After taking part in the 30 day challenge it feels good to feel that I have made a change. Over the past month I have gone vegetarian Monday to Friday. It feels great to have reduced my meat intake and realise that it is easy to make the change in your diet, you just need to push yourself and remember the effect it will have.

It feels great to know that I have learn new things and have improved my diet as I am eating more healthy foods. It was also great to hear the positive feedback from others and their willingness to try it for themselves.

This challenge of going vegetarian was something that I wanted to do for a long time but was hesitant as I did not think that I would be able to find meals I would like. By doing this as a challenge it gave me that push to try new foods and helped me continue with it over the month. If I had been doing this off my own accord I think I would would have eaten meat at some point during the week.

Going forward after the challenge I will continue with the vegetarian diet but I will not be so strict. I will try to be vegetarian as much as I can but if I am out and can not find something I like I will go with a meat option. Although I am now more aware of the impact I can have I will do my best to continue.

Other challenges I will start or improve on is taking public transport or walking more, reducing my time in the shower to reduce water use, reduce my plastic consumption and to talk to more people or to talk to people more often about the impacts and changes they can make.

Thank you for the past month for keeping in contact and being so encouraging. It has really helped keep me motivated.

During the challenge I have talked to a few people about going vegetarian, most if not all said that they thought it was good and that they wanted to try but had some hesitations. most of these hesitations where to do with liking meat or specifically chicken too much. Now from going vegetarian I will be able to tell them my experience or even let them know that even a small reduction in their meat intake will have a big impact. One person who I told about the challenge said he thought it was great but that he couldn’t go vegetarian. all the reasons he had said where the reasons I had been saying to myself before. I hope that by letting him know that I was the same and I was able to do it that he would be influenced to make a change.

I have become aware about how effective communication about change can influence you. From hearing or talking to people in my course I have been influenced. I know the steps they are taking to make a difference and it pushes me to do more and try new things. 

Before starting this challenge I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult than it has been. I thought that I would be wanting meat more during the week and that I wouldn’t be able to find any options I’d like. I used to have this idea that if I was out in a restaurant that I would find it hard to find something to get. This isn’t as big as a problem as it sounds when you are doing it. During this whole challenge there has been three times I have gone out and only one of those time there was nothing I liked. If I had been more willing to try something new then I would’ve been fine. People’s willingness to try new things is what I believe puts people off going vegetarian and also their idea that they love meat too much. By giving yourself a day or two each week off from meat can have an impact than if you continued to eat meat everyday. 

From learning new things in my course I have also learned about the impact the feed the animals eat has on the planet. Often you hear mostly about the impact of methane from cows but never about the amount of land or fertilizers it takes to grow the food the animals eat. And the amount of food which is grown which could be going straight to human consumption instead of to animals. In regards to background conversations I would find myself falling into the not enough category. My biggest problem is saying I don’t have the time but really I do I just don’t make time for it. Instead of buying a meal prepared or some ingredients already prepared, I could instead make time to make meals from scratch. 

This challenge has opened my mind to be able to think about my actions and the impacts they are having more. When I go to do something which I may question I will be able to think better about if it is the right thing to do or if I could try something different which would have a better impact.

the best part of the challenge is knowing that you are making a difference and doing something new. I have always wanted to try going vegetarian and now I know that it is much easier than I would have thought. I will be able to talk about it to others and try to influence them to start to think about their impact that their diet is having and use my experience to do this. the most challenging part is finding meals I like as I can be very picky but by doing this as a challenge it has made me push myself to try new foods. I have learnt that other people who are going through the same challenge are facing the same challenges which makes you feel less alone and that you will be able to get through it. Something I could do for the last week to stretch my challenge would be to try doing it for a whole week and to make lunches.

The challenge is going well. I found the last week more difficult as I had been doing long hours in the library with assignments and was tired. When I would go to the shops to get lunch I would get annoyed cause I would only have a small amount of options to get and the pasta meals with the meat looked nice, which was very tempting. Although I stayed strong and I got through it and treated myself to pizza when I had finished my assignments.

