January marked my first month of calling myself a, “vegan,” and I learned a lot. As much as I would like to say that I stuck to all of my planning and my idealistic “Vegan Lifestyle,” Pinterest boards, the truth is, I cheated during this first month. A lot. What I learned, and probably one of the most important lessons, is that being a cheater… isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Why did I decide to go vegan? Well, after being a vegetarian for nearly 20 years, I had fallen off the “veggie wagon” so to speak. Two pregnancies, two small children, two stressful cross country moves, and two, (too many to count) cheeseburgers later I was anxious to lose weight, feel better about myself, and live more in touch with my beliefs. I promised myself that 2015 I would focus on making some changes and so my New Year’s resolution? Go vegan.
But I didn’t want to be another clichéd statistic making promises to myself that I wouldn’t keep. So I made this decision in October and planned and prepared for the next few months. I collected recipes, wrote down ideas, and set goals for myself. But with anything there is a big difference between thinking about what you will do and actually doing it.
Here are the five things I have learned during my first month as a vegan.
1.) First and foremost, don’t try to be perfect. One of my greatest challenges is my inner critic, that cranky little voice always reminding me that something isn’t done or something isn’t done quite right. So it was no surprise that nasty little critic was very vocal while I fumbled through my first month as a vegan. It is very easy to feel overwhelmed while learning how to read food labels and discovering which favorite foods contain hidden animal products. And then there are things like honey and leather …there is much more to consider when I decided to go vegan than I initially anticipated. So the first month, and probably these first few months, I have focused on doing my best and forgiving myself if I accidentally stray from the vegan path.
2.) Along with my inner critic, I found my second most important thing I learned this month was don’t try and do too much all at once. Becoming a vegan, in my opinion, takes a lot of planning, preparation, and thought. It’s a process. As exciting as it might seem to just pull out a huge garbage bag and chuck all of your kitchen pantry and refrigerator food away…changing your diet just is not that easy. I have tried that method in the past with several “diets” and let me tell you…it never works. What usually ends up happening? All of that junk starts creeping back in the house. Those deeply ingrained habits and triggers that you have that cause you to want to eat cookies when you are stressed and eggs and bacon in the morning when you are tired…those things are VERY hard to change.
3.) So this leads in to the next thing I learned, plan out substitutions for the non-vegan foods I crave. I think everyone has comfort foods and guilty pleasure foods. I can’t imagine living without pizza, tacos, burgers, and peanut butter cups so I needed to research what sort of vegan alternatives exist. It’s important for me not to eat a lot of heavily processed foods and so I didn’t want to rely on the frozen (and expensive) vegetarian junk food.
4.) Consequently, it was important for me to find a support system because learning to cook with new ingredients in new ways can be frustrating. After talking with some of my vegan friends, I was actually surprised to see how easy it can be to prepare some of my favorites in a vegan friendly way. But my support system isn’t just about cooking. It has been so important to have those closest to me be supportive and understanding of my efforts. It’s a huge help that my husband actually loves our new vegan dinners.
5.) Really, the most important thing is to know WHY I am going vegan. Breaking old habits and changing routines is frustrating, but I know that it is essential. I believe being a vegan is the way to achieve better health and well-being. I know that I am doing this for my health and the health of those around me. I am setting a good example for my children. So during this first month, (although I definitely cheated and had a few non- vegan cookies) I know I am well on my way to being a true vegan.