To become a vegan is a personal choice that involves several changes in your lifestyle. In this article, I tell you a little more about what veganism is, the reasons that lead some people to become vegan, the myths associated to this lifestyle, my tips for a smooth transition and also my 5 vegan snacks on–the–go!
What is veganism?
A vegan doesn’t eat any animal products. This excludes any animal flesh (beef, pork, chicken, fish, etc.), as well as dairy products (cow’s milk, cheese, butter, etc.) and eggs.
Why choose veganism?
There are 3 main reasons to go vegan.
- Animal ethics: The exploitation of animals and animal cruelty is one of the most common reasons someone may choose to go vegan.
- Environment: Several studies have showed the impact of cattle breeding on the environment. Reducing our meat consumption is one of the solutions to fight against global warming.
- Health: Many health specialists have shown that a vegan diet is a healthy way to eat.
3 myths about vegan diet…
- You cannot work out or do sports if you are vegan.
False. It has been shown that a vegan lifestyle can be very good for high performance athletes such as George Laraque or Mike Tyson per example.
- Vegans suffer from several deficiencies (iron, calcium, proteins, vitamin B12, etc.)
A vegan is no more likely to suffer from deficiencies than a carnivore that eats poorly. Yes, you have to be careful to eat healthy and nutritious foods, but there are no proven risks of deficiencies with vegan diets! - Eating vegan is expensive!
Not at all! It might even be a lot cheaper. We do not realize how expensive meat is compared to tofu for example. For my part, the shift to plant-based groceries helped me save a lot of money since I became vegan!
My advice for a smooth transition…
- Try several plant-based milks (almond, soy, oat, cashew, etc.) and keep the one you like the most at home! Gradually try to replace cow’s milk by your favorite plant-based milk.
- At the grocery store, instead of buying cheese made from dairy products, try a vegan cheese (often made with cashews, soy or coconut oil). Same as with plant-based milk, I suggest you to try several and keep the ones you like the most!
- We tend to put cheese on several dishes (shepherd’s pie, lasagna, macaroni, etc.). I suggest you to put less and less cheese on your dishes until you don’t use any at all! You will see that in the end, cheese is not really necessary.
- For eggs, I admit it’s more difficult to replace them. If you like scrambled eggs, you can try the scrambled tofu! Otherwise, my only advice is to stop eating them gradually. For example, if you usually eat one egg a day, try eating it once every two days. Otherwise, when it comes to dessert recipes, there are several egg substitutes that work wonderfully!
- Plan your meals for the week and try to cook vegan recipes more often! It will inspire you to try new recipes and you might be surprised to find that many of your usual recipes may already be vegan!
- At the end of your transition, you can decide to be 100% vegan at home, but eat vegetarian outside (like at your friend’s house, at the restaurant, etc.).
- My last tip is to learn about the impact of eating animal products on your health, the environment and from an ethical perspective. For me, that changed everything. The more I read the impacts, the less I wanted to consume it knowing the consequences on my health, on the environment and on the animals.
* It’s so important to not get discouraged after trying a product that you don’t like! There are more and more vegan products on the market and honestly, they aren’t always good, but trust me when I said that you will be surprised by the most of them!
My 5 vegan snacks on the go!
- Crackers, vegetables and hummus
- Peanut butter toast
- Dose Juice Strawberry Hill Protein Smoothie
- Protein bars
- Nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts) & dried fruits
I hope this article will help you to understand what veganism is, the reasons some people choose this lifestyle and that you will become more familiar with this diet which is not as complicated and dangerous as we tend to believe!