Vegan Diary

Wednesday, 4th January 2017 11:08 - by Moosh

It has been a big year of change in 2016 and I didn’t even see it coming. A fellow investor who popped into my life merely mentioned that he was a vegan and something in my head went ‘click’. Now, I have thought about veganism in the past and researched it a little bit but I found it quite extreme and I don’t think I was in the right head space to contemplate such a change in diet because I loved meat, fish, dairy, and eggs.

I also didn’t know any vegans so it wasn’t as if I had anyone to share ideas with or ask. Therefore I saw this new friend of mine as an opportunity to change because such opportunities only come along rarely so I figured I should absolutely give it a go.

Initially in September I made one change – I went from regular milk to soya milk. I’ve always screwed my face at soya milk before because it was a bit of an unknown so I thought I would give the sweetened version a try first, to ease me in gently. I got used to the taste and I eventually switched to the unsweetened version because I wanted to have a bit more control on my sugar intake. It does get a bit tedious when producers get all politically correct and call it ‘soya drink’. We know it’s not ‘milk’ but let’s just call it ‘milk’ – it’s hardly a major life issue! So that was September and I survived, yes I did!

October was a bit more of a step into veganism and I decided to give up all dairy and eggs, and that wasn’t really difficult at all. I also spent a lot of the time during Autumn wandering around the local food shops (large and small, well-known or independent specialists) to get an idea of the range of foods which are available for vegans and especially whether the big supermarkets cater adequately for my impending needs. I have access to Tesco and Sainsbury’s and in my opinion I feel like Tesco does a better job for vegans regarding both range and value and this was actually a massive surprise to me because Tesco has never been my first place to shop but as it turns out – it’s where I go first all the time now! Although vegan food isn’t going to be eaten by many people (usually targeted to vegans and those with various food allergies), the provision of a good range of vegan products by Tesco means that us vegans are more likely to do the bulk of our other shopping at the same place – veganism is the hook! It’s important for supermarkets to make a focused effort on minority groups (ethnic/food minorities) because while we buy our specialist stuff, we may also end up buying a load of other stuff while we are there, including non-food items and ultimately, this is good for revenue generation. It also keeps customers away from competitors so it’s no wonder the supermarket wars are ON! I don’t hold TSCO shares as it happens but I do monitor its price and fundamentals.

From November onwards, I went fully vegan and I confess, I have never felt better! I had a mini-stress when I stopped to wonder if I was getting all recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals but I decided just to eat a varied diet and deal with issues if they arise. You can worry too much sometimes and that’s not healthy! I have found it a lot of fun trying to veganise my recipes and find alternative ingredients to make vegan cakes and main meals so you may see a few recipes pop up in future FOMO updates! I survived a vegan Christmas, although it wasn’t difficult because I just had a plateful of ‘trimmings’ and gravy which always fills me up anyway. The main difference that I love about becoming vegan is the amount of weight I have lost! Not that I was big to begin with – I have always had a normal body mass index for my measurements but as I near mid-life, I am looking more like I did 20 years ago, which is great because I do still wear clothes from when I was a teenager and considering trends are cyclical, it will all come back into fashion one day....

The Writer's views are their own, not a representation of London South East's. No advice is inferred or given. If you require financial advice, please seek an Independent Financial Adviser.