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A few years ago, I wrote an article about my journey towards becoming a vegetarian. I followed a vegetarian diet for at least 5 years before I accidentally became vegan. Although the journey was long, the changes I felt were instant and the satisfaction of doing my part for the planet and animal welfare is immense. This is why I wanted to share my path to going plant-based with you.

Hopefully, reading this will help you gain a different perspective and inspire you to reduce your consumption of meat and dairy. And if it helps you go fully plant-based as well, then even better!

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Why I became a vegetarian

Before I get into why I chose to go fully plant-based, I recommend you read my article about becoming a vegetarian. If you’re looking to make a change in your life that will help your health, your body, and the planet, going vegetarian is a great start.

And if you’re not ready to make the full shift, you can do as I did, and try being a weekday vegetarian, or having meatless meals a few times a week. The truth is, every little bit helps, especially since we know that cutting down your meat and dairy intake is the single best thing you can do to help reverse climate change.

Why I went fully vegan

One day in November 2019, a few days after my birthday, I woke up with the idea of trying to be vegan for a week. It was a test to see if it were possible and if I would enjoy it.

I had always told myself I would try going plant-based, and just like when I was a weekday vegetarian, I wanted to ease into it, test it out and see if I enjoyed it. It would also have an impact on Derek and his diet, so I wanted to make sure we were both ready for me to commit to the change.

My reasons for going vegan are the same as for going vegetarian. The positive impact on the environment, animal welfare, the health benefits – all of the usual suspects.

Well, one week of being vegan turned into not wanting not to be vegan. I said the same thing when I became vegetarian, and it’s even more true now, but I really can’t see myself becoming a meat-eater again. I’ve lost all appetite and desire to eat meat or animal products.

I don’t judge others who eat meat. My family and friends are all meat-eaters. I’m actually the only vegan in my family and close friends – no one is vegetarian or pescatarian or anything of the sort. In fact, I never asked or forced Derek to become plant-based either. We just make it work.

How do you make a relationship work with a non-vegan?

When I chose to try being vegan for a week, Derek was not too keen on the idea. He wasn’t opposed to it, but like any decision one person makes in a relationship, it would undoubtedly have effects on the other person as well. He knew that my being vegan would impact his eating habits as well.

I never forced Derek to become vegan or to give up any foods he wanted to keep eating. While I was vegetarian, I asked him to stop cooking bacon while I was home because the smell really bothered me, but that was it. He could still make and enjoy it, just not when I was home. (The pandemic hit shortly after this, so now he has to wait for me to leave the house, which never happens. Oops!)

But, as I kept up with my plant-based diet, Derek also shifted his eating habits. Before he used to be quite picky, so when I would have a vegetarian meal, he would opt for its carnivore version. For example, I would make General Tso with tofu, and he would stick to the chicken version.

But, after our year of travel, and me being vegetarian for so long, his eating habits started to change. So he hopped on the vegan wagon as well. Although he does still eat meat and dairy once in a while, his diet is mainly vegan. We cook only one meal for supper and that’s always vegan. For lunch, it varies – often, we’ll share the same vegan meal. But Derek loves having eggs, so sometimes that will be his lunch. When we eat out, he’ll have whatever he wants, whether it’s a plant or meat-based meal.

Basically, he’s vegan 90% of the time, and that’s perfectly ok for me. As I said, the main thing is to reduce the amount of meat and dairy we consume, so whatever efforts are made are good enough for me.

Why it took me so long to go vegan

Now that I look back at my journey into becoming vegan, I wonder why it took me so long to make the shift. My concern for animal welfare and the environmental impacts of my diet were deep enough that you would think I could have made that shift long before.

And before I start giving you a bunch of random excuses why I didn’t go plant-based earlier, know that each journey is different, and there’s no right way to go vegan, vegetarian, or whatever diet you want to go for.

But here are some reasons why I didn’t make the shift to becoming plant-based earlier. Maybe you’ll recognize some of these and feel the same way too.

