Beyond The Body (My Journey of a Plant-Based Diet)
This is a longer article from the archives of my computer files. It touches on some things I have talked about in previous posts and articles, such as the catalyst for my vegan journey and the relationship between creativity and a plant based diet, but also some new things that I haven’t previously written about before but have featured in talks and and interviews I have had with some of the people featured.
I have been plant-based since late 2011 and this story documents so much of that journey, and why for me it’s always been about so much more than the food on my plate.
I wasn’t sure what photo to use to accompany this piece… but as the ‘gateway ‘ was a Nakd bar, I thought I share one of the first recipes I ever made for my blog. My family call these ‘smoosh bars’ although now I more commonly roll the mix into balls and refer to them as bliss balls… if you have been following me on social media for a while you’ll know I still make them regularly (usually weekly!) to this very day.
Read the original post with recipe (note I have since simplified the recipe, scroll down for more bliss ball/bar recipe ideas)
I want to tell you a little story.
A moment in time, that became the gateway to my plant-based vegan journey. A moment that became my gateway to understanding that a vegan diet was not just 'kale and cucumber'
In 2010 my life was incredibly ordinary. Everything was very mediocre. Not bad, but really not great either. Towards the end of that year I met a guy, a vegan guy.
One weekend on our third date, we went for a walk around a park which led into the town centre where the office building of the company he owned was based. We had grabbed some lunch from the supermarket and were debating where to sit and eat it. He asked if I'd like to come up and see his office as it was on the 12th floor of the building and had a great view over the town. It would be empty and we could sit and eat lunch there.
He was right, the view was amazing.
He took a ‘Nakd bar’ (equivalent to Larabar in the US) out of his carrier bag and I looked over curiously, since I had already finished all my food! Breaking it in half he held out his hand, with a bemused and slightly quizzical look on his face.
"It’s just dates, nuts and cocoa all smooshed up together…it tastes exactly like chocolate”, he told me.
"Yeah right" I smiled back.
But I very was curious, and to be honest didn’t want to offend since it was only the third date and all! So I took it.
Mind blown. It DID taste exactly like chocolate!
In that precise moment in time, as I sat on a chair on the 12th floor of an empty office block with a guy I barely knew… my entire life changed. In that precise moment I realised that a vegan diet was indeed about more than just kale and cucumber... I was holding the proof in my hand!
I still vividly remember thinking, 'maybe this guy is not so crazy after all!'
At that time veganism was not at all mainstream (I’d even had to ask him to explain to me exactly what it meant!) Vegan food options were not widely available and Nakd bars were pretty much the only type of vegan treat you could buy, and only typically available in health food shops. Plus they were very expensive!
From that moment forward my curiosity got the better of me.
I made vegan cakes and cookies that he could eat at every given opportunity. I went and bought a £20 food processor on Amazon so I could make my own chocolate ‘smoosh bars’. It wasn’t until about nine months later than my ‘Including Cake’ recipe blog was born, by which time I was now totally immersed, following a 99% healthy, wholefood plant-based diet myself and seeing so many shifts in all areas of my life- physically, mentally and spiritually.
In conversations with others, I often refer to myself as an 'accidental vegan', since it had never even been on my radar. Life simply presented me with a guy, who happened to offer me a piece of chocolate Nakd bar one day and in doing so turned my world around,
Over the last ten years since that moment (as of 2021), I have grown and evolved so deeply and I attribute so much of this to shifting to a plant-based wholefood diet.
I often talk about nutrition being the gateway to our optimal self, because it literally creates the foundation for the journey, it provides us with the building blocks at a cellular level.
Of course I appreciate there are many of interpretations of a ‘healthy diet’ but my focus here is specifically my experience of the benefits of a plant-based diet and not only my experiences, but those of so many clients, colleagues and friends around the world who have shared with me their incredible shifts too.
Let’s first consider some of the fundamental benefits of a plant-based diet in relation to our physical wellbeing.
In removing the animal products we create a more alkaline environment, which is often referred to as the ‘healing diet’. One of the things I personally noticed almost immediately when I’d made the shift was that the speed of muscle recovery after heavy gym training was significantly improved, there was less inflammation in my body and so less muscle soreness.
Reduction in inflammation across the body, enables the muscles to work more efficiently with less energy expenditure- giving us more energy to use elsewhere.
That is also referred to as ‘high net gain nutrition’, where we are spending a small amount of digestive energy for a big nutritional return.
