13 Things I’ve Learned After a Year of Being a Vegan

My brand new cookbook is out on Amazon! It’s called “30-Minute Plant-Based Recipes” and it’s perfect for busy vegans. Grab it now!

1. Vegan lifestyle isn’t restrictive.

When people talk about veganism much of the emphasis is on which foods you cannot eat. This makes people think that a vegan lifestyle eliminates 90% of the food.

After a year of being a vegan, I realized that veganism isn’t restrictive at all. In fact, the opposite is true. There is a BIG world of vegetables and fruits. Do you know how many types of beans are out there? 40,000 varieties!

Before I was a vegan, almost all of my meals revolved around meat and I had not paid enough attention to the vegetables. I thought of vegetables as a side dish. They were a mere afterthought.

When you make plants the center of your meal, you discover that there is a whole new world of plants and vegetables that you have not tried yet. It is amazing.

2. Being a vegan makes you more open-minded in relation to food.

I started to pay more attention to the vegetable section at the grocery store I’d been shopping for years. I’ve found new and incredibly tasty protein sources from mushrooms to jackfruit.

I’ve become more curious about the world of plants and what it has to offer. When I travel to a new place, I pay closer attention to what is available locally. I love learning how people incorporate local ingredients into their cuisine.

3. You will start to love cooking (if you don’t already!).

After becoming a vegan in August 2017, the kitchen became my lab. It became my creative outlet. Like painting to some, cooking has become a fun activity where there is no end to how creative I can be. It’s so liberating!

This isn’t to say that I have the luxury of spending all day in the kitchen cooking away. I have to be smart about my time. I try to optimize my cooking time when I prep meals for the week.

P.S. If you’re into being super-efficient and meal prepping – check out my Free Recipe E-Book below:

P.S. Plan a week+ of meals that your whole family is happy with! Get your free 3-Step Vegan Meal Prep Guide

4. Eat more.

This may sound strange if you aren’t a vegan. But if you are a vegan, you know what I mean.

When you are on a whole food plant-based lifestyle, you have the luxury of eating a lot more. Plants and wholesome foods have fewer calories compared to meat and dairy. To reach the same number of calories for the day and to keep full, you will need to increase your meal portion. Or snack more. Whichever works best for you.

5. No heavy feeling after a meal.

When I used to eat meat for lunch or dinner, I would get that heavy feeling. I felt that I needed to take a nap. When I switched to a vegan lifestyle that heavy feeling after a meal simply went away.

I no longer feel lethargic or unable to move after a meal. Plant-based meals make you feel satisfied and light. I have more energy after having a meal which is what should actually happen after having a meal.

6. Vegan doesn’t mean healthy.

That’s true my friends. There is so much processed vegan crap out there that you can be a junk food vegan. Your diet can revolve around chips, cookies, mock meats such as ‘chicken nuggets’, and vegan cheese.

7. Family and friends do come around after a while.

When I first turned vegan, my husband thought it was the end of the world. His main concern was that we would never be able to cook and share a meal together ever again. So dramatic.

[I dedicated an entire post 11 Tips How To Live With a Non-Vegan Partner if you’re interested in learning more about this.]

It took some time for my husband and my parents understand what vegan lifestyle was. At first, they didn’t understand it at all. It didn’t make sense to them.

Over time, they educated themselves by reading more about it and by simply observing what I ate. I got a seal of approval from my mom (who is a doctor of 25 years) that I ate a very well-balanced diet.

In fact, some of my family members eat less meat as the result of educating themselves.

8. I pay more attention to what I put into my body.

After becoming a vegan, I realized how much of harmful stuff exists in our food and environment.

It was all part of self-education. I started to read and learn more about processed foods and why it was important to eat whole foods. I learned about the “dirty dozen” and the reasons why I should buy certain produce always organic.

P.S. Plan a week+ of meals that your whole family is happy with! Get your free 3-Step Vegan Meal Prep Guide

9. Not everything is awesome.

Being a vegan brings its own challenges. Eating out can be tricky, especially outside of big cities like New York. People will look at you funny when you order pizza with no cheese and extra sauce. Travel could be a little exhausting when you can’t understand the ingredients at a restaurant.

I always feel a little nervous during the holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. I never want to offend the host by not eating the food they made.

10. It will take time to educate and learn what vegan lifestyle is about.

I felt a little lost in the beginning. This is very common. I had to re-learn what to eat and which foods I like. It took some time to experiment and get into the rhythm of things.

Then again, this is true with anything new. There’s always a learning curve when we try something new. Once we start figuring things out, we get better at it over time.

If you approach veganism with the same mindset and allow yourself time to learn then it will get easier.

I even wrote a post on What Vegans Should Eat Every Day To Get All The Nutrients.

11. A strong community around the world.

In the beginning, I felt so alone. I didn’t have any vegan friends and nobody in my family was vegan.

I turned to the internet to find communities to join. I was surprised to find that there were so many communities out there! I joined several Facebook groups where people could ask questions and post recipes.

Another good resource is Meetup.com where you can search for local vegan events. The other good way to meet fellow Vs is to go to a vegan restaurant or attend a plant-based cooking class.

Also, look for vegan food festivals if you live close to a big city or search for pop-up vegan food events which are becoming more prevalent around the world.

12. There will be people who criticize or make you feel bad for being different.

Don’t let them get to you. People are habitual creatures. When someone or something is different people will shy away. They will criticize and try to convert you to be “normal” again.

I wish people were a bit more chill.

I stood my ground. I made it clear that my choice was a personal one and that what I put into my body was my own decision (a.k.a. mind you own business, people!).

My approach was to: kill’em with kindness. I never shame people for not being vegan. I respect people for who they are and do not criticize them for their choices.

What’s funny is that over time people found me very interesting. Some have confessed that they’d love to eat more plant-based meals but have no willpower and ask me for advice.

P.S. Plan a week+ of meals that your whole family is happy with! Get your free 3-Step Vegan Meal Prep Guide

13. I feel like I’m making a positive impact on our society.

I feel like I stand for something. Something that has a purpose.

In today’s world, it’s hard to find a sense of purpose when so many trivial things get enormous attention.

Being a vegan aligned my actions with my beliefs. I look at animals in a different way. I no longer feel like a hypocrite. I treat all animals equally. I love my two cats at home. And I equally love all the cows, chickens, and pigs because they are my friends 🙂

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My brand new cookbook is out on Amazon! It’s called “30-Minute Plant-Based Recipes” and it’s perfect for busy vegans. Grab it now!