SO, I've recently been contacted by a fair few people who have (wonderfully) decided to give being vegan a go. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't think to do this before, but since I've been getting a fair few similar questions about 'how to be vegan' or 'do you have any tips for me starting out?', I figured that I'd make a little series on littleheadspace about my experience of veganism/ plant-based living.
I definitely don't claim to be an expert on nutrition or veganism as a whole (I'm still learning and discovering new things and trying to remember facts and figures about the whole affair), but I think that sharing my personal experience as an young(er), English girl, may be helpful to some people.
Things that I plan to cover include:
►Different types of vegan diets
►The difference between veganism and plant-based and my stance on the community/ 'the rules of veganism'
►Places to eat out
►Supplements
►What I eat in a day (generally)
►Inspiration and things to watch
►Things that you CAN eat
Right then, a little bit about my own Vegan experience. I definitely will admit that I believe that I decided to 'go vegan' for the wrong reasons. I was looking at lots of girls on social media that were talking about how amazing it felt to follow a vegan diet, and I really wanted to look just as good as them in a small bikini. Not a great incentive, I know.
I didn't initially think that anything would come of it- I didn't actually think that my parents would allow me to follow a vegan diet (I've grown up in a house of very traditional English meals- a fair amount of meat, mainly chicken, lots of green vegetables and carbs). I knew that my mum especially would be extremely wary of this seemingly 'fad diet' (veganism really isn't a diet, but I'll get onto that later.) But I introduced it to them slowly, promising that I would cook all my own meals and research things about supplements and take a blood test to make sure that everything was still functioning properly.
I had been a vegetarian before, and I didn't become vegan overnight. It took me quite a while to transition actually, but I slowly subbed out all my animal based food products.
My first few days of veganism were quite disastrous to be honest. I didn't really know what I was doing, and I didn't really know how to cook anything that tasted amazing, but that was also healthy. So here comes tip 1: DO YOUR RESEARCH. I'd say that making sure you feel comfortable with cooking and finding simple recipes that taste good is really very important when starting out. Looking back, if I had planned things out a little better, my transition to veganism would have been a lot smoother, and it wouldn't have taken me such a long time to cut out everything animal-ly.
My reason behind remaining vegan has expanded hugely. I now am aware of the ethics behind the lifestyle, the environmental benefits AND the health benefits too (I'll do a separate post all about what to watch and what to read about this.)
BASIC STUFF THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
- I think that getting a blood test once you have been following a vegan diet for a good few months is a really good idea, just to check that all your levels are OK and make sure that everything is functioning adequately.
- Invest in a B12 supplement. This is the only supplement that you really need (although I also take calcium and vitamin D) I'd start off by taking the 1000 ug, and then move down to 100 ug/ 10 ug.
- Research the reasoning behind veganism and look at websites that talk about nutrition etc. Also, don't be afraid to ask fellow vegans about things that may be slightly confusing to start off with- I know that I love talking about it, and that I'd always be more than happy to try and help people out.
- Your first few weeks may be slightly off, but keep going!!! Veganism is honestly the best decision that I have made, and I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I would be with myself if I had given up when it just seemed 'impossible'.
I hope that this is somehow helpful to some of you! If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer- you can email me at sb3eclipse@gmail.com
There's so much more to say, so I'll update ya'll soon!
Loads of lurrrrveeeee,
xxx
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