Change can be frightening, it’s not easy to start switching things up so quickly. With small changes over time you can start your journey into a healthy plant based lifestyle! I’ve been vegan for 12 years now and I’m still learning new things about health and wellness. The journey of learning new things about what we eat, what it’s good for, and how to make it is never ending. There is so much information out there and the more you learn, the more you realize how little you may know about health or plant based diets for that matter. 

If you’re interested in going plant based, first of all congratulations on that decision! You are in for an amazing journey, and it’ll only get better with time. Second of all, you should start small. When I first transitioned, I was only 12 years and I wanted to dive in full force as a vegan. It was very challenging to find any vegan snacks, much less full meals at home. It was hard to find anything that didn’t have dairy at home, so I decided to start slow and do a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet before going vegan. This meant I could eat dairy products and eggs, but no meat. I started this journey with my sister, so it didn’t feel so lonely and we both could support each other with food and research that we would both do on our own time. I had to look for a lot more resources given that I was planning to go vegan eventually, but we still kept each other going. 

Research is essential to transforming your diet. There’s no way around it, you must read about how to safely begin to eat healthy foods that are also nutrient dense enough to not face any health problems throughout your journey. You have also got to keep in mind that everyone is different, and one plant based diet will not look identical to the next person’s diet. My diet has evolved from trying to replace all the well known traditional Mexican, Salvadoran & American food I was familiar with and grew up with at home, to a more expanded ethnic variety of food and a more nutrient dense diet with a lot more superfoods that I wasn’t aware of before. 

The big question everyone has when it comes to plant based diets is where you will get your protein. This is a big concern people have and it goes to show that people aren’t aware that plant foods also have protein. You have many choices when it comes to protein from nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, and vegetables. There are lots of meat substitutes that can make the transition easier such as seitan (from wheat gluten), tempeh (from fermented soy beans), tofu (from soy as well), and other plant based options from protein crumbles to vegan hot dogs. The thing to remember is to eat more Whole Foods versus processed meat substitutes because even though it’s not real meat, it’s still highly processed. I was still very young when I started this journey, so I knew whole foods were better, I just didn’t know how to implement them into my life. This resulted in looking for convenient vegan food versus healthy options that were not as processed.

A tip to start transitioning from animal protein is to look for healthy alternatives of plant protein. This will set up your foundation on a good note since letting go of protein is one of the hardest animal based foods to let go of for some people. Forming a habit of looking for healthy choices is essential, if you can master this, you are already halfway there when it comes to a healthy diet. Looking for recipes online is the easiest way to find inspiration on different meals that contain healthy sources of protein. I suggest finding a recipe book or a go-to online recipe source where you don’t need pay. Keep in mind that you want a well-rounded diet with plenty of veggies as well.

Cheese is another difficult animal based food to let go of because it’s so addictive. I was one of those kids addicted to cheese, and I remember eating it alone without anything else because I was hooked! As a kid, it’s difficult to understand addictions and depending on how you are raised, parents don’t usually educate kids on healthy food especially if they aren’t aware of these things. My parents immigrated to the US without a college education and were not taught about food addictions. I learned this on my own, and when I look back at my childhood, I was addicted to sugar, cheese, and junk food in general. There are so many options in the market now for alternative plant based cheese, I highly recommend cashew cheese. It’s one of the creamiest options I’ve tried and you could even try making it at home from scratch! Otherwise, grocery stores are flooded with options now. Experiment to see what you like, and keep in mind to eat more nutrient dense foods instead of opting for highly processed cheese filled options. It’s nice to sprinkle in vegan cheese once in a while, but it is not the end-all be-all of vegan nutrition. 

Eggs were once hard to imitate in the world of vegan options, but now there’s a variety of replacements. My favorite egg replacement is a brand called JUST EGG. They have created a yellow liquid made out of mung beans that cooks just like real eggs. This is nice to have once in a while, but a more affordable option that isn’t quite the same in egg texture is a tofu scramble. You can crush some tofu and sprinkle in some turmeric powder and season it to your taste, and voila! This is a delicious option that I love to have in the mornings with colorful bell peppers, onions, spinach, salt & pepper. I used to enjoy eggs growing up, but after years of not having it, just the smell of eggs (raw or cooked) is repulsive to me. This also applies to meat and fish (I also don’t like sea vegetables, they are too fishy!). I have always had an aversion to seafood, and growing up I forced myself to like it (that didn’t work) but now especially, my palette has changed. 

As you continue your journey into plant based food, you soon will notice that your palette changes. It’s natural and encouraged, especially if you’re used to eating all the unhealthy junk! I know that my palette changed drastically from childhood to adulthood, I went from being a sugar, and cheese fiend to not consuming as much sugar and zero dairy. I used to always have cavities as a kid, and I was also on the chubbier side. Now I have 6 years without a cavity (flossing was a difficult habit for me to create) and I naturally shed over 8 pounds just from diet alone. I’m only 4’11” so anything more than that would have made me underweight. I used to have self image issues so that was another motivation for me to go vegan, my intuition told me that I would naturally lose those extra pounds. It all started because I was heartbroken at how animals were treated in slaughterhouses. I am such an animal lover that I couldn’t stand the idea of eating a dead animal. That turned into a passion for health and nutrition, and as a result I also realized how good it is for the environment to consume less meat. It was the perfect solution to better personal and environmental health. If I can do this, anyone can do it. I know my positive experience being vegan can influence people who have much more to lose, including their health, self esteem, and overall well-being.