Questions I Get As A Vegan Part 2

By: Megan

Question: Did you struggle with keeping to it? What methods did you use to keep yourself on track?

    At first, I struggled with the idea of it. Just knowing that you will never be able to eat certain foods ever again is hard. Cheese was a huge struggle at first. The first couple of days my body craved cheese so much, but eventually, I got through it. I feel like the first week was just like a withdrawal of certain foods like cheeses and chicken. It was a lot of trial and error and figuring out what I like. The second week was better and was more about getting into a routine of things and learning new recipes. Week three was just putting everything together and it stuck. It is important to remember that it takes three weeks to break old habits and form new ones, so do not give up if you mess up because ultimately it is just a learning experience. Going back to the question, I think I definitely struggled with parts of it, but not all of it. One thing that was hard for me was going out to eat. I still struggle with this because I do not want to be "that" person, but also I get worried that people will purposefully put non-vegan ingredients in my meal if they found out I am vegan. There are a few tricks I have learned over the years to help all of my struggles.

    One thing that really helped me a lot in the beginning and still does is packing snacks. Every time I knew I was going somewhere I would pack some snacks. Usually, it would be things like a Clif bar, fruit snacks, applesauce pouches, or snack packs of chips. If I could not find vegan food, I knew I had a backup. There was never a moment where I had to "cheat" because I was always prepared. I believe that this helped me stay vegan long-term because I did not feel guilty that I had to eat non-vegan food because I simply did not put myself in that situation. Another thing I suggest is looking at menus beforehand. Sometimes looking at menus at a restaurant can be stressful, and I did not want to be pressured into eating non-vegan food because people were waiting on me to find something. If you have trouble trying to figure out what is vegan on menus looking up "vegan foods at {restaurant name}" is a good way to help. Another method I used to keep on track was at first I did not care about how healthy my meals were. I was not eating healthy foods before going vegan, so it would have been way too much change if I went from a junk food diet to a healthy vegan diet. Basically, I took my favorite foods like Alfredo, grilled cheese, refried beans and so many more and just made them vegan. It was not hard and it helped me develop and keep my habit. I did not feel like I was giving anything up to be vegan which is ultimately what we want. You should not have to feel like you gave anything up because you do not have to. You are simply replacing non-vegan food with vegan food. It was also important for me to remind myself why I was doing this. I would frequently remind myself of my reasons and that helped to keep me on track. Overall, veganism is not hard, you just have to have the right mindset.