10 Steps to Becoming Vegan

For me becoming vegan was an evolution, a slow process. It is a big life decision and one that can be hard to jump into. These are the steps that I took to get to a fully vegan diet. These steps may or not work for everyone but I want people to know that it can be done and you can change at your own pace. I went from “ I could never be vegan” to fully embracing and loving the vegan lifestyle. Just remember little by little, little becomes a lot.

1. Do you Research & Watch Documentaries

The first thing you want to do after deciding you want to transition to a vegan diet is do do your research. This is important so you can understand what  being vegan means as well as learning a few things such as; vegans should incorporate a B12 supplement into their day.

Watching a few documentaries helped me to solidify my decision to become vegan. Documentaries can help you learn about the reasons to be vegan and the benefits of eating a more plant based diet. A few to consider watching are: What the Health, Cowspiracy & Forks over Knives (all can be found on Netflix). Here is also a list of some top vegan documentaries to check out. 

2. Mindset & your WHY

There are many reasons to switch to a vegan diet and I think that it is important you know why you want to become vegan. First off many people will ask you but more importantly you need to know why you are making the change because if you have no reason it will be harder to make the change. At first my reason was health based but upon research and watching a few documentaries I realized I also wanted to make a positive impact on the environment and that animals did not need to suffer because of me. It is not about which WHY you choose but about believing in that reason which brings us to your mindset. I think that our mindset has a big impact in what we do and don’t do. With such a major change it is important to have a positive outlook on the changes you are making. If you tell yourself you cannot make the change then you most likely will not. When things seem difficult remind yourself why you wanted to make a change and all the amazing foods you get to eat. (Avocados anyone?) Have an attitude of positivity and belief that you can make the transition to becoming vegan.

3. Switch to Plant Based Milk

A good first step in changing your eating habits is to stop buying dairy milk and switch to a plant based milk like soy, almond, coconut or even oat. Start using this in your cereal, coffee and as you would dairy milk. Note that you will want unflavored unsweetened non-dairy milk if you plan to make any savory dishes like soup. Don’t try one and give up, try out a few different kinds, when I first tried soy milk I thought it had a planty taste but tried almond milk and it my go to.

4. Eliminate Butter

Another smaller change you can make is to not use butter. Switch to Earth Balance a vegan butter substitute or cook with more oil. This is also a great chance to consume less oils / butters in general. Try peanut butter or avocado on toast. If baking you can even substitute butter with applesauce.

5. Eliminate Red Meat

Say bye bye to eating burgers, beef, bacon, and pork. By just eliminating red meat to begin with it gives you the room to still eat chicken and seafood so you are not cutting meat all at once.

6. Become Vegetarian

After eliminating red meat from your diet you want to eliminate chicken, turkey, seafood and any other meat from your diet. This step can be something you do slowly over a few weeks or just cold turkey (no pun intended). It is up to you to determine how quickly you want to take this step.

7. Eliminate Eggs

No more scrambled, over easy, hard boiled or omelettes. This step took me a little while because I thought breakfast would be ruined, it wasn’t. Eggs might be your go to breakfast (I know it was for me) but with some time you will realize you can make a killer breakfast without eggs. In this day and age it is even easier as new products like vegan eggs are being introduced. Just wait until you discover you can make tofu scrambles that are just as delicious.  

8. Eliminate Cheese

I hear it all the time “ I could NEVER give up cheese”; I said the same thing but here I am cheese free for over 18 months. This one was by far the hardest; to be fair cheese is addictive so it’s no wonder its so difficult to cut. Eliminating cheese from the diet completely is hard so it is great that there are so many vegan cheese options available from shreds to slices. You can even find recipes online for “cheese” sauces. Now no vegan cheese will ever be exactly the same as dairy cheese but after giving up cheese your taste buds will adapt and the vegan options taste pretty dang good. My favorite vegan cheesy pleasure is Annie’s Vegan Shells & Creamy sauce; essentially it is box mac n cheese. Also, more and more places are offering vegan cheese for pizza so you can still have your slice of za; see life without cheese isn’t so bad. I know giving up cheese is a challenge but I know you can do it!

9. Fully Commit

For awhile I was about 90% vegan I didn’t eat meat or cook eggs but I would give myself the excuse that “there is just a little bit” or dairy or eggs in a food so it was no big deal to eat it. Basically it was a crappy excuse so I could still eat dessert, donuts and other junk I didn’t need to. Hey you might not care if you eat small traces of non-vegan foods but if you truly want to become vegan you need to cut the crap and stop making excuses for not fully committing.

Sometimes it may happen that you eat something you didn’t realize had some butter or eggs in it. It is not the end of the world. Just be proactive by looking at ingredients and asking servers about ingredients. Never feel bad about asking what is in a dish, you have a right to know what is in the food you are consuming.

10. Try New Things

Although this is the last step you really want to do this step throughout your entire journey. Becoming vegan is not about eliminating everything in your diet to leave you feeling option-less. This is a great opportunity to try new things, learn new recipes and discover ingredients you have never used before. Get a vegan cookbook or start pinning vegan recipes on Pinterest. Before I went vegan I think I had tofu once; I thought it was weird, but really anything you have never had will seem weird. After some practice I aced cooking tofu to how I liked it. Don’t be afraid to experiment with something you have never tried, you may end up loving it. It is also a chance to play around with new cuisines; I love trying new Indian inspired dishes (curry is so good and easy to make). Cooking should be fun so get creative. Take this time to try out new restaurants; check out ethnic places like Indian, Thai, or Mediterranean as they usually have vegetarian & vegan options.

I hope that if you are thinking about becoming vegan this list of steps (the steps I took) can help you to transition to a vegan diet. It is a process, an evolution, don’t rush it. Take your time and don’t let anything stop you. I know if you have the right mindset becoming vegan won’t seem as hard as your first thought. 

Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take the step.