So I have always been a great lover of food. I grew up with my mum’s baking and I inherited her ‘need to feed.’ Feeding others is definitely one of my love languages and baking in particular has always been a passion. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t see me competing on Bake off anytime soon but I do enjoy dabbling in the kitchen and for a couple of years I even had my own cake business called The Pavlova Princess.
Over the last couple of years I felt my concern for the planet growing. I started to feel so helpless and depressed about climate change and animal welfare in general. I felt like I was being inundated with all of this depressing information on the news and social media and it was hard to turn a blind eye. It made me anxious but I felt like I was just one person and what could one person possibly do? I watched the film Cowspiracy on Netflix and it really hit a nerve. It made such an impact that I moved over to plant-based milk and stopped eating beef. However, I wasn’t ready to go ‘the whole hog’ (I LOVED bacon!) and to be honest I loved lots of food…seafood, chorizo, pulled pork, croissants, cake, yoghurt, cheese and eggs. I couldn’t imagine a happy life where I wasn’t eating these foods even though by doing so I was at odds with my moral compass.
Fast forward a little and suddenly it’s the end of 2019 and my very cool millennial brother says ‘Hey family, you really need to watch this documentary called The Game Changers, it’s pretty incredible and it’s about the health benefits of a plant based diet.’ Well, both myself and my husband Nick were ready. We had put on a little weight over the summer (nothing noticeable but our trousers were all a little snug!) and even though we’d been eating a lot better we felt that the documentary was worth a punt. Plus, my bro is a man of few words so when he speaks up…you LISTEN!
We watched the film in November 2019 and found it so inspirational that we decided to be vegan for one week. JUST ONE WEEK. For my husband to agree to this was nothing short of a miracle. This is because Nick is a 48 year old man who doesn’t believe a meal is really a meal unless there is meat on his plate. A man who for many years didn’t believe hummus or guacamole were actual foods. Yep. TRUE STORY. Before he had the chance to change his mind I googled vegan recipes and we dived right in! But I knew that unless every meal passed ‘The Nick Test’ he wouldn’t want to continue and so my biggest goal was to make the meals super delicious and super filling. I knew that he would use any excuse to turn on his heels and run for the nearest pub for his gammon, egg and chips.
That first week was surprisingly easy. Yes, there were slip ups (mainly in the chocolate department) and yes, it didn’t help that at the end of that first week we were due to go and have Xmas dinner at a friend’s house (and yes, Nick couldn’t resist the pigs in blankets that night) but we didn’t let that deter us and we didn’t feel too bad if we fell off the wagon. Our mantra was, ‘if we really feel like something and it’s not vegan then we’ll treat ourselves to it’ because in the wise words of my very cool millennial brother: ‘A world full of imperfect vegans is better than a world filled with just a handful of perfect ones.’ PREACH.
Suddenly it was the end of the week and not only were we still alive but we were THRIVING! We felt more energetic, healthy and physically lighter so we just decided to keep going. One week turned into two, two weeks turned into three and before we knew it we were approaching Xmas and for the most part had pretty much been full-time vegans. Had we slipped up? Of course! Had we had the occasional pastry? YES! Had Nick treated himself to some scampi and chips on a night out? YES! Had I eaten some scrambled eggs when out for brunch? YES! But to go from not vegan to mostly vegan in such a short space of time was pretty darn incredible. *Cue large pat on the back.*
The reason we stuck with it is was because the results were so tangible. We were feeling physically fantastic, we had both lost weight (over the course of a couple of months we lost over a stone between us) and we were pooping more (I LOVE a good poop!) Yes, we had a little more gas because suddenly we were eating so much fibre but it wasn’t making us feel bloated or uncomfortable and luckily we’ve been married long enough now that we can giggle about the odd ‘trumpet bum!’ (Warning: This probably won’t be the last time I talk about pooping and gas).
But the real revelation was, I was cooking better than I ever had. Instead of feeling limited by what we couldn’t eat, we discovered a whole world of food that we had utterly underutilised up until that point. Instead of simply reaching for the cheese to flavour my Italian or Mexican dishes I had to expand my ingredients and create food that was so flavoursome that you didn’t even THINK about cheese. I was so nervous that we ‘weren’t getting a balanced diet,’ (something that I’ve now come to realise is absurd because a vegan diet is often MORE balanced than an omnivores), that I was making sure our meals were super varied. We had protein, loads of veg and wholegrain carbs on our plates so not only were our taste-buds satisfied, our tummies were too.
We had some hiccups along the way….a trip to Vietnam in late December proved a little challenging. We managed to have some INCREDIBLE vegan food but at other times we had to turn a blind eye to the fish sauce. And when we stayed with my parents in Australia throughout January we also took a more relaxed approach. After watching The Game Changers my mum and dad had decided to become pescatarian (no small feat for people in their 60’s who are living in one of the biggest meat-eating countries in the world). I was super proud of them and while we were there we did partake in a little dairy and a little fish. However since returning home in late January we have hit the veganism harder than ever and have not looked back. My silent reflux that I have struggled with for years (and which is completely debilitating for a singer) has practically disappeared due to the removal of dairy in my diet (something that no doctor ever told me about!) and we are both still feeling better than ever.
But becoming vegan isn’t just about the health benefits for me. Finally I feel like my actions are in line with my morals. From everything I have read and seen I have come to believe that eating a vegan diet is the single most important thing that I can do to help save the planet. I no longer feel so helpless which means that foregoing the foods that I have always loved hasn’t been a hardship. Particularly when there are so many delicious alternatives!
There will come a point in the not too distant future when the standard Western diet will not be sustainable and we will be forced to eat more plants. So let’s all jump on the ‘V Train’ now! Whether you decide to go full steam ahead or whether you take the more scenic route and hop off the train from time to time it really doesn’t matter. If you decide to be a little vegan today and embrace the power of plants, I promise you, you won’t look back.
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Beautifully done, Ash! Love it. Inspiring people to live healthier lifestyles without giving up on flavour or style!😘😘
Thank you Mesh! It means a lot coming from a wonderful cook and foodie such as yourself! Hopefully it will inspire others to add a few more plants to their diets. 🌱😘
Great blog Ashleigh. Small confession, since the new year I have had one steak! Still, after a life time of being a carnivore, one steak in 4 months for a 61 year old middle class male has to be an achievement, and all credit to your inspiration.
And that’s what being ‘a little vegan’ is all about! Eating that steak hasn’t cancelled out the months and months of not eating meat and I bet you really enjoyed it in a way you otherwise wouldn’t have if you ate it all the time! I’m very proud of you. But I can’t take credit…that goes to Rojo. He has been the driving force behind these changes. (So often it’s the quiet ones, hey?!) 😂