Malin is a 35-year-old mother of three who resides in the rural countryside of Sweden. Malin has been a vegetarian since she was 11 years old, a decision that was inspired by a friend at school. Although her choice was not well-received by her family, Malin persevered and became very creative with cooking to make it work.
She later made the transition to veganism and has been vegan for the last 6 years. Currently, Malin is a frequent gym goer who is training and eating for a photoshoot in July. Her interest in cooking started during her early days as a vegetarian and she continues to enjoy exploring different vegan alternatives and dishes.
Please tell us more about yourself
Hi there everyone! 👋🏽 My name is Malin, I’m 35 years old and a mother of three. The last 1,5 years I’m a frequent gym goer, that currently train and eat for a photoshoot in July.
I turned vegetarian the first time when I was 11, a friend at school inspired me to go vegetarian. We were the only ones, and where I grew up (rural country side of Sweden) hardly anyone had ever heard of not eating meat.
I then had a very long transition to veganism. I thought that vegans were extreme, because the cows needed to be milked and the chickens had to lay eggs… but I tried a lot of different vegan alternatives and dishes. It wasn’t until many years later I really understood what was going on in the dairy and egg industry that I turned vegan, but it took me many years to realise.
I’ve been vegan the last 6 years. And as for many vegans my only regret is I didn’t convert sooner.
In the beginning of my vegetarian days I struggled a lot, I grew up in a family that didn’t respect my choice of lifestyle and told me I had to cook my own food (which was hard being 11 without a weekly allowance to buy my own groceries). I had to be very creative, and I think that is where my interest in cooking started.
Now I don’t struggle at all, vegan food isn’t hard at all anymore. One can find vegan alternatives anywhere. What I do struggle with is narrow minded people not wanting to even try vegan food, and can’t even have a proper conversation about it. I still meet these people, even if their number is decreasing.
I love being a vegan! I actually do feel better as a person now as a vegan. I don’t look down on people not being vegan, but I feel better about myself knowing I don’t consciously harm animals for the sake of personal interest.
I love to be able to show the rest of the world that you can thrive on a plant based diet, as an example: the muscles I’ve grown I have grown being vegan. I can’t compare my lifestyle now with when I wasn’t vegan because back then I didn’t go this much to the gym as I do now. But I can tell you, to achieve what I have achieved thus far is thanks to my coach, motivation, determination and protein – all of which are vegan!
Being a vegan isn’t hard. It might be tricky in the beginning, just as with anything that’s new. Be open minded and ask for help if you need/want to. The vegan community is a great one filled with a lot of compassionate and inspiring people. Reach out if you want to talk about training and veganism 🙂
Love, Malin
Malin🌱
Personal blog
A vegan mum of three who has figured out this fitness thing 💪🏽 Join me in my process of more gains! 💪🏽🦍🌱💚
Cut phase February-July 2023!
all images courtesy of Malin🌱