#ChefJodie #VeganWeek

If you follow me on Instagram (@jodieseangrant) you'll know that from Monday 1st October until Sunday 7th of October, I strictly followed a vegan diet.

Veganism is the practice of abstaining from all animal products - thus involves exclusion of meat, fish, dairy and eggs. I wanted to try out being vegan for a week to give my Instagram followers and anyone reading this an honest overview of what life is like being vegan. Thus, in this blog article I'm going to explore the pros and cons of my #ChefJodie #VeganWeek. 

Cons:
- Inconvenience: If you're not prepared to meal-prep then you probably shouldn't decide to go vegan as you may starve and die. Nah that's probably a little dramatic - but if you have a busy schedule and need to rush into e.g Tesco Local to grab a sandwich for lunch then you'll probably find one single vegan option so fussy eaters this probably isn't the diet for you. The only healthy vegan option I could actually find in Tesco local one day was a leafy salad - not a satisfying lunch.

- IBS trigger foods: Vegan lunch items that were available in Tesco local -esque stores often included Bean burgers with pickled cabbage and onions. This brings me onto the next downside of being vegan - it is next to impossible to find something that is vegan and not an IBS trigger food. 
It is estimated that up to 1 in 5 people experience the symptoms of IBS - stomach cramps, severe bloating, constipation or diarrhoea. Everyone has their own trigger foods that cause these symptoms but some of the most common are the ingredients used in most vegan lunch options e.g onions. Again, this really limited my food choice - there were virtually no vegan options that didn't include one of my IBS trigger foods. 
One thing #ChefJodie doesn't like being is hungry - I get a serious case of hanger (uncontrollable anger when hungry) - so not finding a suitable vegan choice that wouldn't have left my tummy a IBS mess meant the hanger got pretty serious on the 2 days of university when I hadn't had time to meal prep. 

- Being the awkward one: I went to my mum's house for dinner one night of the vegan week. She was making salmon, pasta, vegetables and salad. However I had to opt out of the salmon so was left with a not-so-filling meal of a small portion of pasta, veg and salad. Looking back I should've cooked myself a larger bowl of (vegan) whole grain pasta or added some nuts to the meal to get my protein in - but at the time I finished the meal still hungry so had to make toast with PB to fill me up so l had the necessary fuel for my swimming session later that evening. 
Another night in the week I ate at my sister's - she pretty much had to change her whole meal idea to suit my vegan needs. Her pasta bake was 3/4th's covered in cheese - leaving me the cheese-less 1/4th. I was very grateful for my sister being so understanding but I can imagine in other circumstances people could be slightly less accommodating. My mum and sister have been vegetarian for years and we often cook amazing #ChefJodie inspired dinners together - but the limited choice of food if I was to remain vegan would definitely take some of the fun out of our cooking nights. 

- Lower Energy: The final negative point I want to mention is that during the week I had times where I had very low energy/ drained and generally felt under the weather. This may be due to the fact that I did my vegan week the same week as I started my M.Sc at Leeds University so my schedule was busier and I was surrounded by students suffering from the famous 'freshers flu'- these are some serious confounding factors that could be to blame - however, the vegan diet is known to lack key micronutrients that could've perhaps weakened my immune system making me more susceptible to any illnesses. 

Pros:
- Losing Weight: Personally my motive currently is not weight loss (#gainz) - but for anyone with these intentions I would say due to the restriction that a vegan diet brings it would be a good lifestyle to adopt. As aforementioned, the lack of vegan options in e.g Tesco local means you pretty much HAVE to meal prep and if you're prepping a healthy balanced meal - you're not only saving money but you're also sticking to a diet plan. Want a snack? You can no longer grab your favourite chocolate bar or packet of sweets as it's not vegan so your options are limited to a small pack of nuts or a pot of edamame beans - healthy and high in protein. 

- Cook more: Creating a healthy, balanced vegan lunch box doesn't really require any chef skills but it does involve buying fresh produce - vegetables mainly. Paired with simple microwave rice or whole grain pasta and some stir fry vegan tofu and nuts. These simple meal prep ideas force you to cook more - which may mean you have to wake up 15 minutes earlier for work or prepare on the Sunday night before your working week but I think it's so worth it for the health and economic benefits. Plus I don't know about you but I find cooking therapeutic - it's genuinely my favourite way to de-stress. Chopping the food, getting each meal organised into set amounts - it makes you feel set up for the week ahead knowing you're making healthy food choices and saving money. 

- Reading Labels: My vegan week didn't start particularly successfully - when I arrived back to my flat after my vegan food shop I was packing away each food item when I had a sudden thought looking at the quorn pieces and quorn sausages I had purchased - THEY HAD EGG IN. WHYYYY. Turns out you have to really read ingredients and check for that vegan tick - so the next day I bought some Cauldron tofu which was definitely vegan. I had learnt my lesson and actually found it really interesting to critically analyse the ingredients in all the foods I was eating - I found myself avoiding certain branded foods that have a stupid amount of added ingredients and instead going for those which were more natural and less manufactured. My search for more natural food products led me to find meat alternatives I normally wouldn't of bought - such as nut cutlets - made up of peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, carrot, red pepper and spinach. SO good.

- Vegan Community: One of the major positives I found from this week was the fellow vegans that reached out to me via Instagram. Initially they offered advice and tips when I first announced my plans to do the vegan week. Throughout the week they then sent me messages of support and encouragement. That is one major plus to veganism - it is a rapidly growing trend, there are new vegan cafe's and vegan options in menus being added all the time - so being part of that hub of support for a week was really great. 
That also brings me on to a massive factor as to whether veganism would be suitable for you- it really can be easier to adopt the vegan lifestyle if you live in cities where there is a strong vegan community - such as London or Manchester. Although Leeds is a big city I still feel like it is slightly less accommodating to the vegan diet compared to the cities aforementioned. 

- Save the planet: Finally and probably the most obvious positive thing I can say about veganism is it's fundamental motive - by reducing consumption of animal products they are reducing the demand for meat thus less animals are killed, also reduced animal farming slows the effects of climate change. Taking better care of the planet meant I spent most of the week with a weird sense of pride - like I would definitely get atleast some good karma for doing my vegan week. 

What happens now?
Well I am no longer vegan - I enjoy my #ChefJodie creations that include salmon or chicken too much. However, my vegan week taught me some really useful life lessons that I will take with me into non-vegan life.

1. To meal prepping more - healthier and cheaper.

2. To read labels on food products more critically and try to opt for brands that use more natural ingredients.

3. To not just limit my protein intake to chicken and nuts but change it up regularly with vegan alternatives (lentils, tofu etc). 

4. Porridge with vegan milk i.e dark chocolate almond milk is possibly the best thing ever.

Hope you all found my article useful - as per feedback is always welcome.