Vegetarian Zen

I love this podcast, down to earth, honest, helpful! Thank you! Love from teachingmums.com xx

I try to research vegetarian ethics and nutrition as much as I can but Vickie and Larissa always have something new to offer. I discovered this podcast 2 years ago when I was going through a really difficult time and couldn't sleep. It was like having lovely, warm friends I could hang out with anytime, even in the darkest hours. I'm so grateful to have found this. Now my 6 year old son loves to snuggle up and listen too. He says 'can we listen to the vegetarian ladies?'.... I finally got round to buying them a juice too!

I look forward to this podcast every week, the hosts Vickie and Larissa are so positive and calm, and their advice so practical and well intentioned that I find it a wonderful dose of zen! As a vegetarian I find useful tips constantly and I feel no pressure or judgement to go vegan or change the way I eat, besides trying to get in a few extra veggies where I can. Just a lovely show.

I decided to go vegan for Lent in 2018 having been semi-vegetarian for many years alongside my veggie husband. I live in depeest farming country in Northern Ireland where meat and two veg is standard fare, the closest dedicated vegetarian/vegan foodplace is an hour away in Belfast, and most people just look at me blankly when I ask what the vegan food situation is! So I knew it would be a challenge! I had very little idea as to the practices of the dairy/meat/egg industry as a background to going vegan, it was just a challenge for Lent but I felt like it was something I may want to continue as I got half way through. Anyway, I listened to a few other podcasts regarding veganism and found a lot of them were very righteous, quite judgemental of those who aren't vegan or even are vegetarian!, and was feeling a little disheartened. Rather than being educated I was being preached to. Then I found Vegetarian Zen, and it all changed and I felt really hopeful! These girls are so down to earth, there's NO judgement about anyone's lifestyle choices, the topics they cover are really wide ranging and I've learnt a lot about how to help myself be a healthy vegan, how to keep it interesting, how to maintain it too; after Lent I'm still a vegan (except when I went to Rome and ate ALL THE PIZZA) and I don't be harsh on myself if I do allow myself a bit of cheese every now and then, thanks to the non-preachy educative podcast by these two girls and their great forum on Facebook. So thanks girls, there's very little support in Meat-and Two-Vegs-Ville, it's good to be able to plug in and get some when I need some inspiration!