We are in the age of discoveries, yet so many people still suffer an energy crisis - they are constantly fatigued, susceptible to tension and anxiety, disease and depression. People seem to vary between complete disregard for what they eat and a fanatical obsession with proteins, vitamins, minerals and calories. As a society we have disregarded going back to basics. Back to abundant plant-based wholefoods.
We don’t even have to eat a lot of food to be well nourished, in fact it’s the nutritional density that matters, that is the ratio between the amount of calories in a given food to it’s nutritional value- vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants. Brightly and intensely coloured fruits and veg are highest in antioxidants. We want to consume as much of each nutrient relative to the amount of calories. If we base our diets on the nutrient dense plant-based wholefoods, we’ll be sure of getting the highest level of nutrition in.
Another noticeable sign very early on in my transition, was my increased energy and reduced need for sleep. I’d literally be bouncing out of bed early in the morning, something that had never happened before! When we eat alkaline foods overall nutritional stress goes down which also reduces the levels of cortisol- the stress hormone, enabling higher quality sleep.
It was experiencing positive physical changes like this, that gave me huge motivation to continue the exploration.
Shifting across to a mind-body viewpoint, a wholefood plant-based diet, by its very nature means that we are eating closer to the Source. The more refined and processed the foods we eat, the more we are travelling away from the original source, and so arguably the energy from the ‘life source’ is reduced. This effect is even more dramatically enhanced when we shift to a more ‘raw vegan’ diet also known as a ‘high vibrational’ or ‘living food’ diet.
A high vibrational diet is described as a diet consists of foods that are ‘alive’ and that positively benefit the person, as well as the planet as a whole. High vibration means having more light, and thus less density. Plants exemplify this by photosynthesizing light into energy.
Spiritual nutrition also ties in with the idea of eating closer to source. Originating in Buddhist and Hindu communities is the idea of ’Ahimsa’, where the wellbeing of everything that is related to the food itself is considered. It is though that a more plant-based diet offers access to the higher self. Mahatma Gandhi was a great exponent of ahimsa, saying, “The way to truth lies through ahimsa.”
Recently, I spent some time living with a number of different spiritual communities around the world, all of which followed a plant-based vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. It was fascinating to observe the ways in which their diet and lifestyle was so interconnected.
In speaking with a resident at one of the centres I stayed at, he talked of a deep sense of wellbeing and a knowledge that “Every day I am living and eating with a purpose that extends beyond myself.” I found myself nodding and realising that for me too, there is so much truth in that statement.
Prior to switching to a plant-based wholefood diet, I had not considered myself a particularly spiritual person, yet now these were the people I was drawn to and most resonated with. I also found that the ethical side and ‘wider view’ of a vegan lifestyle was slowly beginning to catch up with me, and link arms with the nutritional standpoint that had first caught my attention and lead me down the road in the beginning.
As my fascination with a plant based-diet grew, I found myself more and more drawn into conversations with others who had found themselves on a similar path, often triggered by very different start points.
I began a series of interviews as a platform for sharing the stories of those who have created powerful transformation in their lives through plant-based nutrition as the gateway to change. Nutrition is a powerful catalyst... but, as I soon discovered, it is just the beginning. It creates a threshold to allow you to step more powerfully into your own story of wellness in ways you would never have thought possible.
The first person I interviewed was a guy I met whilst in Portugal. He’d turned his entire life on it’s head, leaving the UK and his successful building company to set up an off-grid community and retreat centre in the Portuguese mountains.
I was fascinated as to what triggered this. He told me that it was through years of battling debilitating Crohn’s disease that at times almost killed him and according to the medical profession was ‘incurable’, but was then totally cured by switching to a plant-based whole food diet as a last resort. What began as a ‘30-day plant-based challenge’ following advice from a trusted friend turned into his life’s purpose.
What is fascinating is that he also realised that after about six months of being fully plant-based, the asthma that had plagued him his entire life, with attacks often landing him in hospital, had totally disappeared.
He told me; “My whole life has done 180 degree shift, most of my friends back home don’t know me any more. I am a better version of myself. After the initial 30-days I wanted more, what else could I do? The next thing was yoga and meditation, what could I do with my body and mind. I had been a typical gym lad, wanting to build big bulky muscle, and so yoga could not have been a bigger shift for me. I began questioning everything else in my life. I went with what felt right for me in my heart”.
Whilst the stories of those I interviewed could not have been more different, there were some fascinating patterns that quickly began to emerge.
