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I’m changing my lifestyle – I’m going vegan
Jul
Being vegan in 2025
Vegan?!?
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“So you won’t be eating anything, then”
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“How can you eat nothing but salad?”
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“You do eat fish, don’t you?”
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“You can’t live without meat protein”
These are just a few examples.
When I say I’m vegan, people pull the most ridiculous faces 🙂
Being vegan in Italy in 2025 is still seen as a bit odd; you almost feel like an alien.
I started following a vegan diet in 2015, when, at the age of 35, I discovered I had a 3-cm tumour in my brain (specifically in the thalamus) in an inoperable area (fortunately, at 90%, it was benign – otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you this).
The funny thing (so to speak) was that I’d been suffering from hemiparesis in my right hand and the right side of my face for years, but my doctor at the time simply put it down to stress.
That aside, the news really shook me up; when the neurosurgeon told me, I almost couldn’t believe it (I had a momentary blackout). I spent months in anguish; at night, instead of sleeping, I just lay there thinking, wondering what I could possibly do.
The results of the second MRI scan had revealed that, in fact, the situation appeared to be even more serious than previously thought – it was turning from benign to something else.
Panic
Anxiety
Fear of dying at 35…35…35…35
A while ago, I’d seen a TV programme about a man with cancer who’d got better thanks to a vegan diet, so I decided to give it a go, even though, for someone like me who loves milk, ice cream, chocolate, cheese and cured meats, it was going to be tough – really tough.
For a few years, despite the difficulties, I carried on, but then a tough patch made me give up a bit, switching from vegan to vegetarian before going back to a vegan diet again.
I have to say that, apart from a few initial difficulties – both in terms of shopping and cooking – I’ve got used to it.
Now I know which products to choose; I cook every day (or nearly every day); I’ve learnt to eat and cook with tofu, seitan and tempeh; I no longer buy vegetable burgers because I make them myself using vegetables from the garden; and I no longer buy biscuits and cakes because I enjoy making them at home.
We usually eat pulses, vegetables and fruit (perfect for vegans), cereal soups, soya yoghurt and loads of other things.
I enjoy looking for new recipes and experimenting; I watch tutorials and give them a go.
Things don’t always turn out well or go perfectly the first time round, but you learn bit by bit.
In conclusion, I can say that:
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Vegans eat loads of things
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Vegans don’t just eat pasta with tomato sauce; they also eat pizza, panzerotti, pizzoccheri, pasta with turnip greens, mushroom risotto, pasta with potatoes, pasta and beans…
(just for the sake of it)
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Lots of traditional dishes (the ones my grandmother used to cook) are vegan
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If you have vegan guests, bear in mind that the internet exists – you could simply use it to look up a few alternative recipes
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It would be nice if we weren’t always made to feel “so different” just because of the choice we’ve made
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In a vegan restaurant, even non-vegans can eat there; in a traditional restaurant, a vegan might be able to eat plenty of things, but apart from pasta with tomato sauce and a salad, there’s almost never anything else on offer.
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If you’re going on holiday to Mallorca (especially the north-east) and you’re vegan, just accept it – there’s practically nothing on offer.
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Don’t turn your nose up at a vegan dish before you’ve tried it, because it might just surprise you
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There’s a brilliant app called Happy Cow that helps you find restaurants, ice-cream parlours and more that are suitable for vegans and vegetarians all over the world.
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I feel fine
Luckily, I have people in my family who support me and often end up eating my culinary experiments 🙂 .
Anyway, here I am, looking at my tattoo which says:
I HOPE
I BELIEVE
LIVE
And to think that 11 years have gone by and here I am…
At last, despite the difficulties, we’ve managed to launch our online shop
and we hope to be able to carry on with our work.
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