How To Start A Vegan Diet
There are a few different ways to completely adopt a vegan lifestyle, and it starts with your diet.
You can immediately hop on a plant-based diet, or you can gradually make that shift. Regardless of how you do it, you should feel proud, because it takes a lot of effort to change a deeply ingrained behavior you’ve done all your life.
There are generally three different ways you can change to a fully plant-based diet. Two slow ways and one quick way.
You should go with the one that suits you best.
Slow Transition 1: From Omnivore To Vegetarian To Vegan
The first slow way to do it is by cutting off meat, but still incorporating dairy and eggs in your diet.
This is essentially a vegetarian diet, and it’s not as overwhelming as going cold turkey. The way you change to a vegan diet is by cutting off dairy products and eggs gradually until you’re fully vegan.
You first start by removing meat and fish from your diet. Then, you’ll want to give a bigger emphasis on whole, plant-based products and keep dairy products and eggs in the background. This is your chance to get to know the variety of plant-based products on the market, and slowly push dairy and eggs out of your diet.
In addition, you’ll want to pay close attention to the things you buy. Even though you’re including dairy and eggs, you must avoid products containing gelatin, rennet, and other meat-based components.
Don’t feel pressured when making this transition, but make it your mission to eventually go fully vegan.
Slow Transition 2: From Omnivore To Vegan
This is the slowest way to make the transition.
You’re not immediately removing dairy, eggs, meat or fish, but you’ll think about specific foods you can live without, and gradually remove each specific ingredient.
At the same time, you want to replace that animal ingredient with a plant-based ingredient.
For example, if you remove eggs, try replacing them with tofu. Believe it or not, tofu is a wonderful ingredient that lets you create a similar version of scrambled eggs. As someone who loved scrambled eggs, using tofu let me mitigate that craving.
Once you start taking out easy foods and replacing them with plant-based ingredients, you’ll want to tackle foods you love. But please do it when you feel more comfortable with the smaller changes you’ve made.
Fast Transition: Going Full-On Vegan
This is how I went about it, but don’t feel tempted to do it just because others like me did it. If you’re not compelled enough to go cold turkey, don’t. I believe this is a personality thing, and you should always do you.
This being said, adopting a vegan diet right off the bat can be overwhelming.
You’re essentially changing your way of living, and this ought to have an impact on others around you. You’ll decline invites to the sushi stand or the Brazilian barbecue, and frankly, it might even inhibit some folks from being around you. But don’t let this fiddle with your emotions, and remember that you’re doing it for a bigger cause.
Besides, you can always learn how to COOK delicious vegan food, which will intrigue people around you.
That’s how I’ve done it.
Anyway. By going fully vegan, you’re dropping all animal products. You’ll avoid meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and even honey. You’re also going to invest in veggies, grains, legumes, and fruits that will enable you to live a more ethical and healthy lifestyle that is ultimately beneficial to our planet.
A Simple Vegan Menu To Get You Started
In this section, I’m going to share with you three vegan meals per day for an entire week. This is for inspirational purposes because for some people it’s hard to imagine a vegan diet that is delicious and easy to sustain.
Monday
Breakfast: Couscous and Kale Breakfast Salad
Lunch: Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potato Casserole
Dinner: Autumn Butternut Squash Soup
Tuesday
Breakfast: Apple Overnight Oats
Lunch: Quick Chickpea Bolognese
Dinner: Polenta Pizza Pie
Wednesday
Breakfast: Sweet Potato Waffles with Apple-date Slaw
Lunch: Mediterranean Lentil and Spinach Soup
Dinner: Easy Thai Noodles
Thursday
Breakfast: Everything Muesli
Lunch: BBQ Summer Rolls
Dinner: Tu-No Casserole
Friday
Breakfast: Big Breakfast Burrito
Lunch: Creamy Wild Rice Soup
Dinner: Velvety Macaroni
Saturday
Breakfast: Manna Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
Lunch: Creamy Celeriac Pasta Alfredo
Dinner: Moroccan Lentil Soup
Sunday
Breakfast: Sorghum Berry Breakfast Bowl
Lunch: Baked Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Chickpea Chilli
Dinner: Mango and Black Bean Tacos
A word of caution: I’ve not tried all of the recipes inside the above tabs. What I can say, however, is that the soups are delicious and nutritious. Besides, soups are always great to include nutritious dense ingredients you wouldn’t otherwise have on a taco, or top of a pizza. This being said, try to mix things up, and refrain from eating less nutritious foods.
Find If a Product is Vegan
In most cases, you can easily find out whether a product is vegan or not.
You scan a product label, and search for a certified vegan logo, or a message saying “suitable for vegans”. And while that may not be the case for original vegan products (like bread, or flour), you can always check the allergy information on a product, which is usually available at the very bottom of its ingredients list. If it contains animal derivatives, it’ll say: “contains *animal ingredient”.
It may vary based on the product, in which case you can read the ingredients list, and you’ll find that animal components and allergens are usually bolded, and easy to trace.
This being said, there are occasions when you cannot find whether a product is fully vegan unless you contact the company. For example, in the ingredients list, you have “reduced iron”. That micronutrient either came from a plant-based source or animal-based source. And to know that information, you have to contact the company.
I’m written some blog posts on other products that generally people think are vegan, but it turns out they’re not.
Finding Vegan Restaurants
Finding vegan restaurants can be a headache, especially when you’re traveling to exotic destinations you know nothing about. And while I do encourage you to find a hotel or Airbnb with a fully equipped kitchen to cook your meals in, it would be a waste of an opportunity, to not explore the growth of vegan gastronomy in different destinations.
It’s very interesting to see traditional meat-based recipes being turned into plant-based recipes. Or witnessing new and creative dishes with their cultural twist. It may take a while to find awesome vegan restaurants around the corner, but we’ve had it worse in the past.
I currently live in a small town called Aveiro (in Portugal), and I can name 2 or 3 good vegan restaurants (or at least ones with great vegan options). This wasn’t possible 5-10 years ago.
Besides, technology has come a long way, and you can just use apps to find awesome vegan joints. I rely on the happy cow app whenever I’m traveling, but sometimes you might be disappointed to find out that in smaller cities the app may not find anything. As an alternative, I usually just type “vegan restaurant near me” on google to see what options pop up and sometimes, I’m lucky enough to find a hidden gem.
[divider style=’full’]A vegan lifestyle is not limited to dieting. Yes, diet is the most crucial and impactful part of a vegan lifestyle, but there’s more you can do to mitigate animal cruelty and pollution. Click the next page to find out.Â