Another lady, now the creator of a healthy food and lifestyle magazine, told me; “You start on the journey with what you’re eating but then your mind opens up and you find your intuition becomes more empowered as your nutrition improves.”
Another interview alludes to this same sense of mind-body shift;
“Two weeks after going vegan the eczema that had plagued me for years just disappeared. The fact that I saw the physical benefit straightaway gave me the motivation to continue. After a few months had past I noticed I had not had a single depressive episode or self harmed. I would say that through a vegan diet I am completely cured of depression. I feel content and grounded in myself.”
In all my conversations, the sense of ‘expansion’ was very apparent and also very much part of my own story.
Once we stop and question something so integral such as diet, something that is so deeply conditioned to be perceived a certain way in our society, and we realise there are other solutions… it creates a cascade of questioning. The better we feel the more we question and the more in tune we become with our inner knowing.
Very soon another question began to rise within me.
Does a plant-based diet increase your innate creativity?
This had been something I had been feeling for some time. When I made the shift to a plant-based wholefood diet, my own creativity skyrocketed. I had always been a creative person in the traditional ‘arty’ sense, but now coupled with the questioning mentality, my creativity and curiosity knew no bounds.
I also had a sense that creativity and a sense of wellbeing were inextricably and powerfully linked. Indeed, a quick search on-line brings up numerous articles and research literature on how being more creative improves our mental and physical health. This deeper approach to well-being is often described as "eudaimonic well-being" and focuses on living life in a full and deeply satisfying way.
Creativity is fundamental to the experience of being human.
The deep connection between creativity and meaning was noted long ago by the creativity researcher Frank X. Barron. Through his pioneering research on some of the most creative people of his generation, Barron came to realize that creative people have the remarkable capacity to become intimate with themselves. According to psychologist Ruth Richards, they “dare to look within, even at one’s irrational and less conscious material, including one’s ‘shadow’ materials”. Richards refers to this capacity as “courageous openness".
As Richards puts it, “A creative style of living, coping with difficulties and weaving possibilities, can not only produce useful accomplishments for self and world but can offer the creator new resilience, perspective, aliveness in the moment, joy, and purpose in life.”
In the words of Brene Brown; "Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world." I see creativity as giving yourself permission to see things differently. Tilting your perspective, maybe mere millimeters, to create the world anew and shine a light into previously undiscovered corners.
For me the shift is primarily two-fold;
Once we go against the norms and think outside the box in terms of what we put on our plates, it opens up space to question the world beyond the confines of society’s expectations and gives us courage to step into our authentic truth in so many other ways.
Alongside this, the nourishment for our body through eating closer to source creates a ‘lightness’, an increased energy at a cellular level and something of a spiritual connection within, although I didn’t realise this initially and still find it hard to put into words today.
I decided to reach out to see if others shared my thoughts and feelings around a plant-based diet and innate creativity. I put this question out to various plant-based communities:
“Do you feel as though your creativity, spirituality or personal development has increased significantly since switching to a plant-based vegan diet?”
I received an overwhelming majority of ‘Yes’s to my poll, approx 70%. Some beautiful comments were shared which strongly reinforced for me this powerful dietary link and mindset catalyst.
Here are some of the words that were shared:
“Yes! absolutely it has! I have been vegan just over a year and it has had a positive impact on all areas of my life. I think on a deeper level, I am more connected to the earth and I am more peaceful. I have had more creative ideas and energy to make them a reality.”
“I went vegetarian the beginning of last year and have gone vegan this month, I have to say my creativity has increased! I am drawing and painting again, something I haven't done in a long time. Also in the way I am being creative in my wardrobe and dressing more how I want too!”
“I am much more creative since going vegan. I'm not sure if it has to do with nutrition as much as living a more authentic and value based lifestyle. It has pushed me out of the dissatisfied way I had been living. I'm also more fearless, I try new things all the time. “
“A vegetarian for 30 years, I then embraced a raw vegan lifestyle about 3 years ago which totally changed me. I suddenly felt connected with the earth, with nature, with life in a way I never had before. Alive, creative, excited.... It was transformative! 3 years down the line I don't eat a wholly raw diet any more, I eat a mostly vegan diet (eggs from my pet ducks when they're laying) but with a high proportion of raw because when you eat raw foods you really feel the life-force, the energy, of those foods going into your body and it's wonderful.”
