So, this is what I'm doing for the new year, I'm going vegan. At least for a month, at first to see how I go. I've been toying with the idea for ages - just over a year in fact (errr, a YEAR? Who takes a year to make a decision?! ha!) It's a bit of a boring story if you're not me, but something I wanted to write down anyway, and maybe help other people in my situation. That situation is nothing major or particularly serious, but it can sometimes be a pretty big pain in the
ass side.
14 months ago, i was diagnosed with Gallbladder disease (more commonly known as gallstones) & after my third hellish attack (worst than labour, waaaay worst than labour - I'm really
not exaggerating) which ended up with another midnight dash to A&E where I was zonked out on morphine for 6 hours & totally away with the fairies for another 18, I decided that enough was enough & i simply could not go through that pain again.
Ever. I got myself on the waiting list for surgery, and decided that in the meantime I would have to go mega strict on my diet. Fat is the thing that aggravates the gallbladder, so i needed to have hardly any in my diet. I cut out meat (except poultry) and all dairy. I also steered clear of anything fried, or pretty much anything with more than 5g of fat per portion in. This was a big deal for me and it was also a real eye opener, and if I'm being brutally honest, at first it was
horrific. I hadn't researched anything properly & was surviving on chicken salads, diet coke and coffee (oh no wait, and wine!!). I was getting miserable, ratty, tearful & above all else i was pretty pissed off that I was in this situation in the first place. i don't know who i was pissed off with, i just was! I didn't want to be eating the same dull chicken based meals day in day out - i was BORED and i was slowly going out of my mind. Christmas that year was pretty rubbish in terms of food. After being pregnant the previous year I was so looking forward to stuffing myself full of stinky cheeses, smoked salmon, roast pots, christmas puddings, mince pies, chocolate, pringles! But instead i found myself tucking into some dry turkey with some sprouts and some onion gravy. Merry f-ing Christmas...
When I found out in January that the surgery waiting list was 18+ weeks, I cried on the phone to the woman. Yep, I was
that girl. It was then that I knew I
had to change the way i was eating. I could not go on having chicken salad constantly with the old jacket potato & beans thrown in for good measure. So, i started experimenting with loads of different
veggie food whilst still keeping the amount of non-animal fats
very low, and obviously leaving any cheese off of my portions. I found it liberating and actually, something inside me 'clicked'. I had found a heightened passion for food, and all of a sudden I didn't feel like I was being punished. My cooking had become more creative and imaginative, and I started to look forward to the evenings when I could let go in my kitchen. Getting excited about recipes was something that hadn't really happened to me before. I mean i liked cooking, but not in the same way i do these days. I instantly felt happier, i had more energy and as an added bonus I lost 35lb of baby weight that had been sitting around for 6 years ;) Whoop!
It was around March of this year ('12) that i started taking pics of the recipes for the blog - mainly as a way for me to have them all to hand. I wanted to know that i had a place where I could go to, where the recipes had been tried & tested by me, and they wouldn't bring on an attack. I had searched everywhere for websites or books that had recipes for people living with gallbladder disease and although i found a lot of good low-fat sites, there was still quite a lot of dairy going on in most of the recipes. So, i thought I'd just get on with it myself and as i already had this blog which rarely got any attention from me, it seemed the perfect place.
Over this past year it has become more apparent that the diet that seemed to most suit me and my needs was similar to that of a vegan one. After following
Drea's blog for quite some time, I came to realise that veganism looks like a pretty appealing way of life. As well as huge health & environmental benefits, I'm also really looking forward to the challenge of finding and trying new recipes. I've lived 'attack' free now for over 10 months because of the food choices I've made and with that in mind and some other quite important factors i needed to consider (plus a well informed chat with my GP) I've decided to come off of the waiting list. I'm keeping my gallbladder where it is, stones and all. I want to carry on the way I'm going, just with a few minor adjustments, hence ending up here - going vegan.
Of course we shall see what January brings but for now i know I'm really, really looking forward to it :)