• I really loved cheese: I know this is a big one for many people. It’s hard to imagine a life without cheese. I mean, it’s so good. Why would you want to give it up? I even made efforts to buy cheeses from ‘ethical’ farms when I could, so wasn’t that enough? Well, no. The reality is that producing cheese is bad for the animals that make the milk, and it’s a cruel practice either way.
  
  Today, there are so many plant-based cheeses that I don’t even miss ‘real cheese’. And I feel better knowing that no animals were harmed in the process.
  
  And truth be told, if you really love cheese and don’t want to give it up, don’t. Cut out everything else and keep the cheese. Just the impact of doing that will be big enough!
  
• I didn’t know why eating eggs were so bad: I figured there was nothing wrong with eating eggs. I mean, hens lay eggs every day and if the egg isn’t fertilized, a chick won’t hatch, so what’s the issue? Well, what I didn’t know is that there is a very big problem with egg production. Most eggs come from farmed chickens who are often kept in poor conditions. Plus, they’re sent to slaughter when their egg production slows down.
  
  Not only does the production of eggs require the exploitation of female chickens, it is also the cause of the murder of male chicks within 15 minutes of hatching. That’s seriously cruel. But I had no idea that this was happening.

• I love to bake, and cook – it’s going to be too hard without eggs and butter: Boy, was I wrong about this one. I actually haven’t found it to be any harder or more complicated to bake or cook vegan food. Ok, little lie. Sometimes, cooking is longer (but not harder) because of the prep time. Obviously, it’s a lot longer to clean, chop, dice, slice veggies than it is to throw a slab of meat in the oven, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
  
  And for the baking, there is no shortage of delicious vegan baking recipes to choose from. In fact, my favorite thing is baking for friends and family, and seeing how shocked they are when they realize the treat is actually vegan. Trust me when I say you don’t need animal products for delicious cooking or baking.
  
• It would be too hard to travel and be vegan: I had this same concern when I became vegetarian. I thought it would be so hard to find vegetarian food when traveling. But those concerns were laid to rest when tried eating vegetarian while traveling first hand.
  
  Just like with vegetarian food, there are always vegan options available. They can be mains or side dishes. I’ll be sure to write an article about traveling when vegan.
  
• I wouldn’t be able to go eat with friends anymore: Wrong again! My main concern was that it would be such a hassle for friends and family to have to cook a different meal when I went over. Or that my friends would be forced to eat in vegan restaurants when I was there.
  
  When we have get-togethers in larger groups, I always bring a meal for myself that can be shared with others. I don’t want to burden my friends with cooking an extra meal for me. Plus, I love sharing new vegan recipes with others – often, they add it to their regular menus as well.
  
  And nowadays, restaurants often will have vegan options on their menus, or they can easily accommodate vegans by turning one of their dishes to a plant-based version. And if all fails, there are always side dishes that can turn into main meals when combined. But I do still drag my friends to vegan restaurants… and they love it!

12 easy tips on how to go plant-based

Here are a few tips to help you shift into veganism. Hopefully, they can be helpful to you as you transition to a plant-based diet.

1. Transition to a vegan diet at your own pace. Just do it your way!

Just like with anything, there’s no right way to make a change. You can try going cold turkey, or you can start replacing some of your meals with plant-based ones. Whatever works for you is the right pace. So don’t stress this part. If you’re reducing your meat and dairy intake, you’re doing great!

I found it easier to go vegan cold turkey, but I was vegetarian for 5 years before that, so in a certain way, it was a slow transition. And when I cut out dairy and eggs, it was a smaller step than cutting meat, dairy, and all animal products all at once. But getting rid of the temptation swiftly was easier for me.

2. Remember why you’re doing this

It’s easy to get tempted or to veer off track when it comes to being plant-based. Truthfully, a lot of people don’t understand why I chose to become vegan. The comment I hear the most is from people who mock me for thinking my habit will have an impact on the planet. But one person being vegan for one year saves 105 animal lives. And that’s not negligible at all. In fact, that’s pretty big.

