Posted on August 26, 2012 by Jenny Cromack

Being Vegan is still a bit of a mystery to some people, with many people believing that you can’t lead a healthy diet and get enough protein especially for those Vegans who train on a regular basis.  Here is a blog from Motive8 North’s very own Kate Halsall about her experience of being a Vegan…

I’ve written and rewritten this piece a number of times. It’s hard to write about being Vegan and Vegan food without becoming a bit “ranty“. I don’t mean in the sense of telling everyone that they should be following a Vegan diet, but in terms of reflecting on the bad experiences of being Vegan before I get to the good side of it – and there are good sides to it!!

 

So let me open up by introducing myself. I turned Vegan when I was 17/18, to a despairing outcry from my sixth form teachers about how it would impact my A Level results (really), and a very direct and deliberate “you’ll have to cater for yourself, we’re not buying you anything special” from my family (who still struggle with the concept of different serving instruments for meat and non-meat stuff, bless them). Now I’m not going to go into details regarding the rationale for making this dietary transition in the blog, and if you’re dying to ask – no I don’t miss bacon (the smell of melted cheese still makes me hungry though), but if you ever want to know more, I’m happy to share!  

But already consider what I’ve just told you and what you’re thinking and reading right now. This is a blog about a Vegan diet. A couple of years ago, if I told you I was a Vegan, you’d have asked me what that was and then braced yourself in case I was going to preach to you about why you shouldn‘t eat meat or drink dairy (which, can I add here, I‘ve never ever done to anyone). But it shows how times have changed. These days most people have heard of “Vegan” and equate it to a strict form of Vegetarian (rather than a character off Star Trek – yes, I still get the jokers who think that‘s hilarious). Some restaurants have Vegetarian and Vegan choices on their menus, and some supermarkets even distinguish which of their – dare I say it – pre-packed and processed food (sorry Jenny) are Vegan.  So whilst I still get the stares and questioning looks (I don’t fulfil the stereotype; I’m naturally pale but have colour, I have loads of energy, and I’m a happy curvy size 10/12),  nowadays  I get a “wow, that’s no meat, fish or dairy isn’t it, that must be hard, what do you eat”.

 

I have to be open and honest here – it’s the direct and straight to the point kind of person I am – I LOVE FOOD. I would even go so far to say that these days I’m a bit of a food snob! And now you’re all questioning how that is possible when surely my diet is so limited with me being Vegan – keep reading! I love eating out, I love cooking and I love the experience of tasting good food. So then here comes another shocker – until I entered the fitness industry from a professional stance rather than as a participant; I was an unhealthy Vegan. I carb and fat loaded like you wouldn’t believe – crisps, chips, bread, vegetable samosas, more bread, a whole lot of pasta, takeaways, deep fried badness – the works (sorry again Jenny). 

It’s only when people in the industry would ask me those (still) annoying questions such as “where do you get your protein from” that it actually occurred to me that a diet of Salad and Chips wasn’t really giving me everything I needed, even if I did like them.

 

And that’s the thing – it’s not hard to be Vegan, but it is easy to be an unhealthy one! You just need to be organized and prepared. Most importantly, you have to have that balanced diet. You need to know where you’re getting your protein, your essential oils, and your vitamins from. In theory it’s easy when you‘re catering for yourself – as much fresh fruit and veg as possible and loads and loads of pulses!  But you have to be aware of the quick foods – the stuff you grab for a snack or after training….whether you want to admit it or not, unless you are going to eat fresh and make or cook everything from scratch (which of course being a fitness professional I do) you cannot get away from some processed sources of Vegan food – specifically on the protein side of things. Falafel, Hummus, Soya Milk, Tofu, Non-Dairy Yogurts, Vegan Cheese (yes there is some that doesn’t taste like plastic out there), Mixed Bean Pate – the majority are processed, but not all necessarily too bad for you. It’s great that supermarkets are finally labeling some products as Vegan, it certainly helps my friends to cater for me when I’m going to their house for food! But be prepared, even little occasional treats with the Vegan sign, could contain something not suitable. Lactose and whey powder seem to sneak their way into everything! I even found some cheese powder in a tin of baked beans once (not to mention that twiglets used to contain this also). And you can’t simply stick with brands that we know, oh no, make sure you always check them, ingredients change as often as a food label changes colour. Green and Blacks dark chocolate, one minute was fine, then it contained buttermilk and then it was fine….I’m still skeptical so I stay away from it.

Then consider eating out. I cannot even begin to quantify how disappointed I am when I go to a restaurant to be asked “what would I like to eat” or worse, to be presented a mushroom risotto or stuffed flaming pepper. Even some restaurants, who claim to be able to cater for a “vegan”, still can’t resist smothering everything in butter. Then of course there is event catering – meetings, seminars, special birthdays, weddings – which present salad, stuffed something, bread and some fruit as the vegan options. Of course I’m generalizing here; this is not always my experience, and the food has been amazing when it‘s not! But seriously, a qualified chef should be able to cater for ALL diets (and have more in their culinary repertoire than a risotto or stuffed vegetables), especially in an age of so many food intolerances, faddy diets, different cultures and so on.  

Of course there are vegetarian and vegan restaurants, and please don’t think I’m slating them all when I say that I have generally found that unless they are either catering for specific food types eg Curry, Famous in some way or Michelin star restaurants, you are usually (not always) paying for something that you could cook yourself, and the décor predominantly lives up to the “hippy stereotype” which I would love to remove from any “specialist” diet. Don’t get me wrong, this comes back to that food snob statement of mine and if you’re happy to pay for that kind of thing then great, but it’s not for me. If anyone can recommend any places other than Hansas in Leeds,  Millennium in San Francisco (which just blew my mind) or Terre Terre in Brighton (which even nearly converted some meat eaters I was with), please let me know, I’d love to be taught a valuable lesson – and of course eat some good food ;0)

 

I tend to stick with what I know when I go out. Asian food places are superb and generally have healthy options on the menu. So Japanese, Thai, Chinese (proper Chinese), Vietnamese – brilliant. There are more and more “English” places catering for Vegans. In Leeds I cannot fault The Reliance and 4^th Floor Café in Harvey Nichols. But then there is also Mexican – loads of beans, burritos and fajitas not just tacos and nachos; Greek or Mediterranean restaurants with their Mezes, and some Italian restaurants purposely have non-egg pasta. We are also seeing more restaurants (mainly the chain types) releasing information regarding the ingredients they use – which is actually very useful (Pizza Express is one such chain). So now ask me what I eat!! 

Yes, friends still hesitate before we go out. It has its advantages, as I often get to pick where we go (ha ha); but it does mean that people are still apprehensive to go to “normal” places with a Vegan. Honestly, if I don’t ring the restaurant beforehand, I make do – I pick bits off the menu and get them combined on a plate! Yes eating abroad is another story completely – specifically any country where all you know is how to say hello, please and thank you. But what isn’t without its challenges! Hungry yet?