Tide & Tested: Vol 1: Radical Goes vegan…

Welcome to our new segment: ‘Tide & Tested‘, our new segment where we put viral trends, eco-claims and wellness hype to the test, so you don’t have to follow whatever’s trending on your feed blindly. This year, we started strong by going vegan for 30 days. So drop the fish sticks and grab your dive slates and read all about what happened when I spontaneously went vegan at the start of 2026…

I started this experiment on the 2nd of January in a classic Phoebe Sharp fashion. I opened my fridge, had no food and thought screw it, I’ll give veganism a crack for a month. Before we dive deep into my past month, I want to highlight some key notes:

1. I am already iron-deficient… I currently take iron supplements as needed and plan to continue doing so over the next month. (I should’ve probably gotten a blood comparison before and after this challenge, but I didn’t know if my Medicare would cover the cost of providing such stats.
2. I live a VERY active lifestyle: I have 2 jobs, am training for the London marathon, live in the gym, and I am always in the water doing some physical activity. So, if it came to the point where I could no longer continue with these, I would end the challenge early; I can’t risk losing both my wage and my sanity.
3. I was going to keep this as much of a secret as possible. I stand by it. Veganism is NOT a personality trait, and I wanted to live a judgment-free month. So, every time I mentioned the dreaded ‘V’ word, more specifically, if I mentioned or referred back to my newly converted to veganism, I would tally it up. 
4. I knew VERY little about veganism, plant based substitutions and the supposed benefits on both the planet and one self of going vegan. 
5. I am not the richest; I am still living my backpacking days, so I wanted to do this as budget-friendly as possible…

I also had established a few goals I hoped to achieve over the next month:

• Feel good, hopefully veganism benefits both my physical and mental health. (Everybody wants the obligatory new year, new me glow-up)
• Spend the same, if not less than I currently do on my food shop

Now that is out the way it’s time to unpack the last month. 

Veganism took the world by storm back in 2010, with social media influencers swapping steaks for salads. Fast forward 16, holy shit, 2010 was 16 years ago??!!, and another food ‘trend’ has replaced the original plant-based diet. Okay, so I have wanted to go Vegan for some time, but every time I mentioned it, it was met with the same criticisms, high price alternatives and concerns that I would be ‘depriving my body of what it needs’. Throughout my life, I have been a pescatarian, a vegetarian, and a flexitarian. You name it, I’ve switched it up more times than I can count…

The stupid stigma surrounding our diet and lifestyles:

• You can’t eat meat, it’s killing the planet.
• You can’t eat fish, you love the ocean.
• You can’t eat eggs. Suzie was born to be a mother hen.
• You can’t be vegan, you will be skinny and sick. 

HONESTLY, IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. Obsessing over people’s diet ruins relationships with food, and take it from the girl who used to cry over rice cakes, it does NOT do wonders for one’s mental OR physical health. I once had a team meeting at uni with a lady who basically went on to hate on fish eaters, especially those who want to save the planet. After feeling incredibly guilty for doing below average on a recent assignment, I decided it was back to being a vegetarian, which will definitely help me become a more credible marine biologist… right? Then I had the complete opposite when I was training for a marathon, being told I need to eat meat, mainly because I am a woman. Fast forward to now, I am saying a silent F@@c! you to everyone, and I am eating what I want without telling anyone. 

I also see the opposite when discussing diets: enforcing their eating habits on others. The big old Vegan vs Carnivore debate, or should I say war. It’s been ongoing for years, and I think it’s time we all took a chill pill and didn’t mention their new fat diet unless asked for specifically. Thank you. 

Week 1:

So I actually didn’t find the transition to veganism that hard, actually. My food shop was slightly pricier, and it took me a little longer. I made sure everything I was picking up was 100% vegan. This meant putting back some of my usual and favourite weekly buys, but hey, that’s okay, I knew what I was getting into, and I was excited about the challenge. Whilst I was surprised that products such as pre-made guac weren’t vegan because they contained egg, I was equally surprised that a packet of Haribo sweets was vegan. Anyway, my meals were nothing special, I was swamped with shifts at both of my jobs, so meals were quick and easy, mainly consisting of fruit, veg and a couple of chickpeas. I noticed that by Saturday, I was EXHAUSTED. Still, I ran out of Iron tablets, had 2 back-to-back snorkel trips, and slept so poorly the night before, so I don’t think I can really blame veganism for the sudden dip in energy. I guess life was pretty hard. On Sunday, I had a big night out with my friend, filling up on carrots and hummus, disappointed to find out that Doritos weren’t vegan… Anyway, I was a little worried I would cave whilst drunk, but I came home, had a 2 am salad snack and went to bed. Even while hungover, I successfully stuck to veganism, so BIG WIN FOR ME!!

