8 Tips For Going Vegetarian or Vegan

Going vegetarian or vegan can be difficult, but there are many things you can do to make it easier. In this post, I will share with you eight tips that you can use to help make the transition process from your current diet to a meatless or plant-based diet a little easier. These tips helped me a lot when I became pescatarian and are helping me currently on my journey to eat more plant-based foods.

1. Go slowly

If you eat meat at every meal it is not a good idea to suddenly cut everything out. Start by having meatless Mondays then, once you think you can handle it, go full vegetarian or pescatarian. If you are looking to go vegan from a normal, non-vegetarian diet, go vegetarian first then, once you are ready, transition to vegan.

2. Try new foods

Changing your diet is a great reason to be more adventurous when it comes to food. Some new foods you try and like may be lifesavers in your new diet. For example, beans can be essential in a vegetarian or vegan diet. If you don't like them, try them (the same applies to other foods too). Remember: you may have to try a food several times until you like it.

3. Being nearly vegetarian or vegan still makes an impact

If you feel like one (or more) specific foods are holding you back from going vegetarian or vegan, you can be vegetarian or vegan except for that food (ex. I love cheese, but I still want to eat more plant-based so I'm still having cheese but I'm having alternative kinds of milk and yogurts). Even somewhat vegetarian or somewhat vegan still makes a huge positive impact on the world.

4. It's okay to cheat sometimes

Just because you accidentally had some meat or animal products or really want to have a specific non-vegan or non-vegetarian meal once in a while doesn't mean you've failed at going vegan or vegetarian. It's completely okay to cheat sometimes. It doesn't mean you're a bad vegetarian/vegan. Once you have been vegan/vegetarian for a while, you may notice that you aren't interested in eating anything animal though.

5. Try alternatives to your favorite foods or adaptations for your favorite recipes

Just because one of your favorite foods is not vegetarian/vegan all is not lost. There are several vegan or vegetarian alternatives to non-vegan/vegetarian food. For example, Ben and Jerry's has delicious vegan ice cream that barely tastes any different from normal ice cream and Impossible Foods has burgers and ground meat that tastes almost exactly like real meat. Also, you can adapt your favorite recipes. My mom makes delicious chicken with cashew sauce and I found out that the cashew sauce tastes just as good on chickpeas as it does on chicken.

6. If you don't like one type or way of making a meatless/plant-based food, try a different one

Just because you tried one alternative food doesn't mean you won't like any other types. For example, some people won't like veggie burgers but will enjoy imitation meat burgers, don't like almond milk but will take to oat milk, or want a yogurt that has more protein than coconut yogurt and find that soy yogurt is the one for them.

7. Do it in a healthy way

If you are looking to change your diet, do it in a healthy way. Talk to your doctor. They may send you to a nutritionist, run some tests on you, or discourage you from doing it, but it is really important to consult your doctor because some conditions (such as the need to gain weight or an iron deficiency) may make it inadvisable for you to go full vegan/vegetarian. Also, just because a certain junk food (e.g. Oreos) is vegan/vegetarian, doesn't mean you should eat them more often.

8. Be nice about it

Don't shame people for not being vegan/vegetarian or act like you are better than them since you are. It's just not cool. You can, however, encourage them to eat fewer animal products or help them become vegan/vegetarian if they so choose. It's a very personal choice.

Now that you know some simple tips to go vegan or vegetarian I hope you apply them to your daily life in an effort to make our future more sustainable. Please subscribe so that you get notified whenever I publish a new post. You can leave a comment down below if you have any questions about going vegan/vegetarian or other eco-friendly topics or have any suggestions for what I should post next. If you feel uncomfortable leaving a public comment but would still like to ask me something or suggest a post idea, you can email me at me.greenlivingwithmargo@gmail.com Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you shared this blog with your friends. Each additional person that this blog reaches is another step in the right direction towards a more sustainable future.