2016 Resolutions + WHY I've decided to go vegan

I'm a person that likes to have goals to focus on, so when January 1st comes around, instead of getting the 'January Blues', I see the start of the year as a 'new beginning' if you will. Fair enough to say that yes, I may or may not stick to these goals (I broke two simultaneously at 2am on January 1st but we wont go into that...), but a goal is a goal to becoming a 'better you'...or at least a more content you.

So. here are my goals/resolutions for 2016:

-Be an active blogger/YouTuber
-Drink at least 1.5L of water per day
-Lose that pesky 15lbs that is just hanging around on my body!
-Maintain a good hair care routine
-Try to battle/diminish my acne once and for all
-Apply for my PGCE course
-Travel/go on at least ONE holiday
-Move BACK out of London
-Eat well, exercise more (even if it is only 10mins a day!)
-Eat gluten free (I'm gluten and wheat intolerant but I still torture myself with products containing said gluten...*sigh*)
-Eat mostly vegan...

...but...why an earth am I going vegan?!

For me there are many reasons why I am going vegan, and cutting out dairy from my diet, from an ethical stance through to health reasons.

1) I'm lactose intolerant
- Now, this is funny. I'm a vegetarian, and have been since lent/end of February 2009. The only dairy products I ate were cheese, eggs, butter/spread on occasions, and sometimes if I'm out and about, products containing dairy such as cheese & onion crisps for instance. Also pizza. YASSS, PIZZA.

Now, that might seem like a lot of dairy, but the only product I'd eat every day is cheese, and only a couple of slices of it too (as of the last couple of years). During my 1st year at uni (2013), I gave up dairy completely for lent (not religious, just for funzies)...never in my life have I felt so deprived of something. It. Was. AWFUL! But I did it regardless. When Lent was over, I went back to eating dairy, but not in a large quantities I did before (by large I mean 1kg of cheese and a tub of Philadelphia a week...minimum...yep). Summer of 2013 came around, and I was determined to get fit and healthy, and realised that I was eating mostly as a vegan, so I went vegan for 6 weeks until it was time for me to go back to uni...where I became 'pescatarian' for a year or so. I realised that my body was not having a pleasant reaction to dairy after the summer, which was only exacerbated by gastroenteritis and other health complications the following winter/spring. So, since 2014 I've had an on/off relationship with dairy, until December 2015 where I would be in absolute dire pain whenever I ate dairy, and practically fine (I say that because I have IBS as well as a gluten intolerance...*SIGH*), when I used dairy alternatives.

2) Not so good for acne sufferers
- If you follow me on Twitter, or you're a good friend of mine, you know how down my acne can make me feel. I've had it since I was about 10/11 (I'm now 21), and I haven't been able to determine the cause of it. Aside from dairy, my diet is alright, I used to exercise a lot as a teen, always cleansed my face, and generally took the appropriate steps to clearing my acne. However, I would always get bad breakouts, which I can handle, it's the years of scarring that follows. I cannot decisively say whether cutting out dairy has helped as I have just had another breakout *cries*, but I didn't have a spot in the first week of cutting dairy out of my diet (which is a record!!), and I have generally been getting less spots since cutting down on my dairy intake last month.

3) It's a by-product of an animal
- I feel like if I stay on this too long, I'll be sick. Milk from cows = milk for baby cow. Cheese - pus cells. Ew. Ew. Ew. It shouldn't be for human consumption...who an earth thought that it was a good idea to milk a cow for our own consumption?! Also, pus cells. EWWWW.

4) Why should the lifespan of an animal, be there purely to serve for our selfish dietary consumption...?
- We don't do it to our beloved household pets. Are they not animals too?

Now, I'm not so articulate on the industry of dairy/meat, nor do I necessarily want to at this point in time (as it quite distressing to hear), but for me, it's high time to say goodbye to dairy. Will I occasionally eat the odd cheese & onion crisps? Maybe. Will I give up honey? Most certainly not! Also, some gluten free products such as bread do contain dried egg whites, so given any particular circumstance that I'm in that will require me to divulge in such products, I might have do so. Hence why I'm 'mostly vegan'.

Five Bean Chili (Vegetarian and Vegan friendly)

Here is a quick, easy and healthy style five bean chili served with rice and quinoa!

Ingredients:

-Mixed Bean Salad

-Chopped Tomatoes (I made mine from scratch which I liked better than regular tinned ones!)

-Rice and Quinoa (I used leftovers)

-Onions

-Garlic (I used garlic paste)

-Herbs and spices (I used: mixed herbs [thyme, coriander, oregano, basil], paprika, cumin, tumeric, chili powder, salt, black pepper)

Method:

-If you do not have pre-cooked rice and quinoa. I recommend 'Tilda's' own brand which I have used in the past, or make your own blend which should take around 20mins to cook.

-In a pan, melt some oil (I use coconut oil), sauté a generous amount of chopped onions and add a dash of salt, black pepper and garlic to the mix.

-After washing and draining them, add the beans to the pan and cook for 5mins.

-If making the chopped tomato sauce  from scratch, blend four medium sized tomatoes with some mixed herbs and salt. Pulse the blender for about ten seconds so the tomatoes are not 'runny'.

-Add the tomato sauce to the pan after the beans have. and reduce the temperature to a low heat so it can simmer. (Add mixed herbs in at this point if using tinned chopped tomatoes)

-Add paprika, cumin, chili powder and tumeric to the mix.

-Serve the chili over the rice and quinoa, and enjoy!

Nutritional Values per serving: 280cals/44g carbs