First of all, I’m not an expert and only five months into eating a vegetarian diet. I do consider myself into a transitioning period from vegetarian to veganism by slowly cutting out dairy products but we don’t make a fuss on labels. Disclaimer, there are some days I want to shake everyone around me to adopt this diet especially my friends and family, and some other days I just focus on my journey. I know it’s wrong to force anything on people so I usually keep the knowledge i’ve gained to myself, and i’ve noticed the most influential people are those who live a happy life and show improvements in their lifestyle by adopting a certain diet. I consider myself a plant conscious healthy eater who is not too strict. For example, we don’t buy eggs anymore and i’ve replaced milk in my coffee for oat milk. I eat dairy cheese because I have not found a good substitute. I am proud of myself for cutting down tremendously in my meat and dairy products and I get questions from family or people I meet on the road that I thought i’d answer on here. I’ve written down some key areas in my life that my diet has improved. I really hope this doesn’t put anyone off, I just think it is important to use our social media platform for something positive. Enjoy 🌱

Gut health: My number one reason for cutting out meat. I’ve never had the best gut health, basically since I was little. I remember going to the doctors and them saying it’s an ulcer and to stop drinking coffee and reduce the hot sauce intake but it never improved. This isn’t cute to share but in the last year especially I was having so many problems with my bowels being blocked. I would actually be jealous of Sam for being able to go everyday and i’d always be bloated… cutting out meat has dramatically changed my bowel movements. I used to get sharp pains and cramping in my stomach quite often and now I can easily say it has reduced significantly. Going to the bathroom becoming effortless has made such a difference for me. I also rarely get stomach pains or bloated now, even if I eat until i am super full. If anyone has problems with their gut I would highly recommend adding more plants into your diet, and less meat. Side note, gut health is CRUCIAL. Damage to the gut leads to so many diseases and mental illnesses, it all comes back to the gut so I think its bloody important to acknowledge it before it’s too late!

Sleep: Wowee disturbed sleep patterns put me in a very dark place mentally. For MONTHS I didn’t sleep through the night. I remember thinking “I can’t imagine what its like to fall asleep and stay asleep for 7 hours uninterrupted” and that’s really sad. In the last little while, i’ve been falling asleep and staying asleep 6 to 7 hours a night. This doesn’t happen every single night, but a lot more than before. I am certain my choice of food has a large impact.

Taste: This is the biggest problem I think people have with cutting out meat. Someone close to me said recently “Don’t you crave meat? What if I put a big steak in front of you?” Well yeah steak is good. It tastes good but I don’t think its the actual meat that we all love it is the spices, sauces, the way we cook the meals. So at first I craved the meals I was so used to eating (a lot of processed foods unfortunately). Once we were able to replicate those spices and sauces I completely stopped having cravings. Sam has mastered a tofu scramble for breakfast, replacing scrambled eggs. I was so opposed to this at first, but it ended up tasting so good and the texture was the exact same as eating eggs. Plus it looked like eating scrambled eggs! A little side note, we don’t use meat alternatives very often (fake chicken, fake mince, fake bacon). Our meals are plant based, meaning the foundation and main ingredient for our meals are vegetables.

This is truly not for everyone, and that is hundred percent okay by me. I don’t know what my diet looks like in ten years but I know for now this works for me. If anyone has questions or thinking about learning more content for themselves send me a message, I’m happy to chat about it some more!

Syd x