HARDING: You graduated last summer right, art? What are you up to now?

 

HOLLY: Yep I graduated with a 2:1 in Graphic Design in June 2015, and since then I've been working as a Visual Merchandiser in House of Fraser, which I'm loving! It's nice applying your degree practically instead of being entirely screen based as I was used to whilst studying.

 

 

 

HARDING: When did you become a vegetarian and what was your biggest inspiration to do so?

 

HOLLY: I've been vegetarian now since I was 11, so coming up for 11 years!

 

At the time I remember asking my mum bigger questions than most children my age, like asking why its necessary to eat meat when we can live on plant based produce without a problem. I think she knew what was coming before I did to be honest!

 

I'll forever be thankful to my parents for supporting the huge decision I made at such a young age and letting me run with it. I know a lot of parents would have put it down to a 'phase'. At that time I spent hours online researching the ways in which meat, fish and poultry was bred and slaughtered and I just couldn't understand why more people weren't making a stand against it. I'm still to this day encouraging people to educate themselves on the food they're eating instead of taking on the 'if I can't see it, it's not happening' attitude.

 

Now I'm an adult, and I'm asked why I made the change to being vegetarian, I still maintain the same answer. I don't believe in the process of an animal being bred for human gain. I feel that it's unnecessary and unnatural and I prefer not to take part in it.

 

 

HARDING: Is there a food you miss most?

 

HOLLY: I imagine when I first started to adopt the vegetarian lifestyle I missed a couple things, but nowadays not at all. Knowing what I do now about meat production and other topics such as overfishing, it would be impossible for me to miss any of it.

 

HARDING: Ever considered turning vegan?

 

HOLLY: I've actually tried the vegan lifestyle a few times for month long stints at a time to see how I find it, and I'm currently really seriously looking into making the switch over to the vegan lifestyle.

 

 

HARDING: You've lost a lot of weight recently, 6st is it? You look amazing! Do you think being vegetarian helped you on that journey or are the two unrelated?

 

HOLLY: Thank you so much! Yep, I've lost 6 stone over the past 18 months. Being vegetarian it’s really easy to not be responsible with your nutritional needs and to rely on carbs to make up the bulk of your daily food intake. That's is how I managed to pack on so much weight when I went to university. When I made the decision to change my lifestyle, being vegetarian was a blessing. It's made me creative with my meals, it's made me learn about where I can gain protein from sources other than animal based produce and it's helped me to educate myself on what my body really needs from food as opposed to relying on nutritional supplements.

 

 

HARDING: Tell me about meal prep, something I’ve seen on your Instagram. Do you always do that? Must be easier when you've got it all sorted for the week but does it get boring/hard when you have a craving for some pizza?

 

HOLLY: I began meal prepping after I started following lots of fitness and health Instagram pages and read that loads of people used meal prepping to help them lose weight and stay on track. After trying it myself I found the exact same and fell in love with it. Having the week's food already there for you makes you so much more likely to stick to your plan! I think its super important to have a cheat meal a week to keep cravings at bay, healthy eating isn't supposed to be torture, it's supposed to be a lifestyle. So if you want chocolate, you go ahead and have it! Everything in moderation, right?

 

 

HARDING: Family/BF veggie too? If not does that make it hard to eat with them?

 

HOLLY: None of my family or close friends follow the same vegetarian diet as I do. To be honest I don't even think about it anymore, apart from maybe at times when I'm sat eating nut roast whilst everyone around me tucks into roast chicken on a Sunday? I'm very lucky to have a family that are respectful and supportive of my diet.

 

 

HARDING: What would you tell someone who wanted to start being healthy but doesn’t know where to start? 

 

HOLLY: My number one piece of advice I would give to anyone thinking about coming over to the green side is to do your research. In most cases that will sell it to you. We live in a society where its okay to not know where what you're eating is coming from so the best thing you can do is fill that void with knowledge. In terms of replacing meat, get involved with brands such as Quorn and learn to love your tofu!

 

 

HARDING: Favorite veggie snack?

 

HOLLY: I am an absolute sucker for rice cakes with peanut butter and honey on! And obviously houmous with everything!

 

 

 

HARDING: I think you practically turned me in to a lush lover after seeing all your pics of bath bombs on Instagram -  they're 100% veggie and 100% amazing so I see why you like them! Any other companies you love like that? Is it hard finding other products that are pro animal?

 

HOLLY: Oh amazing! Lush do so much amazing campaign work on top of just selling bath goods so I’ve always been a huge supporter!

 

I'm also a huge lover of makeup and all things beauty and I'm on a constant battle finding brands that are animal friendly. My favorites are Lush and The Body Shop. The Body Shop especially carry a really amazing cruelty free makeup range that isn't too pricey. Other companies I love that don't test on animals are Illamasqua, theBalm, NARS, Urban Decay and Too Faced Cosmetics.

 

I think again it's just about taking the time to educate yourself; it's not difficult choosing pro animal companies when your heart is in it.