Vegan Forum

What is the easiest way to become vegan? Please share your experiences.

Becoming a vegan is easy, just watch the movie Earthlings.
I know many people that became vegans after watching it.

Practical Transition Tips on Becoming Vegan
Every change in life is somewhat traumatic even if it is for the better. Becoming vegan is about modifying your entire way of life and you have to provide for it as well as you can. The first thing is to be certain about your pick – you might wish to out more about the basis of veganism and its entire philosophy as well as about the general features of this way of life. Once you are ready prepared to be a vegan you can start changing your life slowly. Nutrition is one major aspects of veganism that is not to be misjudged. It is a fine idea to have a medical check before becoming vegan in order to make sure that your health will not be affected negatively in any way due to the absence of dairy products, meat and eggs. The next step is to plan your healthy diet – attempt to add as many vegan products as possible in your diet. The fruit, vegetables and nuts are a must. You should also include tofu and wheat gluten (seitan) in your nutritional plan, if you do not have allergies of course. To make the most of these you need to supply yourself with a number of vegan recipes and probably even an entire vegan cook book. By becoming vegan you do not need to place any constraints on yourself. You can still go out with your friends and have vegan meals. You can make sweets and other food treats and their taste will not be much varying from the one of typical ones. It is a good idea to get in contact with fellow vegans – there are many local groups and online forums like this one from which you can get counsel and support if you need it. Nutrition, however, is not the sole factor of becoming vegan – you can stop using other animal goods in your life such as leather clothing and accessories.

Thanks, Beautifulvegan!
I agree, that starting slowly is key. I first became an ovo-lacto vegetarian, and then I experimented with becoming vegan (in terms of food), finally I started to think about other things, like whether food is organic or healthy (some vegan products contain hydrogenated fats, etc.)

I also had to accept that some products (medicine, toothpaste) are not vegan, and had to rethink my skincare regime...

I still haven't finished the process of being happy with what I eat and use.

For me and my wife, we went "cold tofurky." And looking back, it was a great idea. Of course, we had to be quick about researching proper diet so that we did not hurt ourselves. But my wife switched primarily for the sake of the animals, and I switched primarily for health reasons (now we both sustain it for the animals first, and then health and environment). Basically, we both agree that making the instant change was the best route for us. It would have been too hard to convert slowly, as it would have given us license to "cheat" every now and then, making it harder to switch. That being said, it was also easy to switch quickly because we both immediately identified dead animal flesh with all the horrific pictures and videos we had seen of the abuse that goes on in the meat industry.

One of the hardest things to do is to figure out where you can eat...until you realize some easy tricks. For example, Papa Johns without meat or cheese is vegan. Asian can easily be vegan (see this article my wife wrote on the Examiner about Asian restaurants: http://www.examiner.com/x-52338-Charlot ... gan-dining

Basically, we have found it is actually pretty simple to be vegan, even in Charlotte, NC, where restaurants do not typically cater very well to vegan and vegetarian lifestyles.

I agree with taking it slowly. The first time I tried didn't know enough about it and I swear I lived off of popcorn before giving up! Educate yourself with forums like this, and take it at a pace you don't feel overwhelmed.

I first became vegetarian giving up all meat, chicken, fish etc. Then I slowly transitioned into the vegan world. It helped that my husband was already vegan so he educated me. Giving up dairy came easily cause I'm lactose intolerant but I was reluctant to give up eggs, I just kept reminding myself what they really are.