How to Seamlessly Transition to a Vegan Diet

If you want to go vegan, but think it will be difficult, it's best to transition to veganism over time. Learn how to switch to a vegan diet here.

If you're wanting to become one of the 9.7 million Americans that are transitioning to a vegan diet, you're in the right place! Those transitioning to veganism are reaping the benefits for their own bodies as well as helping our planet. In this article, we show you how to prepare and switch to a vegan lifestyle safely. Read on to learn more! Prepare Your Mind As you start your transition to veganism, you should first learn why you're doing it and what to expect. It's easier to stay committed to a cause if you understand the facts surrounding it. Know Your Why If you've heard that taking on a vegan lifestyle is good for the environment (which it is), research the facts on why that's true! If you've always had a love for animals and can't stomach the thought of eating them anymore, look into the inhumane treatment of animals raised for slaughter. Knowing this information will make you stronger and remind you why you're choosing a plant-based diet for the moments you may feel weak in your decision-making. Steel Yourself While you may have a great community that supports your decision to go vegan, you will come up against people that don't understand. This is one more great reason to have researched beforehand. You may not want to engage in arguments, but people may want to engage you. Know that there are people along the way that will support you, but others that will try to ridicule you. Try not to become so overzealous with your mission that you ostracize other people and ruin your relationships. Not everyone is as fully informed as you are, but hitting them over the head with information they're not asking you for will only drive a wedge between you and your friendships. Research Recipes Before you begin, it could be helpful to find recipes to plan and prepare for your big switch. Problems come into play when you get hungry. It's easy in those situations to just grab something you know will fill you. If you already have great, vegan recipes and snacks on hand, you won't be tempted to fall back on old habits instead. It's also important that you know what ingredients are and aren't vegan. You have to learn what's acceptable in the vegan diet before you can be considered fully vegan. Something else that's important is knowing what you can grab when you're out and about. Sometimes hunger hits us when we're not prepared or life circumstances have left us without a plan. If you're grabbing lunch out with a friend, know where you can go. Also, know what fast food restaurants have good options for vegans! Manage Your Expectations If you're set on choosing the vegan lifestyle because you want to become a healthy, beautiful-skinned goddess overnight, you will be disappointed. Not everyone's body reacts to a vegan diet the same way. You won't miraculously have muscle tone and drop weight right away. So, if that's your goal, you'll need to manage your expectations for longevity. It's still possible to be vegan and eat unhealthily! Also, know that you'll probably fail at first, but it doesn't make you a failure. When you're used to eating meat, it can be difficult to switch to vegan substitutes. You have to give yourself time to adjust. Eventually, your taste buds will learn to love the substitutes and your cravings will subside. However, until then, don't focus so much on a mistake that you decide to quit altogether. Transition Your Body to a Vegan Diet How you transition to a vegan diet will be completely up to your personality and determination. Some people find success in cutting out animal products cold turkey while others thrive by becoming vegan slowly. Cold Turkey Going vegan cold turkey is only recommended if you've got the wherewithal to not give up when your body starts to wonder what's going on. Your body and digestive system would do better with some time to transition product types. When you're used to eating a certain way, your body could have some symptoms of completely cutting out animal products and switching to a plant-based diet. You will have to fight past those as your body levels out. However, it's entirely possible to become vegan this way. If you have an all-or-nothing personality and you know this is the only way you'll transition to veganism, go for it. Become a Vegetarian First Many people on their way to becoming vegan make a vegetarian pit stop first. This is a great way to start swapping out ingredients slowly to give your body and your taste buds time to adjust. If your primary source of nutrition in your current diet is meat, becoming a vegetarian first helps you to start working in more fruits and vegetables. This will help you feel healthier all around! Increase your plant-based forms of protein to curb your hunger and focus on slowly cutting out other animal products. Eventually, you'll be able to cut out the remaining animal products like eggs and honey without feeling completely overwhelmed. Have Vegan Days of the Week If the idea of cutting meat out altogether is too much for you to handle right now, try setting certain days of the week where you're attempting a vegan diet. This mentality will get you over the initial hump while putting your commitment issues at ease. Just be careful that you don't get stuck in this stage. Have a plan in mind of how you're going to increase the number of vegan days so that soon your meat days are gone completely. Otherwise, you will be a hybrid vegan which will be confusing for people around you wondering what the message of veganism really is. Using fewer animal products is, of course, a win! However, it's better for the environment, animals, and continuity if you make the full switch. Go Vegan If you're struggling to switch to a vegan diet by yourself, join a community to give you insight and strength. Keep a positive mentality by focusing on all the wonderful new foods and recipes you get to try instead of focusing on what you lose. For more information on becoming a vegan, check out our awesome blog! It's filled with wonderful tips to help you on your journey.