Vegetarian Ingénue

I first became a vegetarian when I was 11 years old. A fully paid-up member of the Junior RSPCA, I identified as an ‘animal lover’ and begged my mum to let me give up eating meat.

She was reluctant at first. Wary of complicating mealtimes and concerned for my health, she insisted that I produce a mini-project on good nutrition! Finally convinced by my study of protein, vitamins and minerals, she agreed to cater for my new diet as long as I ate fish occasionally.

Being vegetarian in the early 90s was very different to today. Far from mainstream, cutting out meat had major hippy connotations! I don’t recall any of my friends at school being vegetarian either. Meat substitutes were few and far between and many restaurants failed to provide veggie alternatives. Choice was limited. Lots of the ingredients that seem so essential to a vegetarian or vegan diet today hadn’t even appeared in supermarkets yet. I’m looking at you quinoa. Nonetheless, my diet didn’t change for the next ten years.

When I look back on this period of my life, I’m always quietly horrified by how unhealthy I was. I started working full-time at 16 and left home a year later. I regularly skipped breakfast, ate fast food for lunch almost every day and cooked pasta most evenings. I also smoked a lot, drank heavily on my days off and survived on very little sleep. Although I was in a position of responsiblity at work, I was pretty reckless the rest of the time!

With a naturally slim physique and super-fast metabolism, my poor food choices never registered on my hips. However, I was constantly exhausted and my skin was atrocious. My immune system was non-existent and I’m fairly sure I slipped in and out of anemia on a regular basis.

Slack Vegetarian

By the time I fell pregnant with Izzy when I was 21, I’d already moved back home and made some positive changes to my diet and lifestyle. Becoming a mum motivated me even more and I finally started to treat my body with the respect it deserved.

In the years immediately following Izzy’s arrival, my passion for vegetarianism waned. I can’t figure out why exactly, but cooking meat for my family probably played a small part. For the next ten years, I didn’t eat meat very often, but I did so without any consideration for the animals that had once meant so much to me.

In stark contrast, Izzy asked to become a vegetarian when she was only six years old. Her moral compass has always been very strong and she feels killing animals for food is wrong. I threw myself into raising a veggie child, doing my best to ensure she had a healthy, balanced diet at all times. Written a couple of years ago, this post about How We Eat offers a little more insight.

Born Again Vegetarian

Towards the end of 2015, I started to wonder why I was eating any meat at all. Truth be told, I’ve never really derived any pleasure from its consumption and I’ve always been more excited by fresh fruit and veg than a fancy cut of meat. Having over-indulged at Christmas, I decided to stop eating meat for as long as it felt like the right thing to do. Over a year later, I can’t imagine ever eating it again.

This time round, I feel like I’m living my best vegetarian life! I don’t cook any meat at home, although I never come between Mr L.A. and a bacon sandwich if he’s prepared to make it himself! I occasionally buy ham for Jesse’s packed lunch, but for the most part, the boys savour meaty meals when they’re eating out or away from home.

Izzy and I do eat fish very occasionally {technically making us pescatarian}, but I also aim for at least one completely plant-based meal a week. I wouldn’t rule out veganism for either of us in the future. The amount of choice available to vegetarians and vegans today blows my mind.

There are plenty of reasons to reduce meat consumption or increase our intake of fruit and veg {are you getting your 10-a-day?}, but I’ve never been interested in converting anyone else to vegetarianism. That’s definitely not why I’m sharing this story today.

That said, if you’re toying with switching to a meat-free diet, here are a few useful resources …

• Vegucated is a compelling documentary about three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. Watching this at the end of 2015 was the main catalyst for my return to vegetarianism.
• Gemma’s posts Becoming Vegetarian and 6 Months of Veganism are both packed full of interesting ideas, observations and advice.
• NHS Choices has a very informative section dedicated to Vegetarian and Vegan Diets.
• If you want to step outside your cooking comfort zone and try new things, I’d highly recommend Riverford. Opting for weekly fruit and veg box deliveries over the last six months has made being vegetarian so much fun. Their website is full of great recipe ideas too.
• A Modern Way to Cook*, Fresh India* and River Cottage Veg Every Day* are three {predominantly} vegetarian recipe books I wouldn’t want to be without.

So, how much meat do you eat? Are you vegetarian or vegan? Would you ever consider making the switch?

Love Audrey xxx

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