‘My muscles were more defined!’
Luana Ribeira, 40, is the founder of dauntlesspr.com, and lives in Anglesey with her partner, Alex, 36, and children, Seren, 13, and Electra, 11, Celyn, 10 months.
Catching sight of myself in the mirror in June 2011, I was pleasantly surprised. Where there had once been no definition in my arms, they looked slimmer and more defined. I had a flatter belly, too. The reason I was so surprised was because I hadn’t done much differently.
The only thing that had changed was that just three weeks earlier, I’d become a vegan.
I’d heard about the health benefits, but seeing the changes in my physique was an unexpected but welcome side effect.
Cutting meat from my diet began when I was just a child. Eating it just didn’t feel right to me and I instinctively knew that something wasn’t right.
Gradually, as I grew up, I ate less meat.
By the time I was 17, I was vegetarian. I tried veganism, but for a long time, it was difficult to commit as there weren’t many alternatives.
But in 2011, I began a new job, as sub-editor of a magazine that pointed out the cruelty of the dairy industry. Just like humans, cows only produce milk for their baby. In order for us to drink their milk, the calf is removed from the mother after birth and the cow is impregnated again. So, I joined vegan support groups on Facebook and started to learn all about what vegan food was out there.
I started cutting things out one by one, gradually replacing animal-based products with vegan alternatives. The physical changes were plain to see – my hair and nails were stronger, my muscles were more defined, and I went from someone who had constant colds, to rarely getting a sniffle. Soon, I noticed I had much more energy, I needed less sleep and bounced out of bed each morning.
When I met my partner Alex, in June 2017, he was a meat eater. I respected his choices, but I inspired him to try going vegan. Lucky for me, because Alex was an amazing cook and could rustle up delicious vegan meals. There was a vegan alternative for most things, but a lot of times they weren’t always the healthy option. Some had a lot of salt or sugar. We found that keeping it simple was the easiest way to make sure it was healthy. Yes it took effort, but it was worth it.
It’s not just the health benefits, the food tastes amazing and it’s good for the planet, too.
‘CHANGES WERE PLAIN TO SEE’