Becoming Vegan: Some Preliminary Thoughts

After being vegetarian for six years and then fully embracing meat again for the past 3 years I have decided to go cold-turkey vegan. I know this will not be an easy attempt but I am sure that the positives will outweigh the difficulties.


1. I'm still going to eat honey. It is not something that I consume regularly and I buy my honey from reputable sources which care for and protect their bees.

2. After reading this opinion piece I know I am not going to be too hard on myself. As someone who eats a lot of dairy products I know that I will slip up. I am also going to accept free food and drinks even if they have dairy in them, I am a student and free food is free food. However, I will not eat any meat, or products that came from the death of an animal.

3. I am doing this for health reasons first, and environmental/ethical reasons second. As someone who has breakouts, asthma and just generally could be in better health I want to see how a vegan diet will impact me. I am also intrigued about how this will impact my mental health.

4. Trying a vegan diet means that I have to cook and prepare meals, something I have got out of the habit of doing. I live in a small town and have a student budget, meaning I don't have access to pre-made vegan meals or food. I'm hoping this will allow me to try new foods and experiment with different flavours. I am way too fussy for a 21 year old, this needs to change.

5. As I am trying to be vegan for health purposes I won't be too focused on the other aspects. I own leather items and will continue to use them. I am already conscious of ethical purchasing and will continue to be so.

6. For me to be successful I will have to plan my meals somewhat in advance, which is something  have been interested in doing for a while. This means I need to schedule grocery shopping and preparing meals into my routine and university/work balance.


- I plan on writing update posts about how I am doing and also some recipes I have made -

Verano

I don't go back to university until September, that means I have three months of no essays and endless free time. I'm going to use this time to read, draw and generally improve my life. I got stuck into a routine, or rut?, at university where everything revolved around studying, and my degree subjects. This means I have a mountain of books to read, multiple projects I want to start and complete, recipes to try and relaxing to do.

Reading
Although I have done a lot of reading this past year, some of which was for pleasure, I have a stack of books that I want to get through this summer. Admittedly a lot of them do relate to my degree, such as The Odyssey. Whilst others such as Amy Poehlers autobiography or Everyday Sexism are purely because I am interested in them. I also want to read some poetry this summer, be it epic in the form of Euripides or one that hits home in the form of Sylvia Plath. I also want to condense my thoughts and write about the books, good or bad.

Cooking
This summer I have a kitchen that is not shared with eleven other people. Meaning I can spend as long as I want on a recipe without fear that I am interrupting someones dinner. I used to be fussy, and whilst I still don't eat a lot of things I have branched out. I have so many recipes saved away to try and this summer I'm going to try them all. I also bought a blender/pseudo nutribullet which has already been thoroughly tested with smoothies and protein shakes. 

Belongings
I have a lot of stuff. Be it clothes or books or just random things, I am a hoarder. Packing up my room at university made clear how much stuff I have, too much. I want to have a capsule wardrobe type situation, although less restricted and severe. I have an idea about the sort of look and style I am aiming to have. I'm going to either sell or donate everything that I don't need or use. 

Exercising
This is such a cliche goal for summer, or any time of the year. However I feel so good when I exercise regularly and I don't just mean physically. Mentally I feel better and more able to cope. I live on the east coast of Scotland which means I have access to a really great coastal path which happens to lead onto dense, hilly woods. I want to continue with yoga, with the help of Adriene and determination.  

Everything Else
I want to start drawing and creating again. I've set myself a challenge to sketch something everyday, be it a small drawing or a massive painting. I also want to properly blog. I have a lot of things to say and opinions that I want to write about.