{"id":70857,"date":"2017-03-06T14:07:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T14:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veganuary.com\/blog\/my-veganuary-2017-story-billie\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T18:06:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T18:06:05","slug":"my-veganuary-2017-story-billie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veganuary.com\/en-us\/my-veganuary-2017-story-billie\/","title":{"rendered":"My Veganuary 2017 Story: Billie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Billie! I\u2019m 28, a small business owner, a wife, a mother, and a vegan.<\/p>\n

I can honestly say that I never thought I would ever be calling myself a vegan; even though I was a vegetarian pretty much all my life before this. I am one of the new batch of vegans who made the transition through Veganuary.<\/p>\n\"Billie\"\n

I had never even heard of Veganuary until December, 2016. I guess I\u2019m not alone in that – the number of people taking part has jumped significantly, and over 50,000 people took part this year, which is incredible!<\/p>\n

So, how did I get here? Well, it took me 28 years! Let\u2019s go way back to five year old me\u2026<\/p>\n

When I was five years old I decided to go vegetarian. I had no idea about animal cruelty, or probably even what meat actually was. All I knew is that I hated the taste of it. After that, I didn\u2019t eat it at all. I was lucky to be\u00a0born into a supportive family, and even though they all ate meat, they accepted my decision. In fact, my mum took the time to teach me how to cook, so I was able to make lovely vegetarian food for myself.<\/p>\n

So that was me; not eating meat, happy and (mostly) healthy. I hated eggs, but my biggest love was cheese. One of my favourite meals was a cheese board! I had no idea what was in the food I was eating, or knew anything about animal cruelty and the environmental impact of our food choices. I just ate what I wanted, and gave it no further thought.<\/p>\n

But then, in 2016, I got ill. I repeatedly went to my doctor, who had no idea what was wrong. Tests came back clear but I still felt poorly. In the end I decided to do something about it myself. I changed my diet, and cut out dairy. I went vegan.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Veganuary was coming up! I threw myself into it. I signed up<\/a> to the emails, I joined the Facebook group, and I read and researched what being vegan was all about. Then I was given some documentary recommendations.<\/p>\n

I fired up Netflix and my mind was blown.<\/p>\n

Cowspiracy<\/a>, Food Choices<\/a>, Vegucated<\/a>, Forks Over Knives<\/a>, the list is endless. \u00a0They shocked me to my core. At that moment I realised, for 28 years, I had been asleep. I think, once we learn the truth about animal agriculture, we can feel a strong guilt for how we used to live. For me, the guilt was for dairy cows. I had no idea of the horrors they go through and, as a mother, this really struck a chord with me. My journey had started purely for health reasons, but very suddenly became much more than that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m often asked, \u201cWhat do you eat?\u201d<\/em>. Sometimes I answer \u201cGrass!\u201d<\/em> just to see their face. But seriously, vegan food (or food<\/em> as I think it should be known) is unbelievable. There hasn\u2019t been one single thing that I haven\u2019t enjoyed. Clea from Veganuary (an ex-cheese addict herself) recommended Isa Chandra\u2019s Mac \u2018n\u2019 Cheese recipe, and that was it. I was hooked! I can honestly say I\u2019ve never missed cheese. For top foodie tips, I follow avantgardevegan<\/a> and Bosh!<\/a> on social media. Veganuary send you daily support emails with recipes<\/a> and ideas and I got so much inspiration from them when I was taking part. In the end, you don\u2019t think of it as vegan food<\/em>, you just think of it as yummy, healthy food that happens to be cruelty-free.<\/p>\n\"Vegan\n

Veganuary\u2019s main message is not you MUST go vegan<\/em>; it\u2019s we would love you to try being vegan, and we are here to support you while you have a go<\/em>. The Veganuary team<\/a> are nothing but supportive. If you are worried about anything, they are there to help! You can still sign up<\/a>\u00a0because they support anyone at any time of the year. I think it\u2019s a fantastic message that\u2019s clearly working, with more and more people getting on board every year.<\/p>\n

At the end of Veganuary, I took a moment to think if I wanted to carry on being vegan\u2026 I can\u2019t ever imagine going back. Not only am I enjoying the food so much, I am feeling healthier than ever before!<\/strong> I also couldn\u2019t go back for moral reasons. Knowing what I do now – about the awful things animals go through just so people can have a couple of minutes of pleasure while they eat – it\u2019s not worth it. Cowspiracy also opened my eyes to the damage animal agriculture does to our Earth. I want to make sure I do my part to try and protect it as much as possible, especially for my children. So here I am, a shiny brand new vegan!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reading this and thinking you might try vegan. Do it! Sign up to Veganuary<\/a>, they are here for you. Check out some vegan food inspiration<\/a>, watch some documentaries, read some articles, talk to other vegans. This will motivate you!<\/p>\n

My Top Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n