How I got here...

Over the past few years, my body has gone to pot!  By that I mean I've got lethargic, overweight and have been suffering with alsorts of ailments from suspected fibromyalgia to sciatica to lower back pain to gallstone pain.  Big yawn.  My friends and I always laugh that we used to be fun, we used to stay out all night and now all we talk about is how generally crap we feel and if we're still up at midnight, it's a good night!

Last Summer, I moved back to Wiltshire where I lived until I was in my 20s, where my family are nearer and where I can live in a 2 bed house with a garden for the same price as a basement flat in Hove.  As I unpacked my things, I put 2 big bags of vintage clothes in the cupboard - vintage clothes that I can no longer fit into.  What a depressing sight.

The gallstone pain got more frequent and severe.  If you've experienced it, you'll know it's the worst pain ever and you wonder if you're going to die.  I realised that I probably brought this on myself...by eating rubbish for years....literally.  My kitchen was tiny so I had no inclination to cook (and I really enjoy cooking), I was on a budget and it seemed so much easier to buy a bag of cookies from the Co-op than make a healthy meal.  Boy in a Suit would come round for dinner and we feasted on takeaways, tubs of ice-cream and all that (not so) good stuff. So that's how it happened and then I realised I needed to get better. Friends were sharing vegan recipes on Facebook, and my love of animals and their welfare kicked in even more - when you're in the country and see them in the fields with their offspring, it really does make you think - and here we are.

Since October, I've been vegan and it's changed me and my body.  I've lost 16lb, I sleep better, I've had less gallstone attacks than before (although I do still occasionally get them) and feel more me again.  I've started cooking again and am loving it.  My new big kitchen means I can make things again and long may it continue.

Apologies for the opening ramble.  I'll be posting up photos of things I've made, things I've discovered and all that jazz.  You'll either love it or you'll hate it - I know how some of you don't or can't understand the vegan thing.  Someone inspired me - maybe I'll inspire the odd person in return.

Oh, and I enter competitions - lots of competitions - every day.  I'll be posting up photos of anything I might be lucky enough to win - just to keep me motivated.

Thanks for reading....