Health and Happiness: Taking Small Steps to Veganism
Veganism is growing in popularity, and there are so many reasons why. Along with the health benefits, veganism prevents cruelty to animals and also helps the environment. If you’ve dabbled with the idea but are yet to take the plunge, it’s probably because it all feels like such a big change. And admittedly, there are a lot of things you need to consider when you’re making the switch to this kind of lifestyle. So instead of going vegan overnight, a sensible option would be to take it step by step. By the time you’re ready to go full vegan you’ll already know what you’re doing and be confident about the choices you’re making. Here are some ideas for going about it.
Start with a vegan day each week
Going vegan for one day each week isn’t a big commitment. But during those days, you can experiment with different breakfast, lunch and dinner options and build up a repertoire of meals you enjoy. Sure, there might be meals you don’t like as much but it’s all a learning curve. By the time you go fully vegan, you’ll have an idea of what you can cook and what you like making the whole process so much easier. Scour sites like Pinterest and vegan hashtags in Instagram for plenty of great inspiration. Switch your regular products like milk, bread or pasta to vegan alternatives and get used to them, small changes add up. Even if you’re using vegan, egg-free pasta to make a spaghetti bolognese with meat for example, it’s still a step forward and gets you used to the product before completely switching over.
Experiment with vegan options at restaurants
Another way you can take steps into veganism is by choosing a vegan option every time you go out to eat. This will help you find the best restaurants for when you’re fully on board, and it will probably give you inspiration for things you can cook yourself too. From different flavours, spices, ingredients and more, again it can give you an idea to what you enjoy and what you dont so that it’s much less overwhelming when you’ve made the switch. The best thing is these days just about every restaurant has vegan options, or the chef is able to make something vegan if you ask. With so many people following this kind of lifestyle they have knowledge of how you tackle vegan dishes.
Go through your wardrobe
Being vegan is more than just the foods you eat, stricter vegans also won’t use anything that has animal products in. it’s not to say you need to throw away all of your leather and suede, but as time goes on and you replace these things you could buy vegan friendly alternatives. Belts, shoes and other accessories are most commonly made of these animal products so have a look through what you own so you’re aware of what’s there. From there you can make the choice to keep it until it’s worn out, or give it away and replace it immediately.
Find vegan products you love
Finally, there are lots of other products you use on a daily basis that might not be vegan friendly. From lipstick to moisturiser, even toothpaste. There are a growing range of options for vegans out there now so do your research. You wouldn’t think that veganism would affect something like dental hygiene but in fact it can, it’s just an example of why it can be better embarking on this kind of lifestyle step by step. You can learn as you go, you won’t feel bad if you get anything wrong and it’s less overwhelming than doing it all in one step.
Even if you have no intention of becoming fully vegan but just want to take steps to embrace some elements of the lifestyle then that’s great too. You can still use vegan and cruelty free products and eat vegan on some days and make a difference. It can be a challenging lifestyle to lead and it’s not for everyone, but it doesn’t need to be an all or nothing approach. Take small steps and see how you feel, you might want to go all in but you could be happy enough sticking with the small changes.
Are you vegan or is this something you’ve experimented with? What advice would you give to anyone hoping to make changes towards veganism?