“I can certainly relate to this. I’ve metamorphosed from a bored meal provider into an enthusiastic, energetic and lovable (well my family believe so) server of wholesome foods. One’s creative energies seem to open up in so many areas of one’s life.”
“Yes, not only in cooking but other ways too. I always have been the type to look outside the box anyway, but this perspective on life has changed the way I look at things even more.”
It’s not just feedback on social media that align with this way of thinking. I dug a little deeper and found various articles also alluding to this sense of creativity and connectedness.
Back in 2008 Steve Pavlina wrote a long article focussed on ‘diet and energy’. It document’s the authors thoughts around his shift to a raw vegan diet. He states, the most significant and biggest change was definitely increased creative output.
“I feel more creatively inspired than ever, so I’ve been doing more creative work than I used to, shifting between blogging, speaking, journaling, business planning, concocting raw food dishes, and other outlets. I now feel very uncomfortable if I go more than a couple days without creating new material. It’s like I’m overly aroused with creative energy and feel compelled to express it.”
I was also fascinated by the question he asked in the article; “Are you resisting a more energetic state of being?
“If you improve your diet and then feel much more energetic (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually), how will you channel all that extra energy? Where will you direct it? How will you use it to fuel greater creative output?
I think those questions need to be addressed before you’re ready to make the shift. Otherwise it’s too easy to fall back into your old comfort zone.”
This is fascinating to me, and something I had never before considered in that light. When I work with coaching clients or speak with friends who are struggling with aspects of their nutritional journey, or indeed any aspect of stepping up and changing their life for the better, the idea that clinging to our comfort zone, or as Steve put’s it ‘resisting a more energetic state of being’ begins to make a lot of sense.
Whilst we all, no doubt, want to achieve a state of optimal well-being, we also need to be ready for it. No more hiding behind the stories we tell ourselves that keep us playing small.
I believe there is a powerful truth in the ‘knowing’. That when you know more; when you have experienced it in the heart of your being, then there is no ‘un-knowing’.
Exploring Veganism and a plant-based diet goes beyond the body and expands the mind in so many dimensions, and a mind expanded cannot return to it’s old dimensions.
NOTE: This story was first published in 2017 in Athena Publishing: Your Well-Being. A book that showcases wellness, nutrition, alternative medicine and natural health therapies that improve the quality of life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
I have launched a podcast! (*incredibly exciting & scary*)
This podcast began as a series of raw unfiltered and totally unedited 'brains dumps' recorded as simple voice notes on my phone as an outlet for processing my own thoughts on what it means to dig beneath the surface and live life on my own terms.
Slowly I began to share these vulnerable words with clients and followers who resonated with the messages within, then when I began creating conversations with others as research for a book the energy changed gear but the overall message remained - In order to reach the magic in our lives we need to be willing to embrace the messy along the way!
Now I'm ready to share it all with you too. I'm Jo Hodson and I invite you to jump on board and embrace the #messymagic Connect with me at iamjohodson.com
I’ve launched a podcast!
Welcome to “The Magic In The Messy”
Full disclosure, when I first started to use the word ‘podcast’ (rather than just ‘audio recordings ‘ as I had previously called them as it seemed more casual), I felt like a fraud!
I saw people who had their own podcast shows as people who ‘had their shit together’, who knew the ‘proper’ technicalities and best practices and that I was just bodging it together, googling ‘how to…’ every other second, stumbling over my introductions (I will improve!), cringing at my own voice, and quite simply just making it up as I went along.
I couldn’t even think of a good name. I had a long running list in the notes on my phone but nothing ever seemed to fit. It was the perfect excuse not to take action, so the idea simply continued to sit there as a ‘one day’ project…
I’d also told myself time and time again over the last couple of years that I am a writer not a podcaster, since I’ve been blogging since 2011 and having had various articles published that feels pretty legit to me… but to share my voice, to be a ‘podcaster’ well, that kicked up all kinds of dialogue off in my head. Holding me back and keeping me small for too long.
But that’s the truth of it. It is only dialogue, (boring) stories I am telling myself to prevent me from sharing my voice in a way that feels meaningful to me, and in doing so may just reach someone in a way my writing won’t.
At the start of this year I set my intention to ‘share my voice beyond my platform’. My original intention had been to explore more speaking opportunities, more interviews with others and writing for other publications and platforms beyond my own blog (all still true- so if you are reading this and have a platform hot me up!)
But what equally came through - as a shout by now, no longer a whisper - was the desire to share my private audio recordings. My raw. vulnerable, unedited thoughts that I have been capturing on my phone for at least 18 months but had never officially shared with the world in a big way.
