December 30, 2013.

The good people at www.veganuary.com have an idea. It is kind of like Movember, but instead of being in November, it is in January, and instead of growing a moustache, you stop eating products that derive in any way, shape or form from animals.

When my editor asked if I would be interested in embarking on their challenge of a month-long vegan adventure, I thought: Sure! Why not? How hard can it be? I mean, that's just like being a vegetarian except they're just a little bit stricter, right?

Vegans don't eat eggs. Oh, well I don't really eat them anyway...

Or milk. Really? That's kind of inconvenient but I guess I'll be okay...

Or chocolate. Well I guess I could do with shifting a few pounds...

Or cheese. OH GOD WHAT HAVE I SIGNED UP FOR.

You see, there are two things in this world that I know I can rely on for happiness: Manchester United and pizza, and as my beloved football team are more than just a little bit off track at the moment, cutting out cheese will be a particularly big challenge.

And yes, I know that there are vegan substitutes for stuff, like vegan pizza and vegan cake, and soy milk etc etc but for me if it isn't that real thing then I would rather just cut it out entirely.

As you may have already gathered, I am hugely ignorant about the vegan lifestyle, mainly because I don't really buy in to the environmental or philosophical arguments that founded veganism. I respect them, but have not the motivation nor the discipline to follow them myself.

I think a lot of people who are trying out Veganuary will be vegetarians looking to go one step further, where as I am going totally from one extreme to another. I am a big fan of KFC. I love cheese (as previously stated), I love cheeseburgers and I REALLY LOVE CHEESE (did I mention that already?)

So in preparation for January, I have stocked up on fruit, hummus, pitta bread and more hummus and I'm just going to take it from there.

Over the next month I will be updating this page with any good recipes I've stumbled across and just letting you know how I am getting on: presumably either riding high on a smug wave of euphoria, or miserably craving a Big Mac.

Wish me luck!