I am sure many of you reading this has already rolled your eyes at the title. It is no secret veganism and plant based eating is everywhere at the minute, I know I can’t scroll through Facebook without seeing something about it. I believe in many peoples eyes it is seen as somewhat of a trend, however, maybe there is a reason for the ever growing participants.
Now I am not writing this post to encourage anybody to go vegan, neither do I write to condemn or judge anybody that still eats meat. At the end of the day, until a month ago I was still eating meat. This blog post is to simply talk about how I have found the transition and what foods I have been incorporating into my diet.
Firstly, I want to quickly talk about my decision to make the change. There are a couple of contributing factors that had a hand in my decision.
Reason one; I cut down on dairy a year ago to attempt to help my skin. After seeing a difference I did further research into dairy to try to understand why it had effected my skin in the first place. And let’s just say I felt sick! Because I don’t want this post to be about statistics and research (you can get that elsewhere), we won’t attempt to go into all the disgusting things wrong with cow milk and in turn the dairy industry on a whole. Anyway, for a year now I haven’t drunk dairy milk, instead sticking to almond, coconut, oat, rice etc. However, I will admit I did still consume a little amount of cheese on my Sunday pizza treat and I have never been one to turn down a piece of cheesecake. But all in all 90% of the week I was not consuming milk based products, eggs on the other hand I was still consuming, not many, but I did use them in cooking, and on the occasional salad. As always I am rambling, to summarise; reason one was I already put off dairy and barely consuming it.
Reason two: with all the research and vegan related posts going around social media, I gave in and decided to do a little research of my own, Now if you know me well, you will be aware that I had cancer at 19. After having a serious illness like cancer, your health suddenly becomes friable, you really realise you are not indestructible just because you are young. During that dark time in my life, all I could ever think was; how could anybody do anything to increase their chances of having to go through this fear. I am not a smoker, and would never dream of smoking, always wanting to avoid any chance of that dreaded disease.
Now I know the link between animal based products and cancer is controversial, but for me I am not prepared to take any chances. Through my research, I came across numerous cases involving people who have actually cured their own cancer by changing their diet to a plant based one.. this is amazing! If going plant based could decrease my chances of getting cancer by just 1% I would try it. It is a fear I never want to face again. Round up of reason two; personal health.
Reason three: My amazing friend Beck, hopefully she doesn’t mind me mentioning her in this post…little late now! But Becky is a close friend of mine, who I have known since my early teens, and she went vegan two years ago. Last time I was back in England I did the usual “good on Becky, I wish I could do that”. I am sure that is a sentence many meat eaters have previously uttered, then suddenly realisation hit; why can’t I? The only person stopping me, is me! After all it is not impossible, it is just changing your diet. So when I got back to Hong Kong I knew I had to do it!
Being vegan in Hong Kong …not easy! It is hard enough being vegetarian here, never mind vegan. However, I knew that if I continued to make excuses I would be making excuses forever. And yes, it has been hard eating out…but not impossible! Although eating out has been challenging, cooking at home has been pretty easy. The biggest difference for me; incorporating more carbs into my dishes. Before I changed to a vegan diet I rarely consumed carbs after breakfast. Of course, not eating meat and dairy meant I have needed to incorporate more carbs, especially grains into my diet to keep me fuller longer.
(Waffles with Fruit, Peanut Butter & Homemade Jam)
(Banana, Peanut Butter & Cocoa Breakfast Quesadilla)
Here’s the day to day foods and snacks I have made over the last month.
Breakfast;
Overnight oats
Porridge
Acai Bowl
Breakfast Quesadillas
Waffles
Rye toast with avocado.
Lunch;
Zucchini & Carrot noodles with homemade pesto.
Pumpkin, avocado & quinoa salad.
Dinner;
Pho
Beyond Meat Burger
Black Bean Burgers, with carrot fries & salad.
Pumpkin & carrot curry, served with cauliflower rice or quinoa.
Snacks;
Rice cakes with avocado & tomato.
Energy balls
Cliff cereal bars
Dairy free yoghurt & fruit.
Sweet Treats;
Banana smoothie
Banana nice-cream
Vegan homemade chocolate truffles.
(Banana Acai bowl with Granola & Coconut)
A tip for anybody transitioning; always keep a snack in your bag, as you never want to be caught hungry somewhere with no vegan friendly options. I am happy to start incorporating some vegan friendly recipes into my blog on a regular basis. I do want to state although I follow a vegan diet, I am not following a vegan lifestyle. I am not throwing out my leather, nor am I checking the backs of my medicine boxes etc.
(Rice Crackers with Avocado & Tomato)
(Vegan Pho with Fried Tofu)
I hope you have enjoyed reading my explanation of my first month following a vegan diet. If you want to see what I am eating day to day, head over and follow my Instagram, I often put my day to day food on my Instagram stories.
Until next time, enjoy your day and your food!
Instagram: kdeboo
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