I have stood up for myself on different topics which have affected me. I stood up for myself as I wanted to let people know that what they were saying was not correct and how what they were saying can impact people. Sometimes people have joined in or they might say they agree with me and support me. There has also been times were I haven’t spoken up when I would’ve wanted to. I may have decided not to for safety reasons or if I thought it wasn’t going to have much affect. I know now that speaking up no matter how much you do can still have an impact. As it may allow someone to come up and ask you more about the topic or allow people to start thinking more about something they may not have ever thought about before.

systems that influence my challenge would be mostly retail. Most retail shops don’t have a big range of vegetarian meals for lunches. I have found myself going into the shop by college to get lunch and their is only two non-meat option wraps. I have had one of the wraps which is really nice but after having it everyday I want to have something different and the other option doesn’t appeal to me. there are a couple of pasta options which all look really nice but have chicken in them. I think retailers need to look at the options they are providing and try to cater for more people. One way I could influence these systems would be to email their head office and convey my ideas and feedback. By speaking up it will allow them to see their is a problem and they can try to overcome it.

I went to a friends birthday party at the weekend. This was the first time I had seen my friends in person since starting the challenge. I took the opportunity to tell them that I was doing this challenge and I was going vegetarian when we were having a catch up. When I told people they all said it was great and said themselves that they wish they could do it or at least try it for some days during the week. I told them that how by doing it for only one or a few days a week is still such a great achievement as its a small step in the right direction and is better than not trying at all. Two o the people that I told were already vegetarians and one of the first things they said was «its so easy». this is something I’ve Come to realise to, as before I thought it would’ve been really difficult and id find myself secretly eating meat but it has been the opposite. 

I haven’t got to talk about my challenge much to friends. I will be seeing them at the weekend for a friends birthday so I will be able to have a catch up and talk about my change in diet. I did tell one friend when we were talking online that I was vegetarian as I had got a burrito and she asked what I got in it. When I told her what I got and I didn’t mention any meat see asked me why. This was interesting to see as it shows that people automatically assume that meat would be part of your diet. I can’t say for sure if I have influence others but I do know my mom has said she would do that challenge along with me. This was nice to see as it shows more and more people are becoming more aware of their impacts. I do feel by doing this challenge as a group it is helping to stay motivated and by talking to others and learning they are going through similar situations is good to hear.

this challenge has so far been interesting and fun to do. I am happy with my decision to do the vegetarian diet Monday to Friday as it has allowed me to get used to it more without having cravings for meat. It allows reduces some stress on my parents who try to plan the weekly food shop and what meals to have. If I do have any cravings for meat I know that if I stick to my plan that I can «treat» myself to it at the weekend. 

I have yet to meet up with my friends outside of college so they still do not know that I have gone vegetarian. I don’t think this will be a major shock as they know that I had previously reduced my meat intake and as some of my other friends are vegetarian, they are used to it. I find that I follow the crowd when agreeing on places to eat. This was easier before as I would of had more options on what to eat. Now that my diet has changed I will have to speak up if I notice a place does not have anything suitable for me. However most places now do have a larger selection of vegetarian options so this shouldn’t be a big problem. I’ll just have to wait and see.

The first week has gone well although I have been getting over a cold. Thankfully my parents had bought me ready meals to have through out the week. This was great as I did not have to worry about planning and preparing meals. When it came to lunch I had vegetable soup and bread which filled me up for most of the day until it came to dinner. Deciding what to have for dinner was not as hard as I had the ready meals. I had a cauliflower korma with brown rice and a chickpea lasagne for the first time during the week. They were okay and I was able to eat them. Although there was vegetables in it that I do not like and some I tried to see if I would like them in these dishes. Although these were handy to have and they tasted okay, I wanted to try and make my own food. By making my own food I will be able to know what is going into the meal and not add anything I do not like. This will reduce my amount of food waste which is another big problem in the world. 

I noticed myself going into autopilot one of the nights when I was getting a takeaway. Normally I would get chicken on my pizza and when I was making the pizza online I put it on. It was not until I was reviewing my order that I realised what I had done and had to change it. This was not a big problem but it made me realise how much I automatically incorporate meat into my diet.

The challenge I have chosen is to go vegetarian from Monday to Friday. I chose this challenge as it is something that I have been considering doing for some time but have not had the push I needed to start it. Going vegetarian is something I have wanted to do for health reasons, environmental reasons and a love for animals. I decided that I would start by doing it during the week days as I want to get used to it and make it work. I think this challenge will be hard as I am some who would not have eaten a lot of vegetables before so finding alternative meals that I will like will be hard. It will also be a challenge when I am eating out to find meals I like. I think by allowing myself to do this challenge from Monday to Friday will reduce pressure and allow myself to adapt to the change in diet so that it can be affect in the long term. My sister is vegetarian and this will allow me to gain support throughout this journey.