If you have been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you will know that for the past week and a half, or so, I have been vegan – or at least, trying to be.

I had been flirting with the idea for several months now and finally took the plunge about 2 weeks ago.

For many years I suffered IBS and discovered  I had both a dairy and a gluten intolerance.  This meant no more ice cream, cheese, yoghurt, bread, pasta etc.  I had no problem eating dairy and wheat alternatives…..that is until I met my husband.  It is hard to keep on top of your regular eating patterns  when you get into a relationship and I soon found myself eating more and more cheese, pasta, pizza and bread.

I very quickly started to suffer the consequences – bloating, nausea, occasional vomiting, skin break out, sluggishness, low energy.  I finally had enough and decided last year to return my usual gluten-free, dairy-free diet. I also decided to go vegan, eliminating all animal produce – meat, cheese, seafood, poultry and eggs from my diet.   For a while, I had been feeling discomfort at eating animal produce…..and feeling unease at eating poultry & eggs, due to growing reports on chemicals found in animal produce.  I tried eating organic animal produce, but just couldn’t shake off my unease so I made the ultimate decision to go vegan.

I believe that you are what you eat and I am very keen to see the effects, if any, that my new diet will have on the health of my hair.

My first week of going vegan was absolutely HELL!!  I was irritable at the slightest thing, suffered pounding headaches and felt very weak.  I persisted, pushing myself through brain numbing hunger, whilst searching for vegan recipes and vegan protein sources.

By the second week, I was feeling better….my headaches were gone, I had a tremendous burst of energy (Energizer Bunny ain’t got nothing on me! Ha!), however, I started craving meat, chicken.  At the end of the second week, my husband & I ordered takeaway and I had a bite of his pizza – one of my favourite – and spat it out immediately.  It tasted so artificial….it tasted like I was eating cleaning liquid.

I was surprised.  I remembered the pizza tasting delicious in my pre-vegan days.  Could it be that going vegan has awakened my taste buds somehow?  In any case, that was it, I lost my pizza cravings.

So now I find myself going into my 3rd week of being vegan and it is getting easier.  Although, I have to tell you, it’s no walk in the park being a dairy intolerant, gluten intolerant vegan…….my food options are somewhat limited.

The benefits make it all worth it, though.  My skin is clearing up……my tummy is getting flatter…….i feel less bloated….and I have bags of energy.

Being vegan ROCKS!!!