The Lifestyle

Howdy Folks,

When the subject of dietary restrictions, or dietary issues comes up, some people think of people who have allergies like peanuts, or shellfish. Though in modern-day society there are these wonderful diets, or as some people prefer to call them, Lifestyles.

Vegans and vegetarians are our current societies most common lifestyles. Let’s be honest here folks, when someone thinks of Vegans or Vegetarians, they normally think of thin, sun-kissed happy-go-lucky teens, though that is in fact just a stereotype which has been labelled onto them by false facts and movies. Vegans and vegetarians can be bigger people too, it’s still about watching what you eat.

ADVICE:

The Vegan and Vegetarians lifestyles aren’t something which gives people a false sense of entitlement, they are just well just a lifestyle. When beginning on the path of becoming Vegan or Vegetarian it’s important to not have high expectations of yourself. In reality becoming Vegan or even Vegetarian can be hard, you’re going to have cravings for food which you now cannot eat, and they’re going to be hard to fend off. Some advice when starting out is this: start, don’t dive in. If you’re attempting to become Vegan, start off by going Vegetarian, but do it slowly. Start by cutting off beef, or chicken or lamb, some kind of meat which you might not eat on a regular basis. Then start working your way up.

CRAVINGS:

People who are big cheese fans, your definitely going to have cheese cravings for a few months. Cheese contains something called casein. It also contains casein fragments called casomorphins. Which is a casein-derived morphine-like compound. So basically, dairy protein has opiate molecules built in. When consumed, these fragments attach to the same brain receptors that heroin and other narcotics attach to… fun right.

Funnily enough, my source says that they never missed meat, though that may be because they saw plenty of videos about how the animals were treated. Though they did miss croissants.

RECIPES AND SUCH

There are plenty of Instagram accounts which will give you plenty of inspiration and recipes for your journey some I’ve found are plantbased.recipies and vegansville. There’s also loads of ideas and recipes on Pinterest (which is apparently Pin-Interest it’s a place where you pin your interests… that’s pretty cool) and Facebook.

When making a recipe or vegan-ising it, there can be lots of ingredients and spices, which can seem expensive for just a few meals. If you buy things in bulk or buy it slowly, like herbs and spices, then when you go to make, say a vegan patty or vegan burger, the majority of ingredients will already be there.

ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN:

If you google accidentally vegan, there’s a website which has numerous Coles and Woolworth's products which are actually vegan but aren’t labelled as such.

There’s also the brand Fries which can be located in the freezer section. The brand produces a vegan option for nuggets, chia patties, and chicken schnitzel. They also don’t have too many chemical or bad ingredients. There’s high amounts of protein which come from the Fries options.

A meal idea for them is making an alternative chicken schnitzel wrap.

HERE’S THE TEA:

For the tea and coffee people out there, becoming vegan doesn’t completely cut you off from ever having your daily awake juice ever again. Milks such as Soy milk, Oat milk, Almond milk, or coconut milk are still on the menu. My source says that they prefer Soy or Oat milk, and that it’s a matter of trial and preference.

There are some debates about if soy is good for us, which really depends on our bodies. Soy has high amounts of estrogen, and how that effects your person all depends on your individual hormones.

SUPPLEMENTS:

With the vegan lifestyle, some people may have lack of Iron, but that is due to a lack of variety in their diet. There’s plenty of ways to get your iron levels up. Beans, lentils, and leafy greens have lots of iron.

All vegans will lack the B12 vitamin. Cows get it from grass and then absorb it into their systems, which humans then gain from digesting beef. There’s no other natural way to get B12 so you will need to take a supplement.

Some people before being on the vegan diet were in fact anemic, but since switching to the lifestyle have drastically improved on their iron levels. Personally I was low on iron a good few months ago, but I just booked an appointment at my local GP and got some iron tablets, now I’m as fit as a fiddle.

THE BIGGEST STRUGGLES:

With being vegan, travelling can be a pain in the you-know-what. Say you live in America, and you travel to Asia for a holiday, if you aren’t fluent in the language you may not be able to specify your dietary requirements, which can be a bit or a downer on your trip.

Some other let-downs in our society is that some restaurants don’t have vegan options, so when eating out with friends you may have to resort to a serving of hot chips, or not eat.

The good thing though, is that our society is becoming more aware of its citizens, like with how people are being more welcoming and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community they’re also beginning to accept out lifestyle folks. So some servos and truck stops now offer vegan sausage rolls or pies.

Another struggle which comes with the lifestyle is that when you start out on the diet, eating with other people while they eat meat or anything non-vegan can be a major put-off for your appetite. This will pass though as time goes on.

If you have any advice for people starting out on the lifestyle pathway, or you have any questions about becoming vegan, feel free to contact me. I'd love to hear from you.

Stay foxy folks

The Shadow Girl, Fading Out xx