Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post

Whatever gets you through.

Well, that's that then. A month of trying not to drink and managing to live on plant-based food.

Alcohol-wise I've cracked on four separate occasions. So - not dry at all, but I probably drank within recommended weekly limits for the first time since 2014. My thoughts on recommended limits haven't changed much since then, either.

Basically no doctor is going to recommend anything which potentially does you harm. The blanket, across-the-board nationally-recommended limit of 14 units a week is therefore designed to ensure 5' tall 7 stone women with poor metabolism and below average liver function don't do themselves any damage. The rest of us aren't going to be damaged by a limit like that either, which makes it medically sound.

Now - I think there's probably spare capacity in most peoples' systems to cope with a little more booze than 14 units a week, which is the equivalent of less than a pint of 4.1% beer (eg London Pride) a day.

After doing a fair bit of research into that theory back in 2014, I'm comfortable about living in a world where my total weekly alcohol consumption rises above 14 units a week. That said, alcohol is a highly addictive psychoactive drug, so keeping it out of your bloodstream for any period of time is be good for your health, if a bit boring.

On the vegan front, I'll be honest, I don't have much empathy for animals, companion or livestock, but I think it's pretty obvious there is a degree of cruelty involved in all animal food production. Even if they live happy, free and oblivious lives, gambolling around organic fields of lustrous fresh grass (which you can be almost 100% sure they're not), you're still cutting short their natural lifespan by electrocuting and/or shooting them.

Knowing this won't stop me from eating animal products in future, but it doesn't give me any reason to actively want to increase my intake. When you take into account global sustainability and personal health, you end up with three very strong reasons to eat plant-based food. So I'll do what I can.

I hope you've got something out of this blog and its witterings. Please do read this final post back to me in six months time when I'm scoffing down a doner after a night on the sauce. I'll be delighted.

No vlog today. I'm tired and I've got to monitor what's happening in the Darren Osborne trial.

Tale of the tape and archive below.

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Weight: 11st 2.6lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling, 30 mins walking

Food:

Bran flakes, weetabix and sultanas with oat milk. Tea with oat milk.
Paleo, trek, raw bars. Apple and satsuma.
itsu veggie gyoza udon later, probably. It's lush.

*************************

Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street

McDonalds. No friend of vegans.

I know! They let me in. You can't tell a vegan just by looking at their press pass, oh no. I'm writing this from Downing Street having worked with the pool camera team to catch cabinet arrivals. Now we are waiting in near-zero temperatures for the cabinet departures, which may take up to two hours as there are two consecutive cabinet meetings, political cabinet, and then cabinet proper (which takes place without civil servants). You don't get this kind of amazing insight into the political process in other vegan blogs, do you? No, because if you wanted that sort of thing, you'd be reading a political blog.

So far this morning I have had a couple of Trek bars and a soy americano. Once we were set up this morning, Ian the engineer offered to buy coffees from Downing Street's nearest take out, which, inevitably, is a McDonalds. I asked Ian to get me a soy americano. If there was no soy milk, I'd just have it black. Perhaps unsurprisingly, McDonalds isn't really interested in catering to the needs of vegans, and does not serve americanos with soy milk. The conditions I have to work in, ect ect...

Yesterday's exertions (an early for ITV News followed by a One Show sofa live) meant that despite consuming an entire bag of roasted cashews, I am still losing weight. I am now 11st 3lb which means I have lost 9lb since 2nd Jan. It is really difficult to put this down to either my reduced alcohol consumption, the veganalising or just the fact I have had to be so much more conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth.

It's certainly not down to exercise. Despite doing a lot of walking around London, I've only had time to go to the gym once this month.

I suspect it's a mixture of things. Alcohol in itself is calorific, alcohol also makes me hungry and so when I'm a bit tipsy I like to eat bad things. This month when I've had a drink (a bad thing in itself during a self-imposed Dry January) I've not eaten any bad things.

Also, vegan food fills you up. There's only so much veg you can eat before you really don't fancy any more.

