Carry on Beautiful!

With more and more people engaging in veganuary every year, I thought a great to welcome some of y’all to the vegan side would be to share some of the little things I’ve figured out over my 3 years of veganism. Hopefully these tips will help someone out there as they transition to a cruelty free life style!

Don’t miss out!

A lot of people seem to think going vegan means making sacrifices, and living a life without pizzas or burgers. There was definitely a time that was the case, but worry no more! It may take a little extra looking around, but you can almost definitely find a vegan version of anything you fancy. Even Dominos and KFC and starting to ride on the vegan wave!

Educate yourself

Once you’ve made the connections that lead to you going vegan, it can be easy to want to transfer that knowledge to everyone you know. Chances are though, you’ll just become the ‘preachy vegan’ that makes us all look bad! Instead I focus on educating myself, both to cement my beliefs, and also so that when I inevitably come up against the ‘I love meat so I’m starting an argument’ people, I have a fact based answer for everything.

Count your calories

This is an ‘if you can and actually want to’ thing, if this could trigger something for you absolutely please do not do it! For me though, when I first went vegan I felt tired all the time, and once I started counting calories it was clearly because I had gone from eating 2000+ calories a day, to around 500. It’s a lot easier to eat healthy, low calorie options without meaning to when first getting into veganism, so make sure you’re eating enough!

A mistake is not the end!

A few weeks into veganism, I ate a Jaffa cake my mum offered me without even thinking. A few weeks into my boyfriend going vegan, he totally blanked and got a meat and cheese subway. Things happen, and though it sucks, it’s not a reason to give up! Even one vegan meal a week is an achievement if you’re used to a meat and dairy filled diet, so take things at your own pace and, so long as you are trying, go easy on yourself!

Have fun!

My final tip is to have fun with it! This is your chance to totally spice up your diet, try recipes you’ve never tried before, order in your first vegan take out! Veganism is far too often seen as a restrictive and boring way to live, and it’s so far from the truth. I’ve enjoyed cooking so much more since ditching animal products, and I’ve tried delicious dishes I’d never have tasted had I not gone vegan!

If you have any specific questions or queries about going vegan, leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer!

-Dana