Some people in the vegan community believe going vegan is all or nothing.
Let me be the first to tell you that I don’t agree at all!
I went vegan in 2010 as a way to protest factory farming.
While I really wanted this lifestyle to work for me, the transition wasn’t super easy and I made my fair share of mistakes along the way.
No matter your reasons for wanting to go vegan, the truth is that for many people there are barriers to this lifestyle that may affect your ability to immediately make these changes. Some of us live in food deserts and don’t have easy access to fresh produce, and some of us have health concerns. No matter what, we all have room to make tiny changes in our diets that will help us transition more smoothly and sustainably to eating plantbased foods.
Going vegan doesn’t have to be an overnight change. I’ll all about baby steps!
Here are my Top 5 baby steps to help you go vegan:
Start replacing your dairy butter and milk with vegan alternatives.
I always tell people who want to go vegan that the easiest animal products to immediately replace with vegan options are butter and milk.
These days, there are so many non-dairy butters and milk out there and finding them has become incredibly easy even in more isolated areas.
My favorite butter options right now: Earth Balance, Miyoko’s Cultured Butter, even Country Crock even has a plant-based butter now!
For milk you have so many options it’s hard to even pick a few. These days we have oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, macadamia, rice, hemp etc. etc. the list goes on!
For cooking, I’d suggest soy milk or oat milk as they are the most creamy and great for savory dishes.
Simply replacing your dairy butter and milk with healthier, affordable vegan options is a perfect and easy way to start transitioning to a vegan lifestyle.
2. Add an additional vegetable to your meal.
Instead of focusing on what you’ll be removing from your plate as a vegan, start by just adding an additional vegetable to each meal you eat.
For example, if you’re having meatloaf with mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, go ahead and ADD roasted brussel sprouts or broccoli to your plate.
The goal is to crowd out your animal-based ingredients over time by focusing on what new healthy foods you can incorporate into your meals.
3. Be intentional about snacking
No matter how your diet looks right now, no matter what’s going on in your life, you can always start to shift to eating more, better snacks.
Fresh fruit, apples, grapes, pineapple, hummus and carrot sticks, roasted cashews. Instead of hitting up that vending machine at the office, start bringing your own nutritious snacks that you’re going to look forward to.
Make it easy on yourself to make small changes and ditch the Doritos.
4. Use the Happy Cow app (or free website)
Happy Cow is a go to resource for every vegan! This is an app that will show you not just vegan restaurants near you, but also the restaurants that have vegan options on their regular menu.
It will also show food trucks, grocery stores, coffee shops, and more that make eating vegan outside of the house simple.
I know when you’re first getting started as a new vegan, it can be hard to visualize what it’s going to look to eat like this–knowing what vegan meals already exist at the restaurants near you will give you great ideas and inspiration for things to create at home.
5. Try a new food item every time you go grocery shopping.
While you have your normal grocery list, start adding a new and exciting product that you haven’t ever tried.
When my kids were young, they pointed out a thai coconut in the grocery store because they loved the way it looked. I decided it was a great opportunity to try something new and show them that we can be open minded. I just googled what to do with a thai coconut and we quickly learned we loved drinking the coconut water and then making ice cream from the coconut meat!
If you aren’t sure what to do with a new piece of produce, just google it to get some fun ideas! You’ll never know what you might love until you try it!
Remember, taking baby steps in your vegan journey is totally okay! Going vegan does NOT have to be all or nothing and it doesn’t have to happen overnight. Even if you aren’t fully ready to call yourself a vegan or immediately stop eating meat, there is so much room for improvement.
Which one of these tips will you start incorporating? Let me know!