What I suppose I am really saying is that a healthy diet with minimal alcohol and daily exercise can keep you reasonably trim. Who knew?! The trick is maintaining it after the inevitable switch back to animal products. As I mentioned in my last post, I'll try to stick to as much plant-based food as I can, simply because it seems to be in mine and the planet's best interests. But as I also said in my last post, Dry January can do one.

Vegan Vlog from Downing Street below or on youtube here. Tale of the tape and archive below that. Thanks for reading all this blethering rubbish by the way. Last Vegan Dry January post tomorrow.


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Weight: 11st 3.2lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling, 30 mins walking

Food: 2 x trek bars, apple, 125g roasted, salted cashews (750 calories!)
Soy americano, black americano.

************************

Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about

Drinks. I've had a few, but then again...

Dry January can do one, or at least did one this weekend as the prospect of two early football-related starts and the commitment I made to "fix" (rebuild) my son's Lego millennium falcon stretched bleakly across Saturday and Sunday.

Using the power of fermented grape juice I stayed up late to watch Graham Norton on Friday night, and then, on Saturday afternoon, I got to work on the Falcon. At 6pm, flushed with a sense of what little time I have left on earth slipping through my fingers like sand achievement I opened another bottle of wine whilst cooking dinner. It was great. I felt all boozy and nice. Mrs Wallis and I put the kids to bed and watched Lion together, which is a Good Movie.

The vegan side of things is holding up rather better. I will take a lot of what I'm doing now with me into the rest of 2018. Thankfully Quorn appears to be going vegan (a lot of the fresh stuff contains egg-white and milk, which seems counter-intuitive). Some of its frozen offerings, including fishless fingers, spicy burgers and stir fry strips are all vegan.

I will continue to eat as much of a plant-based diet as I can without becoming a pain in the neck to everyone around me. That means eating vegetarian or meat if the occasion requires. I could quite happily stay vegan, though I will miss tea. As in, a nice cup of tea with cows' milk. None of the milk-substitutes come close, and I'm not yet ready to drink black tea.

In other news, two years ago I wrote a piece on this blog in the style of a Daily Mash article about Dry January. This year the Daily Mash wrote a piece about Dry January, also, funnily enough, in the style of the Daily Mash.

Do have a look at them both. I'm going to ask for a job.

Vegan Vlog is below (or here on youtube), then tale of the tape and archive.
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Weight: 11st 4.6lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling. 30 mins walk.

Food:

Paleo bar, hike bar, apple, satsuma, 125g salted cashews.
itsu vegan gyoza udon.
That vegan coconut itsu chocolate thing.

*********************

Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan

Simon Amstell. Photo BBC/Pete Dadds

... and so is Michael Fish. Actually he's not, probably, but Simon Amstell is definitely a veganista and I listened to him being Simon Amstell on Adam Buxton's (superb) podcast the other day and thought "I really ought to watch his comedy vegan documentary Carnage, oughtn't I? Especially as I find Simon Amstell funny, and I'm veganuarying myself aren't I? So I should." So I did.

Carnage is very funny. It's set in 2067 (when, if I'm lucky, I'll be 83). In this vision of the future everyone lives on a plant-based diet, and animals have the same rights as humans. Following this logic, eating an animal is considered a crime similar to that of cannibalism - utterly taboo. The film deals with the guilt older characters feel about condoning mass murder and committing cannibalism themselves, and tells the cultural history (via popular television programmes (including the One Show), performance art and musical theatre) of how these things came to pass. It's very entertaining. Even the graphic scenes of (actual) slaughter aren't misplaced. They just remind you of the point being made.

Simon's running commentary (especially when taking the piss out of TV chefs) is typically droll.  Watch it (here) if you have a moment. It's only an hour long.

I'm now steeling myself to watch Cowspiracy which two people have mentioned recently. One was a meat-eater who went vegetarian after watching it, the other was a vegetarian who went vegan. It's probably quite powerful.

