Enter the Vegan

It's now around 2 weeks into my becoming vegan, and so far so good!

My cousin has been vegan for years now, and I always thought it was a little bit odd and a little bit 'too far' (compared to Vegetarians/Vegetarianism) - though now I've come to realise that was only down to ignorance. I first tried veganism probably about a year a go, and it lasted about 2 days, before I gave up and had cheese on toast, followed by a curry for tea!

Though after that, I did change my opinion of vegans, and even more so vegetarians - I realised that being Veggie was a complete waste of time, like deciding you're not going to drink alcohol, but still having spirits. Didn't really understand why someone would be vegetarian, but not vegan? But I still didn't have the will power to actually 'do' it.

This time around, I have to say I took it alot more seriously. Initially, dispite my dislike for it, I became a vegetarian, with the hope that I would lose a couple of lbs - and just happened to come across some stuff on Facebook about the cruelty with KFC, leading to PETA's website. I know PETA are about as respected as the cows they campaign about, but I thought I'd give them a fair chance to say what they're out to say.... and well, obviously it worked, or at least it stuck the idea of trying veganism again - and I signed the 'Veg Pledge', saying that I would 'explore' veganism for 30 days.

After that I did a fair lot of research, both on the effects of what is involved in the reering of animals for food, the salughter, preperation etc and also the pros and cons of cutting it from the diet, especially on the nutrition side. Endless websites, forums and groups later, I decided I was ready to make the change. I was no longer willing to put (any more, apart from cigarettes and alcohol) shit into my body they're engough, and at least they provide some enjoyment.

My first few days went pretty well actually, although I suppose I 'cheated' a little bit - as my cousin is an expert vegan so she gave me loads of hints on what to look out for, brands to get, where to get certain things from and a bunch of recipes to get me started with.

Alot of people say "but... what will you eat?!?" to which I've now started to say "well, nothing, that's the real downside to being vegan - there's no food which doesn't have animal products in it"... the amount of food out there is unbelievable, if you're just willing to go and have a look

Okay, granted, it's not for everyone - but right now i'm pretty much enjoying it, and havn't really craved any meat/dairy so far, the thought of it actually makes me feel slightly sick to the honest.

I generally feel alot better already, I've lost some weight, have more engergy and just feel better/healthier in myself.

Woohoo!