**Happy Veganniversary**

Happy Veganniversary to me!! That's right, today is officially my veganniversary. I'm sure to some people it's a pointless day that doesn't mean anything, but to me it marks a completely new chapter of my life filled with compassion, love, good health and great friends. Plus, I'm not married or anything so right now this is the only real anniversary I have to celebrate, so I am taking it.

If I'm completely honest, until about a week ago I was convinced that I had been vegan for five years but as it turns out it's only been four years. My journey to veganism was pretty easy. I stopped eating meat when I was around 12 or 13 years old (fun fact: no one can remember exactly when I gave up meat, just that my mum made my eat the rest of the chicken in our freezer before I could stop eating it),  and I have never drank cow's milk or really eaten eggs. I occasionally ate scrambled eggs and I guess I consumed eggs in cakes, but I've never had a fried/boiled/poached egg. I've also never eaten a steak, a burger, bucket of chicken, or any kind of meat joint. I guess you could say I was always destined to become vegan at some point.

It wasn't until late 2013 that I actually became aware of how terrible the dairy industry is. I always thought that dairy cows were better off because they aren't being slaughtered in the same way that meat cows are, but actually they have a horrific time. Their life revolves around being artificially inseminated over and over again, while their young are taken from them as soon as they're born. I discovered this at the end of 2013, did veganuary in 2014, and I have never looked back.

I still can't quite believe how much veganism has grown in the past few years. The Fish & Chip shop in my hometown of Polmont now has a vegan night (Polmont is a tiny village so this is AMAZING - check it out here), most chain restaurants have vegan options including Pizza Hut which now does vegan cheese, and Ben & Jerry's even brought out some non-dairy ice-cream last year. If you're worried that veganism may be restrictive, then just check out some of the food I ate in the last twelves months.

If you're thinking about transitioning to a lifestyle free of animal products then you can sign up to veganuary here. It's a great way to get a taster of veganism without having to commit to it for life, although I do think once you tried it you'll never look back.