I also like to remind myself that I’m no longer giving my hard-earned money away to large corporations that harm the planet and animals.

Remember why you’re doing this – whether for your own health benefits, for the good of the planet, or for the welfare of animals. Or any other reason. They’re all valid when it comes to shifting your lifestyle.

3. Don’t get discouraged when going plant-based

We know making a big shift like this is not easy, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Just strive to do a little more with each passing day. Start at a pace that’s comfortable for you. Move to a rhythm that you’re able to keep up. And if you have a setback, no worries. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

If you have a bite of meat or some cheese, or if you don’t want to go fully plant-based, again, no worries. Whatever steps you make to reduce your consumption of meat and dairy will make a big impact.

If you find the transition is hard, talk to someone about it. Remind yourself why you’re doing this and the positive impact you’re making. And most of all, find a community of like-minded people to help you along the way.

4. Find or build a community of like-minded, plant-based people

This is probably one of the best things you can do to help you stay on track, find new recipes and products, learn more, and connect with others.

It’s not always easy making such a drastic change with how society wants us to be or the rules it wants you to follow. But finding or creating a community of like-minded people will help you out.

Look for people on social media that you can connect with. Find Facebook groups of vegan or plant-based people in your area. Join groups on Pinterest or Reddit where they discuss all things vegan.

We’re in an age where we can all be connected so easily, that finding like-minded people is never very hard.

5. Try vegan options of your favorite meals

One of the easiest ways to enjoy the transition into a plant-based diet is by finding vegan versions of your favorite meal. And although it may seem hard and complicated, it’s really not.

Whatever you like to eat, search for the vegan version of it. Pinterest and Google are great places to start looking for vegan recipes. The possibilities are literally endless!

6. Find vegan cookbooks and blogs you like

There are a ton of great cookbooks out there. Find some that inspire you and get them. Here are a few that we really love. They have helped transform our cooking into a plant-based feast.

Here are also some blogs that have great vegan recipes:

• Cookie & Kate
• Oh She Glows
• Love and Lemons
• Nutrition Facts – From our favorite doctor and nutritionist, Dr Greger
• Rabbit and Wolves – We love the salisbury steak recipe from this site

7. Preparation is key and weekly menus are life-savers when going vegan

We hate trying to figure out what to have for supper every night, so instead, we make a weekly menu. At the end of each week, we plan our meals for the coming week. This helps us ensure we have everything we need at home, and that we reduce waste in the kitchen. When everything we buy is going to be used, we help reduce food waste, which is a huge problem in the world.

Our weekly menus also help us prep things earlier. And when it comes to cooking vegan meals, preparation is key. It’s also, quite often, the longest part of meal-making. So if we can chop, clean, soak or marinate things earlier, it helps optimize our time.

8. Keep a running list of vegan recipes you love

When it comes to our weekly menus, we always balance them out with new and old recipes. Having a list of plant-based recipes handy helps us take the guessing work out of our weekly meal plans. Plus, we love making those delicious recipes we love, tweaking them a little each time.

Keeping a running list of vegan recipes will help you build a solid repertoire of meals you can refer to when you’re running low on inspiration. And having that list will help you realize that you don’t need a ton of recipes to fuel you each month. Often, a good list of 20-25 recipes will be enough for a whole month.

9. Try new plant-based products and recipes

As much as it is fun to remake those tried and tested recipes, we also love trying new ones. When we make our weekly meal plans, we often make half of the meals from our list and another half of new recipes. It’s always fun and interesting to try new things – it keeps our imagination flowing to create our own recipes, and adds to our overall repertoire.

We also love trying out new vegan products from the store. Truth is, we love encouraging and supporting vegan brands that are often hard to find in grocery stores. The more people buy these products, the larger the selection of plant-based products will grow in our grocery stores.

