AS some of you might remember, I took part in ‘Veganuary’ last year.

The annual January campaign encourages people to trial the plant-based diet, with the hope that it will ‘convert’ people to becoming vegan. This was not the case for me. I struggled, more than I thought I would, by going the whole month without meat, fish and dairy.

It was a rather last-minute decision when the Worcester News asked myself and my colleague Jessica Charles to take part in the experiment.

I spent December 31 eating my usual grub, before being asked to go vegan – so as you can see, I didn’t have much time to prepare for the drastic diet change.

We were asked to alter our diet, and then write features on our experience and share how we coped with the change.

Jessica, who was already a vegetarian, enjoyed the trial and in fact has now completely abandoned animal products altogether.

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I must admit, I wasn’t the healthiest vegan, as for much of the time I was living off peanut butter sandwiches, Quorn and salad (not at the same time, just to clarify).

Due to the lack of nutrients I was getting from my very basic diet, I experienced headaches and drowsiness often.

If I was to re-do the month, I would have researched more into different recipes and meal-prepped each day.

Surprisingly, the most difficult sacrifice for me was giving up cow’s milk. I had to go the whole month drinking cups of tea with almond milk as a substitute.

The vegan life wasn’t for me, however the experience certainly encouraged me to become more adventurous when making food and encouraged me to try new things.

There was a mixture of comments following our Veganuary stories – some supportive, others not so much... but thank you to those who showed encouragement.

Margaret Layland said: “Good luck Grace and Jessica. I’ve been vegan for 50 years so living proof that you can be fit and healthy. Like any diet, you just need to ensure that you get sufficient nutrients and, as a vegan, I find that very easy to do.”

LibraGirl001 said: “Not easy when you go to eat somewhere and are just handed a plate of vegetables while the aroma of meat wafts around you, Grace, especially given the challenge you had undertaken for your job.”