Week 2:

Things became a little easier this week, with me becoming familiar with what is and isn’t vegan. I stuck to whole foods to ensure I wasn’t accidentally consuming any animal products, and before I knew it, I was craving more fruits and vegetables. I wasn’t craving to give up on this challenge, and I was determined to make it through a whole month. I call it determination, not to be confused with stubbornness… Anyway, I did make a few basic meals, again, due to a lack of time, nothing crazy special, but I was proud of myself for just keeping up with a vegan lifestyle, when in today’s day and age it’s becoming far too easy to rush to the shops for a convenient and cheap ‘sweet treat ‘.

Week 3:

This week felt like a weird step back. I don’t know if it was the burnout, the weather, or a combination of the two, but my energy felt pretty low, and I was feeling slightly irritable and down. Weird, given that I had been smashing through training and work, and I felt on top of things. Admittedly, I have always sucked at resting, so I can’t exactly blame this setback entirely on veganism.  I also found myself slightly agitated, as I couldn’t always whip up something quickly without a second thought, which may be due to poor planning and not doing a weekly food shop. I was also annoyed that my work didn’t offer vegan options, so I had to either bring food with me or, you know, be hungry, which was slightly annoying. It made me realise there aren’t as many vegan or even vegetarian options when eating out, particularly in Australia. Weird, I thought there would be a surplus of veggie and vegan options, but I was wrong.

Week 4:

I was really expecting myself to get more creative in the kitchen. Still, with shifts and marathon training picking up, I found I was significantly unprepared to channel my inner Gordon Ramsey. Don’t get me wrong, I did make some delicious meals, with my favourite being this vegan burrito, using avocado, hummus, vegan chicken strips cooked in tonnes of seasoning and drizzled with sweet chilli sauce, a 9/10. It was the first meal I had eaten that had HIT the spot in months!! I also cooked up some roasted veg and crispy tofu couscous. I even tried a vegan, high-protein mouse made by blending maple syrup, dark chocolate, and silken tofu, then layering it with mashed frozen raspberries, which I highly recommend as a healthy sweet treat. Despite cooking up quick, easy staples, I really enjoyed eating vegan for the past month, and it has definitely inspired me to make more healthy swaps and try to create more vegan dishes in the future.

I also made lunches to take to work that were more than just fruit. I packed overnight protein oats and chia puddings, which filled me up and were pretty bloody yummy, if I do say so myself.

Final thoughts:

This was a fun challenge. I noticed myself leaning out more, and I craved more nutritious and ‘fresher’/ unprocessed foods. I would love to repeat this challenge when I have more time to plan meals, cook up, and actually gather some scientific stats to back the experiment, so I think I will revisit this at a later date. Veganuary 2027: I will be fully prepared and remember to get blood tests before and after the month.

I am happy I gave it a go, there isn’t as much stigma surrounding veganism as I initially thought, and most of the negative comments arise due to misinformation or a lack of an open mind. Reminder, cook delicious vegan meals for my family when I get home in April. 

I believe we could all benefit from a more plant-based diet in 2026, but I don’t think it’s necessary or beneficial for everyone to be vegan 24/7. Diets should stem from what is needed on an individual basis, not from what an influencer with copious free time and seemingly endless income suggests.

I will mainly stick to a plant-based diet in the future; however, I don’t want to label anything, and I want more flexibility. I.e., if I am really craving fish tacos in a restaurant, I can have that. But equally, if I am really craving a particular food, I will research and experiment with plant-based alternatives, as I shocked myself with preferring some of the substitutes to the real deal. 

I also want to be more mindful: slow down at the shops, read more labels, and actually think about what I am consuming rather than slamming ultra-processed protein bars after a gym sesh. It’s important to know what your body needs and when. So, in the future, I am going to expand my knowledge of nutrition and really learn how to fuel and care for my body.

Overall, veganism shouldn’t be a trend; it shouldn’t be enforced on others, but it shouldn’t be judged either. It is admirable that people want to benefit animals, the planet and themselves. I also think that, like anything, change can be scary, and making substitutes or cutting out your favourite foods can be difficult, so I applaud anyone who chooses to try something new and make healthy swaps. 

Also, PSA Dad, I think you should give veganism a go before you judge, there is so much more to it than just rabbit food!

Total V word count: 9. See, ladies and gentlemen, it is easy to make adjustments to your diet without the need to broadcast it to the world. That said, I wrote a whole blog post about going vegan for a month. The irony isn’t lost on me.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post and our first episode of ‘Tide & Tested’. Don’t forget to leave us a review and comment on what you thought of this challenge. Drop us an email at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram with what challenge/ trend you would like to see next. Stay salty. Love Radical xoxo