VEGAN BEFORE 6

For a few months now I've been following the Vegan Before 6 diet. I don't mean to be a talking cliche, but it's changed the way I eat and the way I think about food, too. In 2012 I made a conscious effort to lose weight and, in order to maintain what I achieved, I started doing VB6 back in February.

The basic principle is that you don't eat any animal products until your evening meal. For me, this meant completely rethinking what I put into my body during the day (especially at work) and thinking carefully about what I eat at the end of it. I haven't actually read the book, so I think it's about time I did! But, in the meantime, here are a few things I've learnt (p.s. I feel amazing):

1. Dinner is not a 'cheat meal' - eating well during the day doesn't justify bingeing in the evening. I've found that as I've grown accustomed to eating vegan during the daytime, I'm not desperately hungry in the evenings, I don't crave red meat and I'm keen not to throw my efforts down the drain when faced with unhealthy options.

2. Vegan isn't always healthy - I wouldn't eat over-processed chicken nuggets, so there's no reason why I would choose to eat processed fake meats like tofurkey or fake bacon either. And chips, while vegan, don't make for a nutritious lunch either!

3. It's not as hard as I thought - no, it's not always easy, but I don't miss animal products as much as I thought I would! I have my morning porridge with soy milk, which adds a subtle sweet nuttiness and hummus easily replaces mayonnaise in a wrap full or roasted veg.

4. Build a vegan meal in the same way - I like to include lots of textures and big, chunky vegetables that I eat with a knife and fork so it doesn't just feel like I'm eating the same spoonful over and over again.

5. Take it easy - I'm never too hard on myself and if there's something I really want to eat, like birthday cake at the office, then I have some. If you're not going vegan for ethical reasons, then a bit of mayonnaise by mistake or forgetting there is parmesan in pesto is not going to cause too much of a problem.

The amazing images above are by Raw Vegan Blonde. I actually found her a few months ago on instagram and she created some recipes for me for. All of the recipes and beautiful fruit collages are on Harrods Style Insider, if you would like, and I'm excited to be working together on some salads going up in the next few weeks!