So you’ve decided to go vegan or perhaps you just want to try a plant based diet to see if it’s for you. What’s the best way to get started? A Google search on the topic will overwhelm you with well-meaning but often confusing advice. Here are 5 tips to ensure a smooth transition from an animal based to a plant-based diet.
1. Transition Incrementally
Changing your diet drastically overnight is a bad idea both from a physiological and psychological perspective. While some people have successfully transitioned from animal products to veganism suddenly, this can be hard on your gut and your psyche. It leads many to complain after a few weeks that veganism just isn’t working for them or that their body just isn’t right without meat. This is no surprise since rapidly altering your diet is a shock to your digestive system as well as your habits and eating culture. The body and mind need time to change, and most successful transitions happen more gradually.
Some people like to give up meat, then fish then dairy in stages. Another approach is to start with 1 day of the week and call it meat-free (Mon)day. Most can usually handle multiple meat-free days quite quickly and transitioning to Mon-Tue-Wed can be the next step. When you’ve mastered this, you might transition to a weekday vegan, where you only indulge in meat on weekends. A further step is to only eat meat on special occasions like religious holidays / weddings etc. At this point your body has probably mostly adapted to a diet free of animal products and you will be ready to become a full vegan.
Be sure to go at your own pace and don’t listen to others who criticize the path of your transition. Some meat eaters will mock you and, sadly, some sanctimonious vegans might try to invalidate the amazing progress you’ve made. Try to filter out the noise and keep to the worthy goals you have set for yourself.
2. Create a list of plant-based comfort foods
This is very important. Assemble a list of plant-based comfort foods, not necessarily only healthy ones, which can be your fallback when you are plagued with that gotta-have-some-meat craving. While the craving is largely psychological, it can be real for some and is responsible for much backsliding. The comfort food will help to “take you home” without having to fall off the wagon.
Of course, the ultimate comfort food for many involves modern plant-based meats such as Impossible Burger, Beyond meat and Just Egg. These meat changelings are so much like meat that most people don’t really notice the difference, especially in things like burgers, egg-muffins or grilled cheese sandwiches.
3. Avoid over-reliance on meat substitutes
Despite their important role as comfort food, be careful not to overdo it with meat substitutes. Unlike many plant foods, most meat substitutes are not health-foods. They are highly processed and usually contain unhealthy oils among other dubious ingredients. This can play havoc with your digestive system and overall health if they become a large part of your diet.
The key is to use them sparingly to treat yourself just as you did with certain foods when you ate meat. Use them sparingly as comfort foods while you discover the vast world of plant-based cooking and its many delicacies just waiting to become your new comfort foods.
4. Announce to your family, friends and colleagues that you are making the transition
Publicly announcing that you are transitioning to a plant-based diet will give you a strong incentive to follow through with your plans. The understanding and support of those around you will also make it easier when eating together and you may even get some encouragement and support to keep you on your path.
This framing of your environment is sometimes called a “commitment device” and can be useful in many scenarios. Other commitment devices might involve selling kitchen equipment and utensils you use to prepare and eat meat. Different commitment devices work for different people, and you should try to implement as many as you can find to help keep you on your path to veganism.
5. Acknowledge the health, environmental and ethical benefits of each step
This is the easy part where you get to pat yourself on the back but it’s just as important as the other tips. There are many ways to celebrate milestones on your path to veganism. For example, many websites estimate animals killed per person per year and tallying the suffering saved by your actions can create meaningful milestones that can energize you and help you refocus on completing the journey. Acknowledging the progress you have made will encourage you to continue eliminating animal products form you diet and solidify the paradigm shift in your life.
Good luck! You’ll never regret the transition to a more ethical, healthy and environmentally conscious existence.
"Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And, to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure." - Erykah Badu
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