The abundance of useful information available all around us can make changing your diet relatively easy and effortless.
A great place to start your transition to a vegan diet is to eliminate chicken and eggs or try going vegetarian first to see how your body adjusts to the change.
We’d like to present the top 7 tips on embracing your new vegan lifestyle.
#1 Start Your Day With A Green Smoothie
By starting your day with a green smoothie you will develop a taste for healthy food and you won’t leave much room for other foods.
For instance, have a fruit- or veggie-based smoothie before breakfast or even before your afternoon snack. Some great choices include:
- Banana, baby spinach, green apple and nuts
- Raspberry, blueberry and almonds
- Banana, orange, baby spinach, chia seeds
#2 Think Of It As An Evolution
Experts agree that being vegan should not be viewed as the finish line, but rather as an evolution of healthy eating and learning to love to cook and experiment with food. Don’t forget to:
- Explore new cuisines
- Be adventurous with food
- Be easy on yourself
#3 Don’t Worry About The Protein
Don’t stress too much about the protein because there are plenty of great sources of it you can include in your everyday diet without eating any meat or dairy. You can meet your daily protein requirements by eating
- Quinoa, nuts, and hemp seeds
- Asparagus, cauliflower, and broccoli
- Beans, soy
#4 Eat Fruits And Veggies
Eating fruits and veggies may sound redundant but in reality many vegans are carb-crazy pasta, fries and bread eaters who substitute their meat with starch.
Being vegan means giving your body the vital nutrients and antioxidants it needs to function properly so you need to focus on eating as much fruits and veggies as possible.
Start with the ones that are common and readily available, such as:
- Mushrooms, peppers
- Cherry tomatoes, baby spinach
- Bananas, apples, blueberries and grapes
#5 Eat As Much As You Like
People who’d like to go vegan in theory but are afraid to do it in practice are often those who enjoy overeating, consuming comfort food and generally being gourmands.
Excess fat and salt are what makes non-vegan foods so delicious, but going vegan doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of tasty food.
For added taste make sure your diet contains:
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Olives
- Fresh basil
- Cold-pressed flax seed oil
#6 You Can Still Eat Out
Being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean always bringing lunch from home or skipping dinners out with friends.
Many restaurants now offer vegan menus or can substitute meat products for vegan alternatives at no additional cost.
Check out the following restaurants that embrace the vegan diet and enjoy eating out like everyone else:
- Mexican chain Chipotle
- National chain Tropical Smoothie Café
- New York-based chain Fresh & Co.
#7 Be Resourceful
There is plenty of information on going vegan all around us. When you Google the word ‘vegan’ you get just under 200,000,000 results!
From cutsie blogs to peer-reviewed books and scientific articles. Everything there is to know about going vegan is right at your fingertips.
Even Netflix has a few options to help you in the transition, such as:
