**These are tips for anyone at anytime!! Not just Veganuary and not just for vegans, could also come in useful for vegetarians!!**
I noticed that 2018 seems to be the year that veganism is going to make a huge impact, with over 150,000 amazing people signed up to do it I am so impressed with where the world is going 🙂 I want to do a little something to support anyone who is a new comer to the vegan community and I would like help them if they are starting to struggle a little bit, as I have previously mentioned in my post – About My Diet (click to read), it wasn’t one clean switch for me, I have been vegetarian since I was 11 years old, 7ish years ago I cut out dairy milk and only in the last few years have I switched to a 100% cruelty free and healthy diet. There are some helpful tips that have really helped me so hopefully they could be of some help to you too.
My Top Tips For The New Vegan
- Find The Alternatives. By finding the alternatives, I mean if you like cheese go into a health food story and vegan some vegan cheese that will do the job, if you like burgers check out some suitable vegan burgers also in the health food store (if you are living in Ireland or the UK I highly recommend – Dee’s & Linda McCartney Foods). Once you find the vegan alternatives for your favourite foods it will become so much easier. This may take sometime to find what you LOVE from the huge range out there.
- Remember. I always find being vegan while out can sometimes be so difficult and so tempting and all it takes is literally 3 seconds to completely put those moments of drooling over cake to the back of my mind when I think of all the animals involved in the making of it and maybe a flash back image to some of the documentaries I have seen and I just think of the bigger picture. So just remember why you are doing it, maybe it’s over the mistreatment of animals, maybe it’s for the environment or maybe it’s due to health reasons, just take second to think and remember.
- Join A Club. Ok yes, if you are vegan, you are already in the club, but I have found joining different vegan Facebook groups and clubs to be super helpful. Be it for support or to see the new products in different shops across the country or if a new vegan restaurant pops up or similarly if there is a restaurant that caters well for vegans, it’s always nice to know these things. Another great thing that comes from these groups are vegan meet ups or vegan nights out, it’s a great way to meet new people with similar interests and make friends with people on the same mission.
- Fail To Prepare, Prepare To Fail. As with anything, if you are organised and ready, you have a better chance of seeing the day through on a vegan diet. This could be meal prepping on a Sunday for the week ahead or doing a vegan grocery shop, it could also mean preparing a packed a lunch for the day ahead of you. As with anything organising you day, will really help you see it through, so stay organised.
- Education. Watch some documentaries, read up some more, download apps and listen to podcasts. I still learn something new everyday – and this could be anything from the truth behind the meat industry, the environmental good being a vegan does for the world or the health benefits and the sort of food you should be eating to maintain good health. Some of my favourite documentaries are Conspiracy & Vegucated. My favourite apps to use are Deliciously Ella & Green Kitchen
So all in all it just comes down to being prepared. Being prepared with the right foods, being prepared with meal plans in mind and being prepared for people who don’t get it. Veganism and vegetarianism are amazing and knowing that you are making such a positive change and impact to the world is an amazing thing.
If you have any tips you would like to add please leave a comment below 🙂
x
Saoirse.
Irish Mountain Child 
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