In celebration of World Vegan Day we set our apprentice Rebecca Tuffin the challenge to go meat and dairy-free for a week - here's now she got on.

Vegans are often ridiculed for flaunting their healthy ways but actually, whether they're doing it for their own well-being, animal rights or the environment, it's all positive.

I fully support and admire people who have a strict, plant-based diet, but this didn't make me any less apprehensive when my boss asked me to go without cheese and chocolate for a week - bring on the tears and wild mood swings, was my first thought.

Some of you may remember my 'eat local' challenge, where I tried to only consume items grown and produced in Kent. I lapsed on day six with a hangover McDonald's - and this new task sounded possibly harder.

When browsing for vegan products in the supermarket, I was actually pretty shocked at how much choice there was.

Albeit this was a superstore but there was an entire fridge dedicated to replace dairy products: whipped cream, vanilla soya yoghurt, swirly garlic and herb cheese, mock cheddar, rich chocolate torte, and milk from every nut you can think of.

I will always remain baffled at how people have managed to create things which are normally 100% dairy - without any dairy at all.

For most of the week, I just ate fruit for breakfast, and for lunch I went for toast with either peanut butter or avocado on top.

One day I had a vegan pasty full of spiced vegetables, which was very tasty.

But it got more difficult when I stepped through the front door, as this is when the biscuit scoffing usually starts.

To try and curb the cravings I bought supplement fast food - fake chicken nuggets, kebab meat and chocolate dessert pots.

The 'kebab meat', which looked like strips of lamb doner, was actually pretty delicious. I had it in a wrap with lots of salad and some grated mock chilli cheese.

Whenever I was craving something sweet, I either had a chocolate pot or some squirty cream and fruit - I actually wouldn't be able to tell the difference between normal cream, it's amazing.

I fried up some tofu on the Tuesday - which has a similar texture to scrambled egg - with sweet sticky sauce and fresh vegetables, and on Wednesday, I had ratatouille with plenty of tomatoes and garlic.

The following night I went out for dinner at The Oak on the Green in Bearsted and ordered the vegan burger. With lots of pulses and beans covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried, tangy ketchup, chunky chips and crispy onion rings, it was very flavoursome. I couldn't stop eyeing up my mum's chilli beef wraps though.

For the first five days I was going strong and hadn't lapsed at all, in awe of the culinary creations people have come up with to replicate the exact textures of meat and cheese.

Then on the Friday, I decided to make vegetable couscous with some meat-free Heck sausages.They looked delicious but sadly, they tasted like earth rolled into a sausage shape with a sprinkling of salt.

To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting - they are made of beetroot, carrot and sunflower seeds. You need soya protein or wheat gluten to replicate that meaty texture.

This may not make sense but this disappointing dinner made me crave anything not within the realms of the diet - in this case, a big slab of passionfruit cheesecake.

And it all kind of spiralled downwards from there, with me sneaking the odd cake between my vegan meals for the next two days.

Despite not completing the challenge, the attempt did enlighten me about how many alternative options there are.

With the fast-growing popularity of veganism, driven by an importance to consider the impact of what we eat on the world, there is now a substitute for almost every meat and dairy dish.

If my will power wasn't so pathetically poor I'm sure it would be quite easy to be a vegan - you wouldn't feel like you were missing out.

Why not try it yourself for a week?

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