a visit and get a free doughnut whilst waiting in the queue. My brother went a couple days ago and the 24 doughnuts that he brought home barely lasted a week, they were so good! We decided that one more box this year would be okay and in future they would be an occasional treat because of how unhealthy (delicious) they are. We got 12 doughnuts and drove home listening to Christmas songs, had dinner and had a cup of tea and a doughnut of course.

As I finish of this post, I am sat on my bed with a mulled wine candle lit, Christmas jammies on, cup of tea in hand and Pinocchio playing in the background. I am in absolute bliss, until I wake up tomorrow and have to start on the mountain of work that is. Today in my advent calendar I got a little reindeer! Tomorrow's box looks really big so I'm really intrigued to see what it is. I am actually quite surprised at how well I am doing for Blogmas so far, I am really enjoying it and definitely think I'll complete the whole of Blogmas. Thanks for reading my 6th Blogmas post and I hope you come back tomorrow for day 7!     xxx