Feelin' Vegan- Day one.

Before I launch into more self indulgent foodie tales there's an article by Louise France in The Times Online about Gary Dakin, and an accompanying video.

Gary Dakin is the man who has transformed the world of plus size modelling- now worth over $5 million, they're pulling punches that waiflike models can't withstand. The girls are healthy, happy, and while Dakin himself admits that maybe they could exercise more, the message he sends out to his girls is one of reaffirmation and positivity- here gaining a pound isn't a cause for wringing of hands and teary eyed trips to the gym, but a cause for celebration.

Another beautiful celebration of form is The Adipositivity Project (NSFW). These photos of naked, voluptuous women in all their natural, god-given glory is a repository of beautiful images- the focus isn't on folds, fat, or flaws, but on the subtle play of light and texture, on the natural lines and curves, and promotes positive body image in a thoughtful, artistic manner. As it says itself: "The Adipositivity Project: Changing attitudes about the aesthetic validity of big women, one fat fanny at a time."

It's something of an odd contrast to jump from writing about positive body imagery to carefully cataloguing what I ate yesterday but que sera sera, I suppose. The vegan diet's going pretty well it has to be said (I'm aware I'm only on day two).

For breakfast yesterday I had brown bread and orange juice. I didn't get a photo but I think you can probably use your imagination as to what they looked like.

I'm a grazer so around eleven it was tea time. I opted for black coffee instead, leaving out the milk. While we were in the shop it occurred to me how limited vegans are in their choices- lots of sweets contain gelatin or bees' wax as a glazing agent. I'm not going to pull the drama card and say that modern retail outlets are ghettoising vegans but I can see how it's harder to make ethical food choices, and how more than a little bit of ingredient reading could be involved. Instead I opted for mini rice cakes with a chocolate covering, thinking to myself, great! I can pick away at these all week! However, about three minutes later, as I bit into one it occurred to me that there's milk in chocolate (doy) and ended up spitting it, rather unceremoniously, into a bin.

A little disheartened I was eager to get to lunch- my tummy was grumbling and the limitations of my new diet were dawning on me.

Myself and the boy travelled along to Govinda's, a vegetarian diner for lunch. I had a bit of a fright mid morning when I was informed it had been closed down because as a brand new vegan my knowledge extends as far as Cornucopia and the salad bar in Dunnes. A friend told me it was because they had been using raw milk apparently, but it's an essential ingredient in one of their products and lo and behold, it was open when we arrived.

Govinda's is great. You can go in and say "bitta everything please!" Today I had to be a little more careful with my choices though- all of the food is vegetarian, but not necessarily vegan. I was a little nervous asking "just for the vegan stuff please" but the girl behind the counter didn't jump up on a box pointing a finger and revealing me for the fake I was. Instead, she gave me what I could eat and asked if I wanted salad as well.

The plates in Govinda's are ridiculous- when I say heaped, I mean heaped.





The boy just ate vegetarian. I was a little saddened- he was able to eat the cheese paneer, which I love (and it's really filling) but i shouldn't have worried, I wasn't able to eat all of what I had anyway.



After that I stayed in college until about half nine when it was closing up, working away. I had felt too full after Govinda's but after an hour or two I started to get hungry again and by seven I was positively ravenous. I had some more coffee and some water, but it was doing nothing to get rid of tummy pangs so when I got home I tucked into some cous cous with jalfrezi and some sliced chives. Lacking in imagination maybe, but spicy, and filling.



I'm sitting here as we speak chewing on some nuts and carrot sticks (I figured out the snacking problem). And I'm proud to say that I stared down a croissant last night and came out the better. Day one over, and day two already going well. I'm off to buy some tofu- have a good day!

(As a sidenote, the boy asked me if I had weighed myself before starting- I hadn't. I weighed myself last night and when I woke up this morning I was five pounds lighter. I'm going to lay some of that blame on the cous cous, but I'm going to take my starting weight as the one I measured this morning and we'll see if I drop any pounds by the end of the week).