That coupled with a renewed drive to write my book (on the topic of permission and creativity), and the interviews I am hosting on that theme all made so much sense to package into a podcast.
It felt hugely scary and exciting as I finally got out of my own way…
Within three weeks I thought of a name, designed all the artwork, I book a decent mic (though the nature of many of my notes are that they are recorded raw in the moment on my phone), I painstakingly taught myself the technicalities of how to create a podcast, I interviewed my first guests, packaged it all together, submitted my feed to all the major podcast platforms, got approved and so now…
I still cant quite believe I’m saying it but I’m officially launching a podcast, full of raw vulnerable thoughts and conversations!
In this moment, I have no idea where it will lead me, or how it will evolve, but I am excited to find out and to be sharing this journey with you… beyond words on a page!
For the official launch, so that you have plenty of content to get stuck into and explore, I have published five episodes ready to go. They have their own separate pages with show notes linked below, but you can also listen to them all directly via your favourite podcast platform. Enjoy!
Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher
NOTE: The episode list shows the most recent first, so scroll down to listen to first one!
Why “The Magic In The Messy”?
This podcast began life as a series of raw unfiltered and totally unedited 'brains dumps' recorded as simple voice notes on my phone as an outlet for processing my own thoughts on what it means to dig beneath the surface and live life on my own terms.
The lesson that I was bumping up against time and time again, in my own life but also in conversation with others is that, in order to reach the magic in our lives we need to be willing to embrace the messy along the way!
It’s been a huge process of surrender for me. Of leaning in and trusting the process. Now I'm finally ready to share it all with you too.
I'm Jo Hodson and I invite you to jump on board, subscribe, and embrace the #messymagic
Ep. 1 The Magic In The Messy Podcast
This podcast began as a series of raw unfiltered and totally unedited 'brains dumps' recorded as simple voice notes on my phone as an outlet for processing my own thoughts on what it means to dig beneath the surface and live life on my own terms.
Slowly I began to share these vulnerable words with clients and followers who resonated with the messages within, then when I began creating conversations with others as research for a book the energy changed gear but the overall message remained - In order to reach the magic in our lives we need to be willing to embrace the messy along the way!
Now I'm ready to share it all with you too. I'm Jo Hodson and I invite you to jump on board and embrace the #messymagic Connect with me at iamjohodson.com
So, I’m launching a podcast!
Full disclosure, when I first started to use that word (rather than just audio recordings as I had previously called them) I felt like a fraud!
I saw people who had their own podcasts as people who ‘had their shit together’, who knew the ‘proper’ technicalities and best practices and that I was just making it up as I went along.
I told myself time and time again over the last couple of years that I am a writer not a podcaster, having been blogging since 2011 and having had various articles published that feels legit to me… but to share my voice, to be a ‘podcaster’ that kicked up all kinds of dialogue in my head. Holding me back and keeping me small for too long.
But that’s the truth of it. It is only dialogue, (boring) stories I am telling myself.
So to give myself a quick reality check to fend off the fear, I googled ‘definition of a podcast’
“A digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer”
It’s that simple AND that is exactly what I am doing…. I realise everything else was self judgement and expectations I’d created.
So, I’m launching a podcast full of raw vulnerable thoughts and conversations! (and i’ll be blogging them too).
I have no idea where this will lead me, or how it will evolve, but I am excited to find out and to be sharing this journey with you… beyond words on a page!
You can listen to my intro episode below or via your favourite podcast platform…
Welcome to The Magic In The Messy!
This podcast began as a series of raw unfiltered and totally unedited 'brains dumps' recorded as simple voice notes on my phone as an outlet for processing my own thoughts on what it means to dig beneath the surface and live life on my own terms.
Slowly I began to share these vulnerable words with clients and followers who resonated with the messages within, then when I began creating conversations with others as research for a book the energy changed gear but the overall message remained - In order to reach the magic in our lives we need to be willing to embrace the messy along the way!
Now I'm ready to share it all with you too. I'm Jo Hodson and I invite you to jump on board and embrace the #messymagic
If my words resonate with you, I would love you to subscribe to your favourite channels below and please do chime in with your thoughts and comments… let’s keep this conversation going!
Funny story side note…
When I decided I was going to finally put a podcast out there in the world. I chatted to a couple of good friends who I look up to in the world of podcast (Nathan Seaward and Henry Johnstone, I’m looking at you) for advice - where to start, how to approach it, the best kit and platforms etc.
