Grab a cup of tea because this could be a long one, this is a post I have wanted to do for a long time but as it quite important to me I wanted to wait until I had enough time and properly get into the zone to cover absolutely everything…

The main reason I have wanted to post this is because most people who aren’t vegan assume it’s really hard to do and you’ll die of some sort of deficiency… I haven't yet!

But as it’s been just over a year I’ve been vegan I think now is a good time to share my journey and experience so far!

So it makes sense to go from the start and by the start I don’t mean some time in Feb last year when I actually fully went vegan I mean the very very start of my journey, this is the first misconception people have and in some cases put them off… they think that one day you just have to give everything up, that’s not the case at all! It’s a journey and everyone’s journey is different!

My journey started a good 5 years ago when I started to learn more about animal testing, so I’m talking the graphic pictures Peta share on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve had rabbits, guinea pigs and small animals for a lot of my life so when I found out make up and other cosmetics were tested on these poor little creatures I literally binned all of my stupid expensive fancy Clinique make up and swapped it for things like Barry M and Too Faced.

So as you can tell I am a vegan for the animals, well it was just for the animals at first now it’s everything from health to the environment…

Anyway so I now have all this more ethical make up but what about the meat I was buying… I know lets by “free range” “corn-fed” meat instead, yes…. I was one of those people. But like most people you read these things on packages and think yeah ok the animal has had a good life prior… Hahaha typing this now makes me feel such an idiot I could cry!! Yeah so I was buying all this expensive meat thinking the animals had a better life before being killed.

So now it’s November 2015, I remember the date because it was around the time I left my old job. 

This was the month my life actually changed in so many ways… to be honest it was a really shitty time, probably the shittiest time of my life to date… I was miserable as hell at the job I was at at the time and had been for a good year, me and my ex split up which obviously included a lot of arguing and mortgage sorting… It was also the month I watched Cowspiracy, the minute the documentary finished I was vegan…well for about 4 weeks and then just failed back into my old ways of beef roast dinners, pork pies and 3 wheels of brie at Christmas!

This went on until June 2016 when I went pescatarian…. So veggie but I eat fish for those who don’t know, however I was buying soya milk and avoiding cow’s milk where possible…still eating cheese though… basically a flexitarian trying to make her way through life haha!

Not long after this I went full vegetarian, again with the weird milk thing… eating cheese but soya in my tea.

After this I remember seeing this photo of a cow on Pinterest in this machine about to have its head blown to pieces and this was the moment, like a lightbulb moment but not… this photo made me cry my eyeballs out and I just couldn’t have any more involvement with this vile cruel fucked up industry… This was about Feb last year…

Since then I haven’t ate any meat or dairy that I know of or intentionally… I mean we all fuck up now and then, it’s impossible when they hide milk in crisps etc… I have also had the odd bit of honey where there has been no other cereal in the house…

Going vegan has I think just made me a better person in general, before making this lifestyle change I was (to me) a bit chubby and unfit, when I went vegan I lost a stone and half and got really into fitness, like I literally run 5 times a week, distances I struggled to walk beforehand! I have medals from races! If someone had told me this would be me 5 years ago I would have laughed in their face!

I feel happier (believe it or not those who know me LOL), I feel healthier, going vegan has made me a super health freak too, like reading about what they put into the meat and other foods is scary!! Watch What The Health…scaaaary!

I’ve made friends and gotten involved in things I wouldn’t never have before, I order something other than bloody steak and chips of the menu, I love cooking now, I care about the environment now and loads of other weird small things that just wouldn’t have been me before… People tell me all the time “you’ve changed”… I like to think this is for the good haha!

This post isn't to try and "convert" anyone, it's just something I have wanted to share for a while now because I get the odd comment like a classic one recently from some girl I went to school with's boyfriend was like“ugh I hate vegans” and I get questions like “ughhh why would you do that”.

I mainly want to post this on vegan Facebook groups to show “we’re” not all assholes who abuse in the comments section when you ask a question, I want to share a real experience of going vegan that shows it takes time, research, a few fuck ups and not everyone wakes up one days and decides they’re vegan, it is also more than just a diet, it’s a lifestyle…if you have lived your whole life eating meat and buying Maybelline it is a major lifestyle change and you have to accept that some companies shove chemicals and god knows what into defenseless animals eyeballs, you also have to un-brainwash yourself from all the bullshit you’re taught about protein and chicken period being good for you…

I still don't think this covers everything in my head that I want to say but it will do for now!! Maybe we can have a part 2 in another years time!

The pic below was my LAST meat meal, 3rd June 2016...