Before you change your diet, there are things to consider when becoming vegan.
You’d be surprised how many food items you can not eat, if you go from a meat eater or vegetarian to vegan. Plenty of hidden things like beeswax, honey, milk products.
So before you make the change, give it a lot of thought and make sure that a vegan lifestyle is for you.
This is just not food, this is the clothes you wear, the things you use and the items around your home. There is a lot you need to take into account when you become vegan as it is not just simply stopping eating meat and animal by products.
Did you know that a lot of items around the home or the clothes you wear are not vegan? It could be something as simple as colouring, like carmine.
Things To Consider When Becoming Vegan
Don’t change your food intake right away
The biggest mistake when going vegan is completely stopping all the foods you previously ate.
This can cause some temporary symptoms and upset your digestive system. Eliminate foods gently, stop a couple of meats over time, then stopping dairy slowly.
Your digestion system is delicate and needs taking care of, try not to shock it as it can cause some awful gastrointestinal issues.
You can also lose a lot of energy as your body will be reacting to the change in what you are eating. So the foods you previously got your energy from is no longer available, so find good products that will give you the same energy.
Replace the vitamins/minerals/proteins healthily
You can lose a lot of valuable vitamins, minerals and proteins if you stop eating meat and animal byproducts so you want to make sure you have something set up to replace them naturally. Try not to use supplements to replace healthy foods, however, you could always try buying from reputable brands like the Gold Bee Online Store where you can buy healthy ingredients such as organic honey that also includes key nutrients like protein and fiber.
Eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables are a great way to increase your vitamins. You can create some beautiful thrifty seasonal soups by using the vegetables available to you at that time of year and completely vegan too!
There are plenty of foods you can have to replace them, especially vegan meat substitutes that are jam-packed full of protein.
Grains and vegetables are super important to get that vital iron and calcium for example.
Look into having a nutrition test to check that your levels are healthy with the changes to your diet. You can get an exclusive discount by clicking here and get 15% off testing.
Don’t eat junk foods
You would be surprised how easy it is to eat junk food because there is nothing else to eat. You’d be surprised how much healthy food and granola/grain bars are actually vegan. Or you can buy it all yourself.
I remember when I went vegetarian and I went to the junk foods as it was just easy.
Be healthy!
Consider the costs
I found that meat alternatives can be expensive, especially the vegan versions.
There are not many chains out there that do a lot of plant based foods, so ensuring that you are keeping the costs as low as possible and make sure you shop around for the best possible prices.
Vegan versions of items tend to cost more, but they are getting cheaper as the items are more common.
Most major chains have a version of plant based/vegan selections so we are getting there. But watch out as some are processed. Vegan doesn’t always mean healthy!
Read the ingredients for everything!
You may find that you are having to read the labels for everything, googling random items to make sure it is nor derived from animals.
I know that when I went vegan, I found a lot of items had byproducts in from animals and I would have never known!
Also, vegetarian friendly could also be vegan friendly, so get reading what is in there!
You need to also check the items you are buying, making sure they don’t contain carmine or byproducts. Even things like candles, sofas clothes!
Don’t ditch everything you have to replace if you can;t afford it, slowly do it over time. You have already bought it, so might as well keep using it, or give it away to someone who needs it.
A table could have been polished with beeswax, or your polish has beeswax in.
Final thoughts
After some time of practising being vegan. your body will be used to it and your energy will perk up.
Be wary of what you buy, even a random item such as a pen (squid ink)
You really have to be thoughtful about everything you buy, as it can contain, be covered in or have something from an animal in there some how.
Spices and herbs are your best friend! Food can be bland and I found that throwing in herbs and spices makes dishes taste wonderful. Grab that garlic, ginger, rosemary and make some wonderful foods!
You can literally have everything you had before, a nice roast dinner, pies, cake! But remove the animal byproducts and swap out for other tasty options!
It’s stressful at first and don’t panic if you accidentally eat/buy something that has an animal byproduct in, everyone has made the same mistake at some point. Whether they admit it or not, is another thing!
*This is a collaboration post
Copyright: Image by StockUnlimited
Some great tips here! Whilst some people can go vegan overnight, I tend to recommend doing it gradually so that you’re more likely to stick to it. I did veganuary for a couple of years before going vegan and I’m not gonna lie, it was hard! Then I gradually went vegan over a year or so and found that to be much easier to handle.