A few days ago I came across an article saying that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want to raise their baby vegan. Allegedly, the Queen herself is not amused at all and she doesn’t want her grandson and his wife to raise their child vegan.
Who can blame her though? When I told my grandparents that I was vegan, they thought I was completely crazy. My dad even still thinks it’s ‘just a phase’.
Luckily, if you’re reading this, you’re most probably old enough to make your own food choices and if you want to be vegan, nobody can stop you. Whether you want to do it for your own health, for the environment, for the animals or for all of the above, here are some helpful beginner tips on how to navigate through life as a vegan.
1) Know your ‘why‘
As with every lifestyle change or new habit you’re trying to establish, having a clear motivation is crucial for your success. When it comes to being vegan, there are so many resources out there that can help you learn more about the impact our consumption of animal products has on the environment, the animals and our health.
I think documentaries are one of the best ways of educating yourself about a topic, so here are my top recommendations for each of the main motivations behind going vegan: Earthlings (about animals), Cowspiracy (about the environment) and Forks Over Knives (about health).
2) Tell/don’t tell
When you go vegan, you can tell everyone, but you don’t have to tell anyone.
I think one of the biggest issues new vegans face is the anxiety surrounding what other people will think about the fact that they’re vegan now.
The truth is, most people don’t even care as much as you think they do.
But in any case, a good place to start is just telling your close friends and anyone you trust to no make fun of you or judge your decision. Not that this is very common in my experience, but you’ll naturally feel more confident about it after being vegan for a while. Trust me, once you start telling more people about it, there will be a day when someone asks you where you get your protein from (congrats, you’re a real vegan now!). And if by then you have been living vegan for some time, you can answer that question easily.
3) Experience
As a last tip, get out there and try all the delicious vegan food there is!
If you live in a somewhat big city, chances are there is at least a handful of completely vegan restaurants and dozens of places with amazing vegan options. Downloading the app HappyCow can be super helpful in finding them all.
You’ll be amazed by the variety of cuisines, vegan dishes and desserts that you didn’t even know existed in your city. It doesn’t matter if you are more the wholefoods plant-based vegan or the junk food vegan; there are plenty of choices for everyone. Especially for the latter one, the increasing number of vegan choices becoming available means you’ll definitely not have to live your life without pizza, burgers, mac and cheese, or ice cream.
So, if you want to make the switch don’t worry about whether or not you can do it. Most likely it will be easier than you think. And if you want more guidance and tips during your transition you can sign up to challenge22.com or Veganuary where you get free recipes, recommendations and answers to all your questions regarding veganism.
Also, feel free to reach out to me, I’m always happy to help! You can find my Instagram page here.
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