7 Tips on Becoming a Vegan

Veganism has spread its wings across the entire globe within a short span. This healthy way of life is trending, and rightly so. For, veganism isn’t just about eating healthy. It encompasses a healthy body, along with an equally pure and healthy mind and soul. If you’ve already taken this big bold step towards a healthy and happy life ahead – well, congratulations! But if you’re still wondering how to make a new beginning (for, it’s not easy, of course), here are some vegan tips and tricks.

Source: organicauthority

Tips for Becoming Vegan

1. Go part by part: Start by assuring yourself that it isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s a long journey. Remember you’re going to undo all that you’ve been eating or doing as part of your everyday lifestyle. It can’t happen in a single day. Be prepared to give yourself that time.  Start small, but most importantly, be consistent in your practice. Say, cut out the meat first from your diet. If you find that difficult altogether, remove the red meat and then move on to other non-vegetarian items. Then opt out the dairy. You may want to keep one day a week as meatless, another as dairy-free, yet another as meat and dairy-free both, until you find yourself comfortable doing this every day of the week.
2. Remember your goals: Setting a goal and reminding yourself daily about it is one of the crucial vegan tips for beginners. Why have you decided to go vegan? Keep reminding yourself this all along your journey. This would help you stay clear and undistracted as you tread along. The goal could be anything – a kind act to save the lives of countless innocent wildlife or a simple desire to live long and healthy.
3. Find a partner: Trust us, your vegan journey would become much easier and enjoyable! Two’s always company, so why not in this noble cause? Besides, a like-minded partner/friend could really help you stay on your path and not give up easily.  Become a part of vegan discussion forums online or take part in their events. Volunteer at farm animal sanctuaries – a deep insight into the lives of innocent creatures could really open your eyes. Find similar vegan friends on social media platforms; go ahead and put forward your questions, concerns and opinions about going vegan. Exchanging ideas would really help clear the mist of doubt.
4. Include essential nutrients to your diet: Going vegan in no way means that you need to compromise with your vital nutrients you were getting from meat and dairy. However, there are a group of nutrients known and proven to be deficient in a typical plant-based diet. For instance, getting enough vitamin B12 is a concern for many vegans. You must ensure that these scarcely found nutrients are a part of your diet. If unsure of what these nutrients are and how much of them you need, you may use online resources to help you keep track. VegansFirst, among others is a reliable plant-based resource that discusses such critical aspects related to the vegan diet. For context, there are a handful of vegan food sources to depend on in addition to 100% vegan B12 supplements and cereals, vitamin D from soy and nut milk and cereal too; you also get it from sunlight. And protein, there’s plenty in plant-based food like beans, lentils and pulses, and even grains. A vegan protein shake daily also helps.
5. Add more to your vegan lifestyle: As you become more comfortable with vegan food, you’d know that you’re ready to take the next big leap in your journey of going 100% vegan. This means moving ahead from just vegan food to adopting a complete vegan lifestyle. For this, we need to be open to embracing vegan products for everyday use, say clothes, cosmetics and other skincare products. The best part is, they’re just as wonderful as the ones you may already be using, with the added advantage of bring cruelty-free.
6. Learn to cook: You’re actually going to enjoy this much more than anytime else! Even if you didn’t like cooking too much, take this as a golden opportunity to try out new and amazing variations to what you’re already eating. And there are tons of healthy, wholesome, and yummylicious vegan recipes to try out. Besides, chances are that cooking yourself may actually become a necessity before you even realise it. All the processed and ready-to-eat meals that you were merrily enjoying up to now may contain all or traces of animal-derived ingredients. You’ll find plenty of online resources to help you cook vegan food.
7. Stock up your vegan snacks: Again, this would become more necessary than ever before. Simply because all your other snacks you were counting on to date to feed yourself during mid-meal hunger pangs may not be suitable anymore (for containing non-vegan ingredients). You’d be happy to know that you’re actually going to find a huge variety to satisfy your taste buds – sweet, salty, crunchy and even creamy! Whatever you desire, you can find it in vegan range that’s nutritious and delicious both, plus free of any non-vegan composition. It’s only a matter of finding the right store near you or the right resource online to order stuff.

It’s not entirely difficult now with these going vegan tips. A bit of determination, persistence and vegan friends can make the journey smooth and fun.