Here are my steps on how to go vegan in 2021! These ideas are based on my vegan lifestyle and experience from when I began giving up meat and dairy to transition to a vegan diet about 6 years ago.
Here's my steps to going vegan this year:
Step 1. Watch at least one vegan documentary
The first step I unknowingly took to go vegan, was back in 2015 when my friend at work told me to watch a documentary called 'Cowspiracy' on netflix. This opened my eyes to the cruelty in the dairy and meat industry.
The good news today in 2021, there are plenty of great vegan documentaries out there worth a watch. Such as Gamechangers, What the health, Vegucated and Forks over knives, these are all pretty tame to watch, informative and inspiring. If you really want to have your eyes opened, Earthlings is a tearjerker and hard going but it really makes you realise how cruel the human race can be to animals.
Step 2. Get an easy vegan cookbook
There are so many tasty vegan cookbooks to choose from to help you go vegan! This is my next step as after I watched Cowspiracy, I pretty much stopped buying meat but didn't know what to eat next.
I recommend cookbooks like 15 minute vegan and Vegan fakeaway by Katy Beskow, Keep it vegan by Aine Carlin, Bosh! by Henry Firth & Ian Theasby and The plant-based cookbook by Deliciously ella.
Step 3. Plan weekly shopping lists full of vegan meals
Since going vegan I have always created a weekly shopping list of easy vegan meals. I found this helped in the process of going vegan as it meant I wasn't going to give in to cravings and cheat meals.
We can all slip up now an then, but don't be too hard on yourself. The main thing is you're trying to make a difference. The great thing about now in 2021 there are so many vegan alternative options available in the supermarkets and at takeaways if you do fancy that occasional naughty vegan treat.
Here's my recent vegan shopping list pad that I created after finding a need to combine vegan meal planning and the food list together.
Step 4. Join the online vegan community
To go vegan in 2021 I recommend joining the vegan community on a form of social media or vegan blogs. There are about 78 million vegans in the world and rising, so check out instagram, twitter, pinterest and facebook groups. The vegan community is mostly full of very supportive and friendly people that want to help and understand the difficulties of going vegan. Also follow great vegan websites and media such as veganuary and plant based news.
There are many facebook groups full of transitioning vegans asking questions. Also on instagram there are lots of vegan influencers and food bloggers such as The little blog of vegan and Romy London UK which are well worth checking out, which leads on to my next step...
Step 5. Share your vegan meals
There is a massive following of vegan food photography out there which can help inspire others to go vegan and also gives you inspiration to try new foods. So I recommend sharing your vegan meal photos, I guarantee you'll get lots of compliments. I can honestly say my diet has improved massively since transitioning onto a vegan diet, it can open your eyes to so many more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs and beans.
Looking at vegan food photos will also help you notice that there are many great healthy sweet treats, such as dates instead of sweets with gelatine in or honey, and banana nice cream instead of dairy ice cream. Also check out my benefits of a plant based diet.
Step 6. Transition to a vegan lifestyle
Once you've followed the steps above to help you go vegan from a diet point of view; you will likely be in a better position to guide yourself through the rest of a vegan lifestyle. I found that once my vegan diet was sorted, I was in a better place to look at changing other parts of my life.
Next steps involving a vegan lifestyle:
Buy fake leather or alternative materials instead of real leather
Stop eating foods with unsustainable palm oil in as this leads to damaging animal habitats in the rainforests
Buying more sustainable products and foods
Buy cruelty free beauty products, cleaning products, etc.
Becoming more mindful of helping the planet; such as picking up trash and reducing plastic use
Step 7. Being vegan
Being vegan involves seeing all animals and beings in a different light. I certainly appreciate all animals in a whole new level, such as admiring spiders instead of fearing them, trying to save bees from heat exhaustion (or drowning in my case) and admiring birds in the sky which I find really good for mindfulness.
Step 8. Spread the word with vegan gifts
It is always great to spread the positive message of being vegan, whether for the animals, your health or for the environment. There is always a good reason to talk about veganism and how to go vegan, in a friendly manner, to your friends, family and colleagues.
What better way to spread the vegan message then with some fun vegan gifts for all to enjoy. (This is where I promote myself...) A great starter vegan gift would be this vegan diet themed game called 'Plant based cards' top trumps. It is a really popular card game and features health benefits and stats of 54 fruit, vegetables, nuts etc. This is a great way to show someone that a vegan diet can have fantastic health benefits.
I also have some vegan activism art prints for anyone who wants to spread awareness about animal cruelty by using metaphors and fun illustrations.
Thank you for reading my vegan blog
If you have read this far thank you! It would be great if you could leave a comment, share this post and I would love to know what journey you are on in the path to going vegan...
Also check out my top 5 easy vegan transition foods and if you really get time, check out my main vegan gift site with lots of funny vegan birthday cards and gift ideas and don't forget to subscribe :D