Plant-Based Diets: Start Small

If you have ever said to yourself “I want to be vegan but it's so hard” or “ I will miss meat too much," you should start slowly—wanting to make that change is the first step. Regardless of the reason that has influenced you to change your diet to plant-based, remember that it is your journey and you should do it in steps that work for you. This will help make sure that this is a long term lifestyle change and not just a short attempt.

I recommend doing lots of research to see how you can make up for what you are cutting out in a nutritional sense. Doing research will help you to feel comfortable and educated when changing your diet completely, so it's a very important part of the process. At first I completely cut out dairy and eggs, then a few months later I was ready I cut out meat. But if cutting out dairy all at once is too much for you, you can try and just eliminate one dairy product such as cheese or even just one type of cheese first; the same goes for meat.

The other important thing to keep in mind is that though many people believe that veganism is synonymous with perfect, that’s far from the truth. You can make mistakes or have times when you eat outside your diet label. If you are okay with it and want to have that piece of pizza or chicken nuggets, do it because every once and a while is okay. It doesn’t make you any less of a vegan, vegetarian or person! Overall, by adapting some type of plant-based diet, you are already ahead of most people in terms of helping the environment and the positive effects it has on your lifestyle are an amazing bonus!