The beginning of my journey

Welcome to my brand new blog!

  

So today, well the other day I decided that I would like to make a blog to document my journey into a cruelty free lifestyle...but today I decided to actually figure this blogging business out:)

  

In September of 2010 I decided that I wanted to become vegetarian. For a long time before that I would think about it and always wanted to aspire to it, but never thought I had the commitment or support to actually go through with it. So I spent a little while searching the Internet (what a useful device...I could not function without it!) for information on vegetarian diets and accounts from people who were/are vegetarian. I had a few concerns that were holding me back that I wanted to sort out before I started this journey.

  

These were:

• Will I be healthy not eating meat?
• How will my family and friends react to this lifestyle change?
• What can I eat?

The Internet was my first place to look. By 'googling' vegetarian health you find copious amounts of information from organisations like PETA, the Vegetarian Society and many others that will literally come up if you google 'vegetarian'. Once I had received some advice about making the transition from meat eating to not eating, it was just a matter of doing it.

Somewhere I read that it is easiest to gradually phase out meat. For example, firstly give up red meat such as beef and lamb for a few weeks, then once you are used to this, give up pork and poultry. Then finally give up seafood. After my first week the thought of not eating one animal and eating another, kind of got to me, I thought ‘which animal is more important? A pig or a chicken? Or a cow or a lamb? Or even a fish?’ I found it very easy to just not eat any from day one. I also found that it helped to mark my meat free days on the calendar, expecting some slip up days. However, I haven't eaten any meat since September last year (2010) and I am not even tempted to! I haven’t noticed any change in my energy or immune system. My iron is still within the healthy range and I am definitely eating much healthier than I was before (LOTS of vegetables and no greasy nasty junk food!). Oh I am also training for a 100 km hike in June 2011 for Oxfam.

I was a little weary about telling my family and friends. My partner was SUPER supportive and still is. My immediate family have also been very supportive; however it wasn't much of a big deal for them as we have always been open to eating vegetarian options. My extended family weren't as easily accommodating, not non supportive, but just seemed unsure why I was doing this and thinking it was just a phase...'Oh she's still doing that?'

I sometimes find it hard eating at my partners place and feel like I'm a big inconvenience. They are a typical ‘meat and three veg’ every night family, so a lot of the food I was into they had never heard of. In saying that though, they are still supportive and I know that they are doing their best to support me (even though sometimes their lack of knowledge can put me in an awkward position when I have to refuse a dish).

So this brings me to what I have been eating. There are actually quite a lot of vegetarian options in supermarkets (Sanitarium Vegie Delights) and restaurants and so I guess this is why I found it very easy to switch to vegetarianism. I have utilised the Internet to connect and communicate with other like minded people and have gained many different ideas for meals. On this blog I aim to share recipes that I’ve found, created and loved and offer some honest opinions on food.

In the recent months, I have been communicating on different forums and have been exposed to the cruel practices that occur in the dairy industry. Firstly, I watched a documentary called ‘Meat the truth’, which looks at the environmental impacts of animal consumption. This film reaffirmed my decision to become and remain vegetarian. Then even more recently I watched a lecture by Gary Yourofsky which was definitely eye opening. If you have any doubts about becoming vegetarian or vegan, please watch this! Immediately after watching this film I felt sick at the sight and thought of dairy and didn’t want to have any part in or support such a disgusting industry. Hence now I have cut out pretty much all dairy to my knowledge. This means milk, cheese, yogurt, ice-cream, milk chocolate, butter and anything else that contains milk. At this stage I do not wish to label myself as a ‘vegan’ as I still do consume the occasional egg from my own chickens (who are well looked after and are free ranged). I am at the point where I am still looking for alternatives, i.e. experimenting with different dairy alternatives. I have decided I like the Vitasoy ‘Soy Milky’, and am not overly impressed with store bought cheese (especially the prices of them!). However, I have and still am experimenting with different types of cheese recipes that I’ve found on the Internet; from parmesan, to pizza cheese sauce. I would like to provide these recipes (and where I sourced them from) for you to view and try yourself.

If you are thinking about becoming vegetarian, I praise you already. Carrying it out is a lot easier than it sounds. I hope that some of my experiences and advice will help make it easier for you, just as others’ advice had helped me so much.