People think “is it healthier”
Can’t even being to explain how many people have asked me this since being vegan. YES a lot of things are healthier and it can 100% be a healthy diet for so many people. BUT for myself a lot of the time I felt unhealthier than I normally am??? If I was hungry and fancied a snack I’d grab a piece of bread, or if I didn’t know what to eat for dinner a bowl of pasta was the first thing I thought of. Whereas not being a vegan I may have had salmon and veg or a eggs as a snack. Another thing I get it ‘have you lost weight’? The answer is no. Yes being a vegan does mean a lot of veggies but so did my diet before, I think because I was only vegan for a month I wanted to try so many vegan things. From vegan chocolate spread to raw cookie dough bites, my vegan diet was far from the healthiest but this was because I was exploring my options!!
The older generation just don’t get it
Ok so anyone over the age of about 26 just doesn’t get it. My friend’s reactions vs my parents or peoples in my office reactions were completely different. To my grandma saying ‘I need to have a word with you about this vegan stuff davinia’ because she thinks I eat 3 lettuce leafs a day. I think this just shows how different the world is changing. My friends were supportive asked if I cheated and what am I going to eat on the 1st December?? Compared to anyone older being like ‘What can you ACTUALLY eat’???? to them it’s a crazy way of living even though 1000’s of young people do it every day. Social media has a huge effect on this from us liking a post full of Linda McCartney items to seeing the accounts of vegan pop up shops in Camden on Instagram. Social media has exposed us to different life styles such as being vegan and has made our generation so much more accepting to the different people around us.
It’s expensive
Thank god shops such as aldi and lidl are jumping on the vegan band waggon because it can be expensive!! The free from isles are sometimes twice the price of anything else. Which could put people off the vegan life styles. It’s annoying because brands like waitrose and M&S have huge vegan ranges but this is not in the student budget. It is possible to eat cheap as a vegan but it is limiting. Eating out though I can say it is cheaper. This whole month I have been OBESSESSED with the wagamamma vegan katsu curry!! And the wagamamm vegan options are usually cheaper than anything on the ordinary menu. Hands down wagamamma is the BEST place to go when being a vegan.
It’s almost impossible in European cities
Safe to say that the UK are ahead of the game in the vegan market. It’s easy to eat vegan over here. Every restaurant you go too there is always a vegan option. Which is good because another thing I found about being a vegan is I felt a burden on people around me?? If I was eating with friends it effected them which was difficult and made me feel super guilty. So this month I went to both Paris and Bruge… I went to paris with my bff Emily who is ALSO a vegan for November so this made it so much easier!! We went to hank burger which is a vegan burger restaurant and it was amazinggggg. A lot of places also did almond and oat milk so I was in heaven. Bruge with the family was a different story, I couldn’t eat any chocolate, once again my dad would joke about me eating just lettuce leaves and when contemplating to give up just so I could have a hot chocolate they were filled with joy because then finding somewhere for dinner would be a lot easier. But when the place we went did actually have a vegetarian option so I could take the cheese out it became a lot easier!!
It’s safe to say I could not be a vegan forever, gouda, poached eggs and prawns have a place in my heart. But I look up to people who can!! I don’t each much meat anyway so being a vegan as given me so many alternatives that I love and I will continue eating.
Marbleous Food xox