I bought a good microphone set up my space and got going.
I had already recorded a number of interviews as well as the necessary additional parts to piece the intro/outro together ready to launch whilst away for three weeks in Spain on a working holiday.
I create the files, wrote up the accompanying blog posts, uploaded the audio…. and then realised I hadn’t recorded an intro episode. It felt important for me to share the ‘why’ behind the podcast before anything else.
But now here I was in Spain, in the middle of the countryside, with just my basic apple earbud headphones and integral mic.
So much for ‘being a professional’…
I lay meditating in the sunshine for an hour, allowing the words to land in my mind, wondering what to do, then I grabbed my phone and my headphones, hit ‘record’ on the voice notes app and just let the words flow.
This introductory episode is the direct result of that moment. It was a beautiful reminder for just how simple this process can be.
You don’t need fancy kit (although it sometimes helps), you don’t need lots of technical knowledge (just enough to start), you don’t need to plan and script what to say (you just need to tune in to your ‘why’ and trust the process).
So I set the precedent for how I mean to go on. The dance of the messy and the magical.
Enjoy!
My 'gateway' to veganism
I want to tell you a story.
A moment in time that became the gateway to my vegan journey.
Last night I gave a public talk around the topic I am most passionate about... "nutrition is the gateway to your optimal self”.
Towards the end of the talk I held up this Nakd bar, and mentioned that it became my gateway to understanding that a vegan diet was not just 'kale and cucumber', before then going on to give a 'bliss ball' demo!
Later, as I was driving home and reflecting on and processing the evenings events, I realised that comment held so much more gravity then I’d ever given credit, than I had ever previously acknowledged before in my life.
So, I'm going to tell you a little story...
Grab a mug of tea and get comfy, or maybe bookmark this for later when you have a clear ten minutes for yourself.
In 2010 my life was incredibly ordinary. Everything was very mediocre. Not bad, but really not great either. Towards the end of that year I met a guy, a vegan guy. Those of you familiar with my recipe blog posts from the very beginning may remember this guy often fondly referred to as 'the boy’.
One weekend on our third date, we went for a walk around a park which led into the town centre where his office building was based (he owned a graphic design company). We had grabbed some lunch from Marks & Spencer’s and were debating where to sit and eat it. He asked if I'd like to come up and see his office as it was on the 12th floor of the building and had a great view over the town. We could sit and eat lunch there.
He was right, the view was amazing, as were the wonderful fluttery feelings I was getting in my tummy.
He took the Nakd bar out of his carrier bag and I looked over curiously, since I had already finished all my food! Breaking it in half he held out his hand, with a bemused and slightly quizzical look on his face.
"It’s just dates and nuts and cocoa all smooshed up together…it tastes exactly like chocolate-orange”, he told me.
"Yeah right" I smiled back.
But I very was curious, and to be honest didn’t want to offend since it was only the third date and all! So I took it.
Mind blown. It DID taste exactly like chocolate orange!
In that precise moment in time, as I sat on a chair on the 12th floor of an empty office block with a guy I barely knew… my entire changed. In that precise moment I realised that a vegan diet was indeed about more than just kale and cucumber... I was holding the proof in my hand!
I still vividly remember thinking, 'maybe this guy is not so crazy after all!'
At that time veganism was not at all mainstream (I’d even had to ask him to explain to me exactly what it meant!) Vegan food options were not widely available and Nakd bars were pretty much the only type of vegan treat you could buy, and only typically available in health food shops. Plus they were very expensive!
From that moment forward my curiosity got the better of me. I made vegan cakes and cookies that he could eat at every given opportunity. I went and bought a £20 food processor on Amazon so I could make my own chocolate ‘smoosh bars’. It wasn’t until about nine months later than my ‘Including Cake’ recipe blog was born, by which time I was now in the thick of it, following a 99% vegan diet myself and seeing so many shifts in all areas of my life.
In conversations with others, I often refer to myself as an 'accidental vegan', since it had never even been on my radar.
Life simply presented me with a guy who turned my world around, who happened to hand me a piece of chocolate orange Nakd bar one day.
A memory I will cherish forever, as it was the gateway that set in motion literally everything that I am today.
He lit the light within me to ‘always be curious’. It is now my deepest passion, and I urge you to get curious about everything in your life, especially the small things so often cast aside… they often have the greatest potential for change.
Loving you all.