Yes, not all vegan products are good for you – the list of ingredients can sometimes be scary. But when we find clean products, we love to try them out. And yes, they’re not always hits, but at least we had fun trying them! We learn about many of these brands through the vegan social media groups we’ve joined.

10. Stock up on vegan staples in your pantry

One of the easiest ways to succeed in becoming a vegan is by ensuring you have the vegan staples ready to use. Just like with any cuisine, there are certain things that are a must. For vegans, obviously, fruits and veggies are imperative, but you shouldn’t stock up on those, especially if you’re trying to reduce food waste. Instead, here are some must-haves for your pantry:

• Grains: Go with your favorites, choosing from chia, quinoa, oats, rice, etc.
• Herbs and spices: dried herbs (or fresh, depening on the season) will help you enhance the flavors of your meals
• Pastes: We love having tahini on hand, as well as miso paste, tomato paste, etc.
• Alternative milks: We try to avoid almond milk, because it’s quite taxing on the environment. We often make our own cashew milk, or buy it. Find an alternative milk you enjoy, and make sure you have some available. Having coconut milk is always a plus too!
• Nutritional yeast: This is a must for vegans as it often finds its way into recipes. It adds a cheesy umami flavor we absolutely love!
• Beans: Yes, how can you forget these plant-based protein powerhouses?! We always have either canned or dried beans. Chickpeas, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, whatever you like, have some available.
• Dried fruits: Whether it’s cranberries, dates, raisins or goji berries, these dried fruits often find themselves in the recipes we make. Either for cooking or baking. And we love it. They add a sweetness and flavor we can’t get enough of.

11. Get your supplements

This tip often gets overlooked, but it’s such an important part of becoming plant-based. No, I’m not talking about the age-old questions we always get about ‘Where do you get your protein?’. Side note here, protein deficiency isn’t a real thing for vegans or anyone really. Vegans get their proteins the same place animals do – from plants.

I’m not going to get into a whole nutrition course here, but there are so many plants, fruits, and veggies that are full of protein. So just make sure you’re eating a colorful and balanced diet, and you should be good!

However, whether plant-based or not, there are some supplements that are hard to get from our diets, so taking these vitamins will help. B12 supplements are a big one that should not be overlooked, especially if you have a plant-heavy diet (vegan or vegetarian). We also take vitamin D to make sure our immune systems stay strong, help our bones, and aids in absorbing some important nutrients.

Basically, whether plant-based or not, our diets don’t always provide enough of the nutrients we need, so taking supplements is an important part of treating our bodies right.

12. Keep learning about plant-based lifestyles

We are constantly learning about new plant-based lifestyles, new options of brands and products, new facts about the benefits of being plant-based, new recipes, etc.

In fact, because we’re constantly learning, we’re adding and changing our habits as well. If you don’t learn, you don’t grow and evolve. Consistent learning allows us to stay empathetic and remain connected to the convictions we have.

And if you’re not ready to go fully plant-based when it comes to your diet, go vegan in other parts of your life – buy vegan or cruelty-free cosmetics. Stop buying fur or leather goods. Buy your meal from ethical farmers and producers. The ways to make a positive impact are endless.

I hope these tips and recommendations will help you make the shift into a plant-based lifestyle. As I said, don’t be too hard on yourself, enjoy the process, take the time you need to help you get to where you want. Just remember your why.

12 tips to help you go vegan

Here’s a quick recap of the 12 tips to help you go plant-based. Hopefully, this will help you transition to a vegan diet.

1. Transition to at your own pace. Just do it your way
2. Remember why you’re doing this
3. Don’t get discouraged when going plant-based
4. Find or build a community of like-minded, plant-based people
5. Try vegan options of your favorite meals
6. Find vegan cookbooks and blogs you like
7. Preparation is key and weekly menus are life-savers
8. Keep a running list of vegan recipes you love
9. Try new plant-based products and recipes
10. Stock up on vegan staples in your pantry
11. Get your supplements
12. Keep learning about plant-based lifestyles

We’d love to hear from you. Did these tips help you? Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments.

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