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Everyone’s experience is different. Some people go cold turkey, others make a steady transition from vegetarian to vegan.
I did a complicated mixture of the two.
Storytime!
My transition was an interestingly long and non-structured one (LOL).
Now, my family are hardcore meat and dairy consumers. Never in my life had I thought I would swear away animal products. Heck, my family used to go through a gallon of milk every 1-2 days!
Just so you get an idea of what I was, and still am, working with. :)
Now, when I moved off to college I transitioned to a mainly pescetarian diet at the end of my junior year. I would eat other meats if they were offered to me, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy meat when I went grocery shopping and make it at home.
That summer (right before July 4th) I ate ribs. A LOT of them. To the point I was sick. (Present me is now aware of how the heavy influence of my binge eating disorder caused this overload of not only meat, but food in general.)
Now, my family are hardcore meat and dairy consumers. Never in my life had I thought I would swear away animal products.
When vacation was over, my best friend (who had been vegan for about a year) encouraged me to watch "What the Health" on Netflix. Now I’m not the biggest fan of documentaries, so it took me about 3 separate sit-downs to actually engage and focus on what I was watching. And EVERY time I sat down to watch it, they discussed the health risks of what I was eating at that EXACT moment, much to my dismay.
And EACH time, I got sick to my stomach.
Seeing all of the disgusting things allowed in the products in the "AMAZING" United States utterly revulsed me. Ranging from the causes of cancer to heart disease, I quit animal products cold turkey.
I am proud of making that change for myself, fantastically so, though I wish that I had researched more on how to eat vegan and what to supplement with. (Thank God I had my best friend to guide me!)
I mistakenly believed that I could eat whatever I desired. I had started off watching Maddie Lymburner’s Youtube videos and was stunned at the amount she ate. I thought to myself, "I can eat all that food, too! And lose weight!"
Meat wasn’t clogging my arteries now, right? WRONG.
Every body is different. I initially lost weight with my transition but then immediately gained it back because of the drastic amounts of food I was consuming. Back then, I was heavily struggling with my eating disorder so it was hard for me to cut back in a healthy manner that was sustainable and not damaging.
Life is a learning process. I have fewer binges now and I eat a wide variety of foods (that I enjoy) and are perfect for MY body.
(STORY TIME OVER!)
I wish that I had researched more on how to eat vegan and what to supplement with.
Let’s get to some essentials for a transition to a vegan diet.
Essentials for Transitioning to a Vegan Diet
1. Multivitamin
Just like a normal multivitamin but specifically made without gelatin gel capsules. Normally made with vegetarian capsules, but there are vitamins made specifically vegan.
I use Future Kind’s multivitamin and have found it is the best option as it also provides the recommended serving of B12!
You can find it here.
2. Vitamin B12
I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here because this drives me crazy about the whole “veganism isn’t realistic, you can’t even get the essentials from your food”.
B12 is NOT made by animals.
I repeat, B12 IS NOT MADE BY ANIMALS.
B12 is actually ingested by animals through the dirt/soil when they eat PLANTS.
This vitamin is ESSENTIAL for you to get through a multivitamin or separate B12 vitamin. At first, I used to not only buy a multivitamin but a B12 vitamin (which is costly!).
I researched a little, found the recommended daily dosage of B12 and searched for a multivitamin that contained that dosage. I mistakenly started off with a multivitamin that didn’t even have close to the recommended intake. Then, I tried out FutureKind and have used it ever since. It has all the requirements I need and costs less than buying two bottles of vitamins.
Get it here.
Life is a learning process. I have fewer binges now and I eat a wide variety of foods (that I enjoy) and are perfect for MY body.
3. Understanding that Vegans Have Come a LONG WAY Since 20-40 Years Ago
There are so many vegan products nowadays that make a vegan transition practically effortless. Most restaurants have vegan options and there are quite a few vegan-only cafes and restaurants opening!!
All your favorite non-vegan recipes (well, most) can be made vegan. You can bake, cook, fry, all of it! There are so many vegan recipes out there, people experimenting and making it possible for others to enjoy what they’re eating and be healthy at the same time! Don't be afraid to try your own twist on some of your staple favorites! That's what I do! It's how I come up with most of my recipes.
I hope these tips were helpful for your transition into a healthier and more sustainable you!
Much love,
Kaelyn
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