A vegan junk food addict

Oh dear, it has happened – I am a self-confessed vegan junk food addict!

Having struggled with my weight all my adult life and always turning to food as a form of comfort and stress-release, my biggest challenge when I turned vegan last year (along with Ruff our dog); was what would I binge on at times when I so badly needed that chocolate, or cheesy snack, or fat-laden pastry? Thankfully with Veganuary in full swing at the start of 2020, so many new companies make the most delicious alternatives.

Vegan food from Aldi with vegan Magnums!

Vegan vet and family before local park run – note my generous tummy!

I went cold-turkey as a vegan having just been vegetarian for a year as a vet student in the 90’s (after our vet trip to the local abbatoir), but chronic anaemia all my adult life made me ignore any plant-based options. Ruff and I coped fine going cold turkey from one day to the next – I began with home-cooked food for him so he thought every meal was christmas (and still does) as he had been fed dry dog biscuits before then!

I started off choosing very healthy options, but my desire to throw myself into a stress-fuelled binge as the stresses of everyday life caught up with me (and the stresses of worrying about the future health of our planet), has made me turn to vegan junk food as my stress-release!

The healthiest food that is now cooked in our kitchen is Ruff’s dinner and I say that with complete honesty as the protein packs contain non-GMO polenta, organic chickpea flour, ground almonds (that we have occasionally in certain dishes as it is so pricey); and marine phytoplankton that I stopped buying for my daughter and I as the capsules were so expensive!!!

The same goes for his private healthcare – have I insured our children privately – no, I have never even considered it!! We are all the same as pet owners – our pets definitely come first:)