What I eat in a day on a vegan diet

A vegan is a person who doesn't consume any animal products. This includes meat, dairy, eggs, seafood, additives made from animals (e.g. gelatin), wool, leather and silk. Vegans do not contribute to animal testing, hunting or any other activity that harms animals. This means that vegans try to avoid causing any kind of animal suffering in the best way possible*. A plant-based person is someone who eats as a vegan but may still use leather or any other products made of animals.

I wouldn’t call myself a vegan. I still use a few leather items and some cosmetics with animal ingredients, that I bought before transitioning to this lifestyle. I currently avoid buying non-vegan products, which is the most important part for me personally, because you are not currently directly supporting the companies that sell animal products.

I’ve been plant-based for about 10 months now and I haven’t eaten any meat in over a year. One of the biggest reasons why I stopped eating animal products was the environmental issues and the impact that the meat-, dairy- and egg industry has on climate change. Producing meat also uses a lot of resources, such as water. Another good reason is the health benefits. I feel really good on a plant-based diet and it has affected my body in a positive way. I’ve only been sick once during 2016 and most of my skin issues have disappeared. These are only the short-term benefits and I’m waiting for even more long-term benefits, after I’ve been plant-based for a larger amount of time. The third reason for why I stopped eating animal products is the bad treatment and suffering of the animals. For me it feels completely unnecessary to kill and torture animals when it’s possible to get all the nutrients needed on a plant-based diet. 

A misconception that people often have about vegans is that their diet mostly consist of extremely healthy foods such as lettuce, tomato and other vegetables. This is probably why many people see plant-based diets as something extremely restrictive. This is definitely not the case for me and that’s why I decided to show my meals on a typical lazy Sunday. I wanted show that you can eat a plant-based version of all your favorite foods. The meals are not the healthiest but they’re made in a healthier way by using more natural sweeteners, less additives and fresh ingredients. All of the meals are homemade and therefore also healthier. 

Breakfast

For breakfast I made banana-oat pancakes by using a recipe for coconut pancakes from the book Eat Smart by Niomi Smart as a base. We didn’t have coconut so I replaced it with some other ingredients that we had at home. I also put some blueberries, strawberry jam and maple syrup on top of the pancakes. This is not the healthiest breakfast but the recipe is made by using only natural unprocessed sweeteners such as banana and maple syrup. I really loved them and I would definitely try them again. I also ate a banana right after I woke up to get some energy to make the pancakes.

Tea time 

Since I ate breakfast so late I didn’t feel like making lunch. That’s why I decided to drink a huge cup of tea instead. The tea I used is from my tea Christmas calendar and it really helped me focus because I had a lot of school assignments to do during the day. 

Dinner 

For dinner I made pizza from scratch (with the help of my mom). We didn’t use any recipe when making the pizza and I just added my favorite toppings. It’s really easy to make a vegan pizza because you don’t have to do anything else than to leave out the cheese (or you could use vegan cheese but I don’t personally like the taste of it). 

The meal is one of my favorite ones to make because it’s healthy and it fills you up properly. I actually loved the pizza so much that the pizza was gone in just a few hours. 

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I also had some vegan ice-cream for dessert. The chocolate-peanut-caramel ice-cream by Kolmen Kaverin Jäätelö is an ongoing favorite.

  

I often get the question "is it hard to be plant-based?" and this blogpost is an answer to it. So yes, it can feel a bit odd in the beginning but you quickly get used to it. It becomes a way of life. It becomes a part of you that you can be extremely proud of. I haven't regretted this decision and I plan to be plant-based for as long as possible.

*I used the word possible because there are a lot of ways that someone can contribute to animal suffering when consuming products that are vegan. This is simply because animal ingredients can be used in the making of these products. For example, white sugar, which is made by using bone char (burned animal bones) as a filter. This contributes to animal suffering because bone char is a byproduct of the meat industry. Therefore when buying white sugar, you are also contributing to the meat industry, that contributes to animal suffering. Therefore no one that buys any kinds of processed foods or even goes to supermarkets can be fully vegan because all these contribute to animal suffering in some kind of way. 

*Disclaimer* These are my own values and opinions. They are not made to offend anyone. I am not an expert and therefore you should do your own research if you are considering becoming a vegan. 

If you are interested in veganism I should suggest these documentaries: Cowspiracy, Forks over knives and  Earthlings. (I've gotten most of my information by watching them.)