Veganuary & Dry(ish) January, in the final furlong....

[Fab Foodie]

To help my daughter's Ph.D study I volunteered for Veganuary and also for my own sake Dry January. Due to a recent shock I've just fallen off that wagon a bit.

The Veganuary has been fine though!
As I started 4 Jan I will finish on 5th Feb - my 58th Birthday...I may just have a bacon sarnie to celebrate.
Interestingly - and this is a biggie for me, my Cholesterol has dropped significantly. I have also lost a bit of weight which considering I've not cycled-much lately is good.
Have I missed meat? No, not really, I have been decreasing my meat intake slowly anyhow and there are some good-enough substitutes around too. I had Viv-Era vegan mince yesterday in a Chilli and with my expert cooking techniques (LOL), you'd have been hard pushed to know it wasn't beef.
I've become accustomed to Oat milk now in tea and Cereal so that will stay.
What I have missed most is Cheese and Eggs. Vegan Cheese is schitt frankly, but am sure it will improve. Also tinned fish/Tuna for quick lunches.
It's fair to say that I have eaten a lot more bread - we make wholegrain in the breadmaker and toasted with Marmite has become my new brekkie.

So overall, it's been a great experience, it's really not difficult for the average omnivore to move in that direction for either health, cost or environmental reasons. Some aspects have stuck. Big learning is adding flavour - with some vegan versions of familiar recipes you need to be bolder with flavours!

Interesting read:

https://medichecks.com/blogs/news/part-3-a-scientists-take-on-veganuary

Any others?

 

[stoatsngroats]

Well done, and great that you have enjoyed it even trying the vegan cheese, which isn’t, to say the least!
Regarding the ready prepared, vegan stuff, we’ve used these things occasionally mostly due to being unprepared to have sufficient in the cupboard to cook from scratch, but we regularly cook more than we ever did when we were (normal) omnivores.

Our non meat and fish choices began a few years ago, and we continue to make these choices, in part from a previous Veganuary, but also because of our perception that plant based is better all round.
The cholesterol reduction is quite well publicised, and there should be other health benefits too, so again, well done!

 

[bikingdad90]

I could never go vegan, don’t like things like lentils, chickpeas, avocado, nuts etc. Basically everything a vegan eats!

 

[stoatsngroats]

😀 Ahh, that’s a shame, as I have a great recipe for each of those, not necessarily together though!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I could never go vegan, don’t like things like lentils, chickpeas, avocado, nuts etc. Basically everything a vegan eats!

It's not all about Lentils

 

[mudsticks]

Two types of pizza tonight.. One vegan one not.

Vegan mozzarella is just about OK if you've not eaten the real thing for a while..

Blitzed cashews blended with a bit of water and olive oiled, pesto from the summer basil, drizzled over is nice.
And ops up the protein.

Vegan one will also have roast squash and chickpeas on top too.

Plus mushrooms olives, green peppers tomato garlic and onion as well.

Non vegan one will have all that with some sardines 'proper mozza' and anchovies..

Plus of course home grown green salad, for everyone..

OK better get back to the dough face..

No dry January here though..

Of all the months to give up drink

 

[mudsticks]

To help my daughter's Ph.D study I volunteered for Veganuary and also for my own sake Dry January. Due to a recent shock I've just fallen off that wagon a bit.

The Veganuary has been fine though!
As I started 4 Jan I will finish on 5th Feb - my 58th Birthday...I may just have a bacon sarnie to celebrate.
Interestingly - and this is a biggie for me, my Cholesterol has dropped significantly. I have also lost a bit of weight which considering I've not cycled-much lately is good.
Have I missed meat? No, not really, I have been decreasing my meat intake slowly anyhow and there are some good-enough substitutes around too. I had Viv-Era vegan mince yesterday in a Chilli and with my expert cooking techniques (LOL), you'd have been hard pushed to know it wasn't beef.
I've become accustomed to Oat milk now in tea and Cereal so that will stay.
What I have missed most is Cheese and Eggs. Vegan Cheese is schitt frankly, but am sure it will improve. Also tinned fish/Tuna for quick lunches.
It's fair to say that I have eaten a lot more bread - we make wholegrain in the breadmaker and toasted with Marmite has become my new brekkie.

So overall, it's been a great experience, it's really not difficult for the average omnivore to move in that direction for either health, cost or environmental reasons. Some aspects have stuck. Big learning is adding flavour - with some vegan versions of familiar recipes you need to be bolder with flavours!

Interesting read:

https://medichecks.com/blogs/news/part-3-a-scientists-take-on-veganuary

Any others?

Ps I would not advocate giving up meat altogether, if 'planet saving' is your goal.

Pasture fed livestock can be a viable choice for the ecologically conscious.

Not all vegan products are benign by any measure.

It's industrialised, factory farming that's the 'baddie' in all this.

Oil based inputs, monocultures, and poor animal welfare are the problems.

 

[stephec]

Booze seems to be a big one for blokes when it comes to losing weight.

I stopped cycling in my mid twenties, then by the time I was thirty I was stopping away for work at least once a week, Little Thief Olympic breakfast, then maybe a KFC or Burger King, followed by a fillet steak and cheese and biscuits in the hotel at night, washed down with some Guinness.

By my late thirties I was 83kg, not all fat as I lifted weights regularly, but I bought a bike again and went out twice a week, after six months I was 73kg without really trying to diet. As I only went into the office once every three months or so people looked at me and said, 'you've lost some weight, have you been ill?' I went from size L or XL, to a medium in most clothes.

When people asked me how I did it all I could answer was, 'don't go to the chippy as much, don't drink as much beer, and ride your bike.'

I thought that I looked a bit skinny though so I went back to the gym and carefully added a bit of upper body weight, 80kg now and still have a suit from fifteen years ago that feels a bit big. 😄

 

[bikingdad90]

It’s sleep or lack of it for me that it hurting at the moment. Gave up booze, stopped all snacks and eat healthy, exercised more yet the weight still isn’t shifting. Can’t do nothing about the sleep at the minute with young kids.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Ps I would not advocate giving up meat altogether, if 'planet saving' is your goal.

Pasture fed livestock can be a viable choice for the ecologically conscious.

Not all vegan products are benign by any measure.

It's industrialised, factory farming that's the 'baddie' in all this.

Oil based inputs, monocultures, and poor animal welfare are the problems.

I don’t disagree with most of that, but have seen nothing that dissuades me from the view that beef and dairy whether pasture-grazed or fed lemongrass to reduce gas or whatever is long-term sustainable.
Oh, and I totally agree about vegan options too. A lot of those products and raw materials travel rather a long way.
Meat and dairy needs to be come a luxury rather than a staple.

 

[mudsticks]

I don’t disagree with most of that, but have seen nothing that dissuades me from the view that beef and dairy whether pasture-grazed or fed lemongrass to reduce gas or whatever is long-term sustainable.
Oh, and I totally agree about vegan options too. A lot of those products and raw materials travel rather a long way.
Meat and dairy needs to be come a luxury rather than a staple.

I'd totally agree that meat and dairy need to be carefully sourced, and we will probably need to eat a lot less of both globally, but better quality going forward.

But well managed grazing can actually build carbon sequestering soil, through deep rooting grasses.

And be part of a more mixed, regenerative, self sustaining farming system.

Grazing herbivores are part of our ecology, and contribute to it, by encouraging diverse habitats.

Their methane emissions are default, but their grass composting rumens, help build soil, and soil life .

It's man and his fossil fuel burning and usage that's driving climate change.

And industrialised agriculture which relies on high inputs of same.

I spend probably equal amounts of time defending vegans free choice not to eat animal products if that's their personal decision.

As I do defending pastoral graziers against evangelical vegans.

Both sides of the argument, have some valid points.. As per..

However, either way, conscious food choices, and a move towards agroecology are the future of 'good food' .. In my humble opinion.

https://www.soilassociation.org/cau...i-report-ten-years-for-agroecology-in-europe/

 

[Fab Foodie]

However, either way, conscious food choices, and a move towards agroecology are the future of 'good food' .. In my humble opinion.

https://www.soilassociation.org/cau...i-report-ten-years-for-agroecology-in-europe/

That paragraph in a nutshell!

 

[mudsticks]

That paragraph in a nutshell!

So long as it's a nutshell that complies with the principals of Food Sovreignity

 

[Fab Foodie]

So long as it's a nutshell that complies with the principals of Food Sovreignity

Fine by me :-)

 

[Drago]

Cool. Meatuary starts on Monday.