On the food front I cooked my second vegan meal of the month last Saturday. Well, some of it. My brother was over for the weekend so I put together a meaty bolognese for his and my kids and a red lentil curry for us. When he found out the lentil curry was for him too, I think he was a little disappointed, but by the time he'd had his fill of that, the bombay potato, pilau rice, poppadums, dips, chapati and naan, he was being very complimentary.

Other than that I've been living off the usual energy bars, fruit, nuts, carrots, houmous and bread, which I don't mind at all, really. I've lost a decent amount of weight, too.

Today's Vegan Vlog is filmed using my new selfie stick, which is fine as it gives a better shot, but I should have plugged the microphone in. Watch it below, or here on youtube. Tale of the tape, then archive below.


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Weight: 11st 4lb

Exercise: 1hr 20mins walking

Food:
Trek flapjack, Paleo bar, satsuma, banana, peanuts and sultanas, soy americano.
Three large slices of home-made granary bread, lots of Pure spread and marmite.

*******************
Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review

Yesterday I posted an innocent endorsement of an article in the FT, which got retweeted by James O'Brien off of the radio. This saw my notifications start spinning like a fruit machine reel. Then this morning a member of the House of Lords decided to read yesterday's blog post - Vegan Dry January Day 18 - and comment on twitter thus:

Hi. This sounds a bit miserable. You need more calories! You don't have to skip meals? Make your own sarnies for lunch? And I agree it's hard to find a substitute for milk in drinks. Anyway good luck.

— Jenny Jones (@GreenJennyJones) January 19, 2018

Which is nice. isn't it? I thought yesterday's post was one of the jollier ones, tbh. Still, good to know I'm getting read in the right places.

Total food consumption at the time of writing today (3.39pm) has been marginal - a hike bar, a trek bar, a banana and an apple, but I am stretching things as I am going out tonight and want to avoid the four meal disaster.

Being Friday, my thoughts are turning away from food to booze. The first weekend this month I was profoundly depressed without the joy of a revivifying drink, the second weekend, I relapsed. Not this time. Oh no. This weekend my mind will be a model of zen-like calm as my brother brings his two small children over and we have to cope with five children aged between 4 and 12 all agitating for food, transport to their various social commitments and/or something to occupy them EVERY WAKING MOMENT OF THE DAY.

It's cool. It will be cool. I've been doing this for a while now.

Below is the Vegan Vlog (or here on youtube). Below that, the tale of the tape and the archive. Have an amazing weekend, whether it's filled with vegetables, childcare, gin or big fat juicy steaks. Love you, mensch.


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Weight: 11st 6.2lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling, 70 mins walking

Food:

Trek bar, hike bar, banana, apple.
A nice hot vegan take out from somewhere.
Sultanas, probably.

***********************

Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?

A surprise sweet.

Lunch - 900 calories worth of cashew nuts in one bijou 150g packet - was consumed at 10.30am today. I was already feeling giddy by 3pm so after cutting a piece on the snowy/windy weather for the  ITV Lunchtime News I struck out for vegan food somewhere close to Gray's Inn Road.

I found a place called Tossed where a nice lady walked me through the food ordering process which involved hunting for the menu on an iPad. When I discovered they didn't do noodles I withdrew politely and cut through Gray's Inn to Bedford Row, where they have an itsu.

The very nice lady at itsu offered me a free flatbread with my veggie udon noodles. I said:

"Is it vegan?"

She said "Are you a vegan?"

I thought about trying to explain whether or not I was vegan, but instead said "Yes."

The lady looked sad that she could no longer give me the gift of flatbread, so instead related her experiments with veganism, which seemed to founder on a love of meat. I mumbled something polite about milk being quite hard to find a substitute for, but really I wanted to eat my veggie udon noodles in peace, having had quite a stressful day.

I sat alone in itsu with my noodles, drinking a diet coke and staring out of the window.

As I slowly decompressed and started to feel a bit better, the nice smiley lady came over and handed me a "coconut crush" (see photo above) as a flatbread gift substitute.

