Personally, I find that eating a lot of animal products - dairy in particular - doesn't agree with my body in the slightest. If I've been overindulging in products which contain dairy, I definitely find that I have far less energy, and that my skin looks much, much worse - after all, it's not particularly natural to drink the milk of another animal, and milk actually contains pus cells very much the same as those in spots (yeah, that put me off having a glass, too!). I'm also quite against the whole animal welfare side of it, too - which is why, when I buy milk, butter or cream, I always ensure that I'm buying it from the most ethical source possible, such as a local farm where I know for a fact that the animal welfare standards are high.
In fairness, I don't really use a lot of dairy - it seems strange to me, drinking and eating the milk of an animal, mainly due to the fact that I'm not actually a calf. The only dairy products I really use are butter (as an Irish girl, it's practically a diet staple to have a great hulk of soda bread and butter) the occasional bit of cream, in or with cakes, and milk in my tea - but, shock horror, I actually drink more herbal tea than the conventional cuppa nowadays, so I use very little in the way of milk. I do find the whole concept of dairy a little repulsive to say the least, which is why I try and avoid it as much as possible - I use almond milk in everything I can, and have soya yoghurt with my granola in the mornings, and I think, with a little willpower, I could probably cut it out all together quite easily.
My main issue, I'd say, is eggs. They're in Quorn products (vegan Quorn sadly doesn't exist in the UK), all sorts of baked goods (including an awful lot of healthy breakfast recipes such as banana pancakes) and they're a great source of protein for me after a long run or a tough gym session, and I'm yet to find a suitable alternative (though I am toying with the idea of egg substitute for baking). I'm not particularly enamoured with the idea of eating them - in concept, at least - but I've never really found enough products that don't contain them. As I said about dairy, I always get products from places where the animals are well treated - our neighbours have chickens, so we often buy eggs from them.
Over the next few months, I'll be experimenting with different vegan ingredients and recipes - and I'll post my findings and favourites on here as and when I find them. I tried some vegan French toast this morning, which was a surprising success, and as my aunt is vegan, she's a great source of knowledge on the best vegan products around. I even invested in a Vegan Baking book the other day on a bit of a whim, so I'll be trying those recipes out on my family, heaven help them!
Are you vegan, or thinking about becoming vegan? Let me know about your favourite products and recipes in the comments - it'd be really helpful as a vegan amateur!
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