Welcome back to another update on vegan eating! Just kidding, although I class myself as a ‘vegan’ blogger, that’s just to let people know what my ‘lifestyle’ is… but it’s not really what I do as a main thing, which I’m sure you’ve realised… I hope?
Anyway, whilst I’m not here to talk about all things vegan all the time I did want to do a quick blog post about what I’ve been eating the past couple of weeks because I followed a… ‘diet’… shhh, don’t say the word too loudly because it’s actually the worst. There’s nothing wrong with dieting but I’m at a point in my life where the word ‘diet’ is synonymous with ‘lifestyle’ and not ‘restriction’.
Moving on! Over the past few months I’ve been feeling sluggish and bored of my eating habits. I cook from scratch 6 out of 7 days a week [gotta have a takeaway once a week, come on!] but all my meals were dullsville and, dare I say, totally bad-carb based [I’ve not eaten bread for two weeks, who am ?]. Which I love, but it’s starting to make me feel heavy both mentally and physically.
I stumbled onto a youtube video whilst looking for advice on cleaner and raw eating and I found High Carb Hannah – someone who, like me, went vegan but still didn’t feel great overall. She made a decision to find an eating plan that works for her [which includes many carbs but… the really good kind!] and then compiled them all, making both recipe books to download and a 2 week eating plan e-book, which is what I got.
The Lean & Clean Guide is filled with a load of nutritional information which… I have to be honest, I only skimmed. I know about nutrition enough to not need to re-read stuff but if you’re a newbie going vegan then there is some great info for you!
The shopping lists for the two weeks [fully provided] are extensive and… a lot of food. The first week I bought everything on the list and it cost me £70… which is double my normal weekly shop but I decided to go for it. The next week, I had so much stuff left and I knew what portion sizes I enjoyed that it wasn’t as much! That being said, the portion sizes in the book are HUGE! Sometimes it’s because you are supposed to have left overs for lunches but… sometimes it’s just way too much food.
The meals are good… although I did feel like I could improve them, but I’m a crazy cooking person who always thinks she can improve recipes. I also added some salt to the meals, despite salt being a little bit of a no-go. In the UK we have terrible vegetables, what can I say? I don’t have a high salt diet, though, so… I kinda knew my body better? This post is getting a bit jumbled BUT after two weeks of eating lots of beans, grains and potatoes I feel SO MUCH BETTER! Lighter, for sure, and healthier and I’ve found a new lease of life with my cooking. There are so many recipes I want to work on and make my ‘own’ but I’m happy with the results I got from being what I would call a ‘good vegan’!
I’m tempted to download some more of her recipe books later in the year just to add some more food ideas to my collection! If you’re looking to give clean eating a go and want to cook loads – do it! I’m in no way affiliated with Hannah – just love to share this kind of thing! Also; if you’re looking for a few quick ideas to help you with weekly eating cook a handful of sweet potatoes on a Sunday to keep you going through the week for quick lunches and make your own granola/ tortilla chips to snack on through the week instead of munching the naughty snacks!
Sam
Pretty Thoughtful Blog 