- It's not as hard as you think it will be. We always hear "Wow, I could never do that." Heck, I used to say I could never do it. I once had a supervisor who was vegan and I was absolutely amazed by her. Now, I get it. While making any life change isn't easy, it's not nearly as difficult as you think it will be. You will learn, grow, and it will get easier.
- You don't have to eat anything weird, unless you want to. This is a big one. My immediate response to many of the recipes on Pinterest was "oh, hell no." I wasn't interested in eating chickpeas and kale. I didn't want to make lentil meatloaf, seitan, or eat tofu. The good news is, it's absolutely possible to make many of the foods you already eat vegan.
- Try something new, you might like it. I know I just said you don't have to eat anything weird, but the time will come when you're going to want to try something different or eat some of these "vegan foods." Chickpeas actually taste really good, if you make them correctly. I particularly like the chickpea salad sandwich (faux tuna or egg salad sandwiches). I just got brave enough to make seitan and wish I had sooner. My husband doesn't like mushrooms, but he loved the Portobello mushroom steaks I made for dinner once. Many vegan foods are delicious, once you can get past how different it is from the way you might already be eating. You never know unless you try.
- Vegan dairy alternatives are ridiculously good. So many people don't want to go vegan because they can't give up cheese or ice cream. Vegan cheese has come a long way, is so much healthier than dairy cheeses, and tastes good. Vegan ice cream is crazy good! My favorites are So Delicious, Daiya, and Magnum also makes dairy-free ice cream bars.
- It's okay if you're not perfect. If you accidently, or even on purpose, eat something that's not vegan it's not the end of the world. But, you may find that your tastes have changed and you don't love it as much as you used to. There've been a couple of times that we accidently ate something that wasn't vegan. We learned and moved on. You can't un-eat it, so don't stress. Being vegan is about intention, not perfection.
This really is a great time to be vegan because it's ridiculously easy now. Even 10 years ago, being vegan was so much more work than it is now. I love how simple it is to look for a new recipe on Pinterest, the vegan blogs, and how many vegan cookbooks there are with completely practical recipes. And there are so many great vegan foods there are out there now. Almost every single dairy product has a vegan alternative, vegan meat alternatives are mostly delicious, and most pastas are vegan. And, of course, fruits and veggies are always vegan!
But, the most important take-away is this... THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO BE A VEGAN. There is no one right reason to be a vegan. Whatever your way or reason is, it's the right one. If you're doing it for the animals, amazing! If you're doing it for your health, fantastic!
There are so many people with so many opinions about the right way to be a vegan, the right reasons to be vegan, the right things to eat as a vegan. People will say not to eat meat alternatives and judge those who do, or they will say that eating processed foods is wrong. So, one more time... there is no right way to be a vegan. Tell those judgy people to shut the f*ck up and do your own thing. Your life will be so much happier and being vegan will be so much easier.
Please know this is not in anyway a sponsored post, but I do I believe in what Veganuary is doing. So, please check them out and, if it strikes your fancy, give it a shot this January!
