Whether your reason for becoming a vegan is your health, animal welfare or climate change, here are my ten top tips for taking on a sustainable and long-term vegan diet.
1. Take your time
My first tip is probably the most important. How you start your diet is really important when it comes to your health and looking after your body. Personally, I went dairy-free, pescatarian, vegetarian and then vegan. As the months and years went by, my views and beliefs around eating animal products changed and so this allowed my body to slowly adapt to a vegan diet. I have some friends and family who have tried being vegan for a week or have gone from eating meat and dairy three times a day to none at all and the effects on their mind and body have sometimes been dangerous. If you make a sudden change to your diet you could face symptoms such as constipation, mood swings, diarrhea and fatigue. It is important to gradually ease your body and mind into any diet. There is no rush, take your time.
2. Do your research
What are you actually eating? Researching what nutrients are in different foods is a vital part of any balanced diet. It is important to educate yourself on what to eat and what your body needs in order to maintain a healthy diet. Researching a vegan diet is also great for myth-busting. Research doesn’t have to just be online searches, it can be watching documentaries, reading books, listening to podcasts or following new social media accounts.
3. Try new things
When my partner and I first attempted to go vegan we really struggled as we were cooking the same meals we usually ate but without meat. Sometimes we even tried replacing the meat with a vegan substitute which just didn’t taste as good. Since then, we have become very adventurous in the kitchen. We decided that if we were going to enjoy a vegan diet, we needed to forget everything we knew about cooking and start again. This allowed us to think of new ideas, to introduce ourselves to new flavours and vegetables, to be more open-minded about experimenting with food and to enjoy the experience of finding out what best worked for us. Now we eat all sorts of weird and wonderful meals like carrot dogs and black bean balls!
4. Ask for support
Since making the decision to go vegan, I have faced some challenges when it comes to friends and family. It can be tiring constantly being asked if you are hungry if you miss cheese or where you get your protein from. I personally still find that I am explaining myself to other people and trying to swim out of the pool of negativity and myths which surround veganism. My biggest tip here is to just be open and honest, stick to your guns and believe in yourself and what you are doing. Maybe there is even a friend or family member who can try to go vegan with you? Surround yourself with positive people who accept you, your choices and your new vegan diet.
5. Be creative
You probably aren’t going to enjoy a vegan diet if you stick to what you know. Being creative and opening your mind is going to be a big benefit if you want to have an exciting varied diet. Try making a chocolate cake with avocados, try making rice out of cauliflower or try making gnocchi from carrot and parsnip. The opportunities are truly endless. Vegetables are very versatile and you will be surprised what you can make out of them if you have some creative flair in the kitchen.
6. Be openminded
It's easy to say no to something if you haven’t tried it, if you don’t like the look of it or if it doesn’t sound like it would be all that nice. I am guilty of this with mushrooms. As a meat-eater, I avoided mushrooms like the plague. I didn’t like the look of them, the texture or the fact that they are technically fungi. If anyone offered me mushrooms or suggested adding them into a meal, I would pull a face and stomp my foot as I did not like mushrooms. As cutting out meat and dairy meant I had less to choose from at mealtimes, I told myself that I needed to be more openminded when it came to fruit, vegetables and legumes. I now like mushrooms, I don’t love them but I like them. I slowly introduced myself to the idea of eating mushrooms and now I enjoy stuffed mushrooms, crumbed mushrooms and even mushroom skewers.
7. Don’t compare yourself to others
Everyone is on their own journey and it is important to be on yours at your own pace in your own time. Everyone has a different reason for deciding to have a vegan diet, everyone enjoys different foods and everyone has different opinions as to what we should and shouldn’t be eating. It is important to take the time to find what best works for your mind, body and soul. Find what you like, what you dislike, what gives you energy, what you most enjoy and stick to it. It can sometimes be easy to be influenced by others but just remember, everyone is different.
8. Don’t give up
When starting a vegan diet, it can sometimes be easy to be tempted by a white chocolate cookie or to even accidentally eat something as you didn’t know it had animal products in it. Don’t worry, we have all been there! The important thing is to not give up. So you slipped up at breakfast and accidentally ate a bit of butter, that doesn’t mean you need to write off the whole day. Just be more aware of what you are having for lunch, snacks and dinner and keep powering through. Determination is key!
9. Don’t overdo it
If you decide you want to be a vegan, you really don’t have to instantly throw out all of your food and half of your wardrobe to be completely animal-free. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be a perfect vegan right away. It’s like a new job, you don’t go in on the first day and completely master the role, it takes time to understand and learn processes and skills. Allow yourself to ease into your new diet, take time to research and understand more and then make decisions. No one will judge you for wearing leather shoes when you say you don’t eat meat or if they do, who cares? You are on your own journey to mastering a longterm and sustainable diet and lifestyle.
10. Just try
The important thing with everything you do comes down to the effort you put in. As long as you can say you have done your best, then that is all that matters. Take all the above points into consideration and just be the best you can be, make yourself proud and pat yourself on the back every once in a while. Whether you lowered your cholesterol, saved an animal's life or cut down your CO2 emissions, you're doing a pretty great job.