"It's vegan!" she said, triumphantly. I thanked her profusely and put the coconut crush in my pocket.

I know itsu was founded by the people who founded Pret (it says so on their trays) and Pret had a policy of allowing staff to give customers free stuff on a whim. It seems the same policy exists at itsu.

Well, I hope it does, or I've just outed a staff member for stealing stock.

Vegan Vlog post below (or here on youtube if you can't see the embed). Tale of the tape below that, then the archive. I'm now going to bed. I have another early tomorrow. And then I'm going to watch Stewart Lee be funny at the Leicester Square theatre.


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Weight: 11st 5.4lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling, 40 mins walking

Food:

Apple, banana, trek bar
Bag of cashews
itsu veggie udon noodles and a coconut crush
Handful of shreddies.

********************

Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go

Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews...

Instant black coffee in a plastic cup. What a time to be alive.

Much as I love getting my work on the lunchtime news, the programme itself happens to fall, rather inconveniently, at lunchtime. You can either eat at around 11.30am and then spend the next two hours focused on getting your piece done, or try to hang on until after the programme, which means staggering out into the street in search of food with your blood sugar levels screeching in pain behind you on the pavement.

After several experiences of the latter, nowadays I choose the former, which meant that at 11.30am today I ate 750 calories worth of roasted, salted cashew nuts at my desk. Mmm... protein... mmm... lunch. Of course, the downsides to eating a meal 11.30am are well known. You end up eating again at around 4pm and might well have your fourth meal of the day in the evening. We'll see what happens today. Ooh the jeopardy.

In other news, after my experiences with the evil that is almond milk, I am finally becoming partial to milk substitute. Having spent the first seventeen days of this month slurping soy americanos at various chain outlets, I can confirm they are survivably pleasant. I'm also drinking tea and coffee at home with various soy/oat milk iterations and I've had enjoyable bowls of porridge and cereal made with the same. For convenience I am also getting back into black coffee and various bags of stuff which create flavoured hot water. The coffee you see in the photo above is black because we don't have soy milk at work. It's also instant because the coffee machine at work is broken. I know.

Have a look at today's exciting vegan vlog here on youtube or embedded below, although to be honest in it I just repeat what I wrote here. And please do sign up for regular updates via email, by putting your email address into the box. And like the vlog. And subscribe to that, if you fancy it. I mean, these updates are only going to get more thrilling as I run out of things to say, aren't they?

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Weight: 11st 6.8lb

Exercise: 10 mins cycling, 70 mins walking

Food:

Apple, orange, banana
125g back of roasted, salted cashews
Soy americano
M&S felafel wrap
Wasabi nuts
Spice mix

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Vegan Dry January Day 31: The Last Post
Vegan Dry January Day 30: A Vegan in Downing Street
Vegan Dry-ish January Day 29: Can't see what all the fuss is about
Days 26 to 28 are Nonblogged.
Vegan Dry January Day 25: Simon Amstell is a Vegan
Days 20 to 24 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 19: Peer review
Vegan Dry January Day 18: Are you a vegan?
Vegan Dry January Day 17: Mmm... cashews.... 
Vegan Dry January Day 16: Taking Stock
Vegan Dry January Day 15: A relapse
Days 13 and 14 are Nonblogged. 
Vegan Dry January Day 12: There was no Day 11
There really wasn't a day 11
Vegan Dry January Day 10: Alcohol wobble
Vegan Dry January Day 9: Avoiding four meals a day
Vegan Dry January Day 8: Smeared Poo
Vegan Dry January Day 7: Separation Anxiety
Vegan Dry January Day 6: Wastelands of Admin
Vegan Dry January Day 5: Oatly is the tits
Vegan Dry January Day 4: Milk is everywhere
Vegan Dry January Day 3: I've lost my nuts
Vegan Dry January Day 2: This is going well
Vegan Dry January Day 1: Vegan Dry January is go