I’d like to introduce you all to Dee, she’s an inspiration. I’ve been helping her with her eating and she’s been lovely enough to share her journey with you all. Please take a moment to read it.
“I’m a bit of a blogger on the quiet, so I was dead chuffed to be asked to write a guest post for DietitianUK.
As a 33 year old, relatively fit and healthy, employed, mother of two, you would be forgiven for wondering why I wanted/needed the professional support of a dietitian.
This process started as a bit of office banter. I am the Corporate and Community Fundraiser for Hampshire homelessness charity, the Society of St James. 2012 is the 40th anniversary year of the Society, and we thought that was worth marking in the fundraising department. We proposed that individuals might like to undertake sponsored challenges based around the number 40, which so happens to be the number of days in lent when you take out the Sundays.
That’s where my challenge comes in. I always undertake some form of lent challenge with a view to a life change thereafter, so it tends to be something I have been wanting to address like my shopping habits. On this occasion though, it’s been somewhat more dramatic. My boss challenged me to go vegan for lent.
46 days of veganism is what My VeganLent is, raising money to support Hampshire’s homeless and most vulnerable people (through the work of SSJ) is why I am doing it.
I have a history of depression, and I felt that a radical diet change could potentially affect both my physical and mental health so I made an appointment to see DietitianUK – Priya. We started the planning and preparation process in January, with a follow up consultation in early February and ongoing contact and support via email throughout.
I am only one week and one day into being a vegan, and I can’t honestly say how easy/hard it is yet. I have started to really miss cheese, and cake (which makes it sound like I eat those things all the time – I don’t) but I feel that it’s going well at the moment.
Embarking on this challenge with the support of a dietitian has meant that I am making informed choices over what I consume and how best to make up the potential deficits in my nutrition.
What has surprised me more is the problems and dysfunctions I had/have with food. Rather than focusing on what I can or can’t eat for this period, we (that is me working with Priya) have started the process of addressing some of those dysfunctions.
I respond well to challenges, so for January my challenge was to eat breakfast. That’s it. One challenge, no more no less, just eat breakfast. It’s now 29th February and I am STILL eating breakfast almost daily. February’s challenge was to increase (by one item) and vary lunches. Again, one step at a time, but if you look over on my own blog you”ll see that My Vegan Lent is shaping up well because I am eating a varied, balanced diet.”
I respond well to challenges, so for January my challenge was to eat breakfast. That’s it. One challenge, no more no less, just eat breakfast. It’s now 29th February and I am STILL eating breakfast almost daily. February’s challenge was to increase (by one item) and vary lunches. Again, one step at a time, but if you look over on my own blog you”ll see that My Vegan Lent is shaping up well because I am eating a varied, balanced diet.”
