The Days Are Inching Closer

The challenge is becoming more and more real as the day I start my experiment ease closer. I have mixed feelings about it, but mainly one of excitment of all the news foods I'm going to try, the new recipes I'm going to be exploring and the challenges I'll be facing along the way.

I did my first 100% vegan shop in Sainsburys and a specialist shop today. I bought a number of new food items such as:

 - Organica, Golden Coconut Delight
 - Roo'Bar in Inca Berry flavour
 - nakd fruit salad, fruit and nut nibbles
 - Frutina real fruit snack bars for sugar energy when I'm running

The thing is, one thing I'm not worried about is whether I'll like the food or not because everything I bought today I'm excited to eat and am looking forward to eliminating, hopefully, most crap and chemicals from my diet. I know going vegan mainly means cutting out aniumal products, but I'm also aiming to eat unprocessed foods with as few chemicals as I can. I once saw a meme that said:

Too many people are counting calories and not enough are counting chemicals.
I think this is true and in my journey to bettering my own nutritional intake via experimentation I hope to learn more about what is in my food, chemicals and all. In addition to hopefully making others more aware of what is in our food, and how our nutrients affect our bodyt functioning.

On the 6th January (when I'm home) I will take my stats of my body composition and BMI in order to seehow and if it naturally changes over time or not. I am not aiming to lose weight, however, this is more about how I am feeling within myself but it will be interesting to see if I gain or lose fat % whilst eating more natural foods.

Cacao & Quinoa flavoured Raw Bites: Snack Try

I must admit, I have a confession to make. I was dubious and hesitant to try these however, upon trying a small bite I realised that actually, although a slightly acquired taste they were quite nice. You don't get many in the packet however they are quite a dense food and packed full of nutritious ingredients that they are quite satisfying to eat, and impacting on a peckish appetite.

The main ingredient seemed to be sultanas/or raisins (my memory escapes me) so they were quite sweet in a natural way. Definitely good and fibrous for a snack in addition to being quite tasty and lasting. They were something that would be quite difficult to eat properly and scoff because of how densely pressed they are, however this forces you to enjoy all the textures and flavours these raw bites have to offer.

Dorset Cereals

When in the supermarket last they didn't have my usual go-to breakfast cereal Oatibix (probably because no-one else seems to like the stuff but me) so I had a browse for cereals I could eat as an easy breakfast in the New Year when I start my experiment/challenge.

Unfortunately most granolas have honey in them, instead I need to find one with pure sugar molasses or agave nectar, which I think I did if I remember correctly, however instead I was more attracted to their simply fruity muesli with pineapple, papaya and sultanas.

I tried it this morning, with Alpro soya as I'm slowly adjusting to soya milk, and it was delicious. It was only 151 calories per 45g of cereal however, which is quite low therefore when I am having active days unless I have a banana and something else to bulk up my breakfast I would have a double portion to hit around the 300 calorie mark for a decent breakfast. However, if you're trying to lose weight, then this would be a great choice although a 45g serving is rather small, it is satisfying.

And I quite like the little motto when I opened the box. I thought to myself, "Hell yeah I'm most qualified at being myself" which was a nice morning thought on a morning recovering from the flu still.

Smoothie Fun

Early this year my mum bought me a NutriBullet. I think this is going to be a key player in my vegan journey. Today I made a smoothie - although it turned out a bit too sweet and I could have done with my non-ripe avocado not going bad in the fridge in there, but there we go, such is the life of a natural diet. Natural foods have a natural shelf life.

I added mixed berries, banana, soya milk and banana - and I drank it in two goes. The mixed berries were good for Vitamin C which I need extra of at the moment seeing as I have a cough and cold. In addition to vitamin A for my mucus membranes reparation lining my respiratory tract, and folic acid which I am currently having to take supplements for at the moment. It will be good to get off the supplements that I can help through managing my diet better. I think smoothies are a good way of doing that in addition to helping with the digestion of fibre rich and difficult to digest foods as I have digestive difficulties also. Therefore they are an ideal method for me to get my vitamins and nutrients in a digestive system friendly manner.

I also went to Kikki. K - a wonderful stationary shop and bought a meal planner for when I start my journey. It has a handy magnetic strip at the back and so can sit at the top of my oven quite nicely. It's also beautiful looking, which is always a bonus in these things.

Chocolate Free Chocovered Raisins

I've started on my vegan snacks. I decided to start with chocolate free Chocovered raisins.

I bought them from Holland and Barrett. I've lost the price but will edit this when I find out.

They're sweet, naturally with the raisins and sugar. They do have added sugar so aren't necessarily a healthy snack but are a good energy booster for a pre-run or mid run snack for me to use- or if I just fancy a sweet treat like this morning.

Raisins are also good for the important B vitamins, iron and potassium which is good for me as I'm currently anaemic.

Vegan Snack Haul

I got a haul of vegan snacks to try ahead of my experiment. Let’s see what the verdict is. Each snack will be a review of what I think and how I like it so I know what to buy when I’m vegan.

Tips on Starting My Vegan Diet

I’ve been looking up tips and ordering starter packs from the likes of The Vegan Society in order to help me prepare for my journey.

I’ve found some interesting stuff that I think I will take on board:
 - Plan food and meal diary (This gives me the excuse to order more stationary from Kikki K)
 - Always have vegan snacks on you on the road because eating on the go is pretty challenging.
 - Don’t have rules about nutrition other than following a vegan diet, so no calorie counting or carbohydrate counting. (I don’t do this anyway.)
 - Give myself extra time to cook and explore food.
 - Keep a full kitchen stocked with foods to eat and cook.
 - Avoid convenience foods.
 - Go into it with an open mind.

I think these seem like pretty sound piece of advice for going vegan so I will plan to follow these in my journey. For now, I’m feeling pretty excited to start trying new foods so I’m going to go shopping and try out some snacks – in addition to finding out which snacks I can and can’t have. Finally, I need to hunt out a vegan protein shake – the best of them taste like crap so let’s see. This can be the challenge of the day.

What is The Veganism Experiment?

This is my own experiment with food, for 3 months, to see and explore what veganism is like. I’m going to document my journey into exploring what natural and wholesome food is about, including exploring new recipes and new foods.

I’ve set the date for 3 months because I am currently a meat eater so I think there is going to be an adjustment phase and that 3 months is long enough for the experiment to yield results such as knowing what foods are good for which health benefits, experimenting with new recipes and adjusting to new foods in my diet.

I want to be a Dietitian and will be studying nutrition as of September, so this experiment will also let me gain insight into what my vegan clients will be eating, in addition to allowing me to recommend foods from my own research and experience.

Until I start on 1st January 2016, I’m going to start researching things I would like to try and making lists of foods and recipes to try in addition to looking up about how to maintain and keep a balanced and well varied diet whilst being vegan.