The Vegan Lifestyle | How to Become Vegan | 5 Things Vegans Don't Do!

If you’ve just started a vegan lifestyle, kudos to you! If you’re still transitioning, best of luck to you (I mean it with all sincerity because it isn’t so easy) and if you’re still not sure or its hard to convince your family the benefits of a vegan diet, you can read this article to give you (and them) a little nudge.

Ok I’ll admit I’m a newbie here! I started a plant-based diet only a couple of years ago but in all honesty, I didn’t become vegan until this year. So you must be thinking is there a difference between a plant-based lifestyle and a vegan lifestyle)? Ask a true vegan and you’ll hear a big resounding YES!

Starting a plant-based diet with a pumpkin soup - veganalicious!

What’s the difference between a plant-based diet and going vegan?

A plant-based diet is one in which you eat only plants (as well as grains and fruits and nuts and seeds…its surprisingly a long list!). You don’t eat dairy or meat or fish…basically anything derived from animals or their by-products. Once you start reading the labels, you’ll find a lot of food you wouldn’t have known to contain non-plant based ingredients, for example brioche buns are made with eggs, or marshmallows (made with pork gelatine), or pesto (made with cheese).

A vegan diet is more of a lifestyle choice. Becoming a vegan doesn’t mean you just eat a vegan diet (which is the same as a plant-based diet), but you also encompass the same principles in other spheres of your life – in your wardrobe, in your choice of activities, in your home and your bathroom.

Principles of a Vegan Lifestyle – Why Go Vegan?

Going vegan is not for everyone. Choosing a vegan lifestyle is a serious act of commitment and shouldn’t be done in haste, so its important to know what you want to become a vegan in the first place. There are four main reasons most people opt for a vegan lifestyle:

1. Animal cruelty

A lot of vegans will stop eating meat and dairy after becoming aware of the cruelty towards animals, especially because of factory farming practices. They might watch a documentary, or read about it, or experience it in real life. Either way, eating animals is not justified. The Vegan Society has a wealth of information on the exploitation of animals and your head will swirl with the statistics you'll learn about the treatment of animals from a historical perspective to the modern day farm.

2. Climate Change

Others (like myself) want to reduce their carbon footprint and starting a vegan diet is one of the most effective and influential ways to reduce their personal impact towards climate change. Cowspiracy, one of the most powerful documentaries (and now a movement) has a lot of information on how animal agriculture contributes towards the production of methane and carbon dioxide, ultimately leading to our planet getting hotter every year.

3. Your Health

Today an increasing number of people are choosing to eat no or at least very little meat and dairy. Previously, a vegan diet was perceived to be lacking both in the quantity and quality of proteins and was nutritionally imbalanced. In recent years a lot more research has gone into the dietary benefits of eating a plant-based diet, such as lower risk of some types of cance, diabetes, cholesterol and obesity-related health problems. The Association of UK Dieticians have laid out the foundation of a ‘sustainable diet’ that provides a number of meal plans and guides on eating more fruits, vegetables and meat alternatives.

A vegan lifestyle is good for you and good for the planet

4. Our World

There is a strong social and ethical justification for a vegan diet and that is the rest of humanity. As the global population increases, the demand on food sources and natural resources also continues to grow. We need a diet that uses a significantly less proportion of land, water and soil and cuts out the ‘middle man’ to get our proteins directly from the source. Animal agriculture is also responsible for deforestation, which is one of the leading causes of the loss of biodiversity but also the displacement of indigenous communities that rely on the forests and lands that have been taken up by cattle ranches and factory farms.

How to Become a Vegan?

So now that you know why you want to become a reason (and it could be a combination of the four reasons above), let’s get into the part about how to start a vegan lifestyle.

Become a Vegetarian first

Very few people can go from a ‘normal’ diet one day to going vegan the next. In my personal experience, it took a couple of months and Veganurary was a great help, where you take up a 31 day challenge to go vegan in January (or any time of the month). The social accountability and the resources they sent me when I signed up really helped me getting started. But you could do it on your own by eating more plant-based meals one night a week (Meatless Mondays being a favourite for many) to eating meat only on weekends. You’ll realise you’re eating so many different types of food and yes it takes getting used to, but it definitely gets easier when you try it out for a couple of months.

Find your favourite Meat-free and Dairy-free Alternatives

You will miss meat. At least I did. Not at first, but in my moments of weakness, you miss something about it – maybe it’s the texture or the taste, but if you’ve been eating meat your whole life, your body will crave it. It’s a fact. Instead, try out a couple of meat-free alternatives from your local supermarket and these days you will find every type of meat has a plant-based alternative…from sausages to cold cuts to minced meat. Just remember that at the end of the day, you are still eating processed food, so keep it in moderation and you’ll be fine.

Vegan icecream will help you will your nocturnal cravings!!

Have a collection of recipes ready

Just like you would have done when starting a new project, doing a bit of homework beforehand is always a good idea. You can buy or borrow recipe books (one-pot ones are a great place to start), you can create a new Pinterest board and pin all the ones that you think you and your family might enjoy, or you can go on YouTube and save a couple of videos that are popular and then try them on a weekend. If you’re very serious, you can jump right in and taking a vegan cooking course!

Find your local vegans

When you have a group of people supporting your or guiding you, it always helps. There are so many local Facebook groups you can join or check out some local vegan restaurants or café’s and spark up conversations there. A lot of cities now host vegan food markets and sustainability weeks where you can get inspired by other people on their own path towards sustainable living.

Go back to your why

You will get tempted. You might change your mind. You might go eat a hamburger. That’s OK. Going back to understanding why you wanted to become vegan in the first place can help. You should also take stock of the progress you’ve made…maybe you’ve never felt this healthy before, maybe you’ve never eaten such interesting foods before, maybe you don’t feel anxious about climate change as much. You can also use the Vegan Society’s app the Veganslayer to check how many animals you have saved in your life since going vegan!

5 Things Vegans Don’t Do!

So now lets look at how NOT to become a vegan. If you really want to embrace the vegan lifestyle and up your game from eating a plant-based diet, then there are a number of things that vegans don’t support or to take part in.

1. Support entertainment venues like zoos and aquariums, circuses and performances (for example sea-life) and animal racing (like dogs, horses, camels) that exploit animals. Instead vegans prefer to work in animal shelters or sanctuaries.

2. Use products which have been tested on animals, from household cleaning to self-care products. Vegans usually buy products that are certified by the Vegan Trademark or approved by the PETA (one of the largest organisations working on the ethical treatment of animals)

3. Wear fabrics made with animal products such as silk and leather or products that use gels and glues made with animal derivatives. Vegans will instead buy products that are made with vegan alternatives such as plant-based ones like cork, hemp and cotton.

Cork Leather is one of the most sustainable vegan leather alternatives for bags, shoes and other vegan fashion accessories.

4. Use honey-based products. Vegans believe that extracting honey (or wax) is a form or cruelty to animals and will instead consumer alternatives like agave or maple syrup. Likewise, they will not use candles or beeswax wraps either and choose alternatives that are vegan certified.

5. Wear makeup that is made with animal by-products such as lipsticks and rogue. Similarly for hair, beauty and skincare products containing animal derivatives, vegans will instead use plant-based alternatives.

A word on medicines. Although all medicines in the UK need to be tested on animals before they are considered safe for human consumption, there are some vegan alternatives to medicines that contain ingredients such as lactose and gelatine. Speak to your GP for further advice and information.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you are new to this, this is such an exciting time to be vegan...there are so many choices out there! If you've been vegan for a while, it would be great to find out what made you start a vegan lifestyle.

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