November is World Vegan Month! There’s no better time than this to go vegan! The number of people embracing a vegan or plant-based lifestyle is steadily increasing and the vegan movement is gaining momentum, there’s no doubt about that. Interestingly, most people never look back once they’ve decided to go vegan. There must be a reason for that, right? It’s that giant leap forward into the unknown that’s so daunting for most of us. I once said “I’ll never go vegan” and yet here I am, absolutely convinced of my choice and trying to help others to take that plunge!
Remember, you won’t be alone. Even if you don’t know anyone who is vegan, there are support groups and forums where you can get advice, exchange recipes and ideas and generally help each other. Today we vegans have so much choice foodwise that it’s almost embarrassing. There are so many benefits and there’s so much at stake. Find your motivation, psyche yourself up and go for it! You can do it!
Here are 30 great tips on how to go vegan this November and never look back! By the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll know exactly how to move forward and achieve your goal.
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Day 1
Find your motivation.
Watch a documentary.
If the treatment of animals is your primary concern, you might like to watch Earthlings, Meet Your Meat, Dominion, Cowspiracy, or Land of Hope and Glory.
Is your driving force your health? Try watching What The Health, Forks Over Knives or Fat, Sick And Nearly Dead
For those of you who are thinking of going vegan for the planet this November, you could watch Eating Our Way To Extinction, Seaspiracy, or A Life On Our Planet
If you’re a sporty type, watch The Game Changers which is about top athletes on a vegan diet and their stories.
Watching these documentaries will reinforce your beliefs and decisions. For most people, it was enough to just watch one of these documentaries to shock them into action. Try not to overload on disturbing videos and content, though.
On Day 1, choose just one of these videos. You may find yourself convinced even before you reach the end, like I did. I haven’t actually watched all these documentaries, some of them are too upsetting for me. But I have watched Cowspiracy, Forks Over Knives, What The Health and The Game Changers.
Watch it with a friend or a member of the family. You never know, you might end up with a buddy for your vegan journey!
Day 2
Tell everyone that you’re going vegan
Let your family and friends know that you’re going vegan this November. That way they’ll hopefully be supportive, or at least they’ll be prepared. You could say that you’re going to try it for a month and then see, like I did. It makes you feel like you have a choice and that it isn’t final unless you want it to be. It’s also a way of reducing your chances of backing out. It’s a psychological thing – once you’ve made a commitment and you’ve told others, you’ll be more likely to stick with it.
Prepare yourself mentally for the transition. Finish off any animal products that you’ve got in the house, or give them away. Remember that wasting food is worse than eating it.
No one is perfect and you will have setbacks along the way. Be kind to yourself and remember that what you are doing will have a huge impact on your health, animal welfare and the planet. In fact, apart from not having children, the single most important thing you can do for the future of the planet is to go vegan.
Day 3
Shop for vegan essentials
If you want to go vegan this November, you’re going to need to stock up on vegan food. A well-stocked pantry and fridge will reduce stress considerably. Having something on hand for emergencies is a must. Make a list, go to the supermarket, and buy enough food to keep you going for a week. If there’s a market near where you live, you could buy your fresh fruit and vegetables there. You’ll maybe need to go to a natural food shop for the harder-to-find things. Below are some suggestions as to what should be on that list. Buy what you like and need, my list is just a general guide. If you follow my blog, this is a basic list of the things you’ll need to make my recipes:
- vegan butter & extra virgin olive oil
- plant-based milk (soy for general use and oat for coffee etc. I also have almond milk in my pantry)
- vegan yoghurt (soya, or any plant-based yoghurt of your choice)
- beans, chickpeas and lentils (dried are best, but cans are also okay in the beginning)
- veggie burgers, falafel or other ready-prepared vegan food
- cereals
- salad
- fruit and vegetables (fresh, and frozen for convenience)
- firm tofu
- bread (check the ingredients on the label or ask at the counter to be sure it’s vegan)
- pasta and rice (check the ingredients – some types of pasta contain egg)
- tomato sauce
- dried fruit, nuts and seeds
- unrefined sea salt and vegan stock powder
- olives and capers
- flour (all-purpose white, wholemeal, chickpea and rice flours)
- nutritional yeast flakes
- cashew nuts (a vegan cheese lover’s best friend!)
You’ve probably noticed that vegan cheese isn’t on the list. To be perfectly honest, you’ll probably find most vegan cheese a disappointment. Anyway, more about cheese on Day 13 of your 30-day guide on how to go vegan this November.
Day 4
Have your food on display
November is a great month to sort out your food cupboards ready for your new vegan foods, just in time for Christmas too! Put your dry ingredients such as nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc into glass jars with a lid. Label them – what the jar contains on the front, and the expiry date on the back. Having them in a place where they are visible makes you want to nibble on them and cook with them more often than if they were in a cupboard. Who hasn’t had stuff at the back of the cupboard expire on them because they forgot it was there?
I love seeing my jars of ingredients in an array on the kitchen counter. Apart from being decorative, it’s a constant reminder that I now eat more healthily and I can dive my hands into a jar of dried mango or hazelnuts whenever I feel like it. An additional advantage is that food keeps better in jars with tightly screwed-on lids, and it’ll keep the moths out too.
Day 5
Decide how you’re going to do it
You’re already on Day 5 of going vegan this November. Decide today how you want to do it. Some people go cold turkey, others transition gradually. There’s no right or wrong way of doing it.
My daughter decided to do it from one day to the next. Mine was a very gradual transition. I never actually intended to go vegan, but I was a vegetarian for 6 years before finally giving up all dairy and eggs. If it hadn’t been for my daughter taking the plunge, I’d probably still be a dithering vegetarian, feeling guilty, but not quite prepared to give up cheese.
If I had known then what I know now, I would have done it from one day to the next. I wasted so much time thinking I couldn’t live without cheese, only to discover that there are far tastier things out there. The reason why people find it so hard to give up cheese is because it contains a protein called casein, which is addictive. Once you’re off it, and convinced of your choices, you probably won’t miss it half as much as you thought you would.
Transitioning gradually just gives your mind and body more time to adjust which isn’t a bad thing. Do what’s right for you.
Day 6
How to start your day as a vegan
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If that’s true, and it probably is, it applies even more so to vegans. If you can manage to cram loads of nutrients into your first meal of the day, it’ll give you an incredible energy boost and put you on the right track for the rest of the day.
Smoothies are definitely one of the most nutrient-dense breakfast foods you can possibly have for breakfast.
When you wake up in the morning, put some fruit in a blender. Add some fresh fruit juice or water, throw in some mixed seeds, a couple of green ingredients like wheat grass, spinach or moringa, some vegan protein powder and a few ice cubes. If you use frozen fruit, you won’t need ice cubes of course. Blend it for a minute or so, pour it into a glass and enjoy! You’ll be amazed at how energetic you’ll feel.
Here are some other great breakfast foods I love:
- avocado on bread or toast
- mixed cereals, fruit and plant-based milk
- a bowl of fresh fruit salad
- vegan yoghurt and fruit
- sourdough bread, vegan butter and homemade jam
- pancakes with fruit
The best time of day to eat fruit is in the morning, so try to include at least a bit of fruit in your breakfast! Your body will thank you.
Day 7
Find a vegan buddy
So, by now the word’s out that you’re going vegan this November. Surely there must someone who has shown an interest in what you’re doing?! Rope them in, and get them to join you, even if it’s only for a month. No matter what, it’ll be a memorable experience for both of you. There’s nothing like a common need to bring people together. What’s the purpose of having a buddy anyway? You do things together, encourage each other, and share ideas, pains and victories.
My buddy is my daughter, Alessia. Even though she doesn’t live at home anymore, we’re always in touch – telling each other about things, sharing recipes, sending ingredients that the other can’t get hold of, and telling one another “You must try this!” and “Have you seen that?”
Today convince a friend or a member of the family to do it with you – it’s so much easier and more fun if it’s a shared experience!
Day 8
Learn how to veganise your lunch
It’s time to get organised with your vegan lunches this November. It’s often incredibly easy to veganise your usual lunchtime routine. Add beans, chickpeas or lentils to salads to make them perfectly balanced vegan lunches. Substitute ham and cheese, or chicken, in sandwiches with grilled vegetables and hummus or avocado. Eat pasta and rice with vegetables. Soups are usually naturally vegan – just be careful to check that they contain vegetable broth rather than meat broth. Most people don’t eat much meat at lunchtime anyway, it’s more of an evening thing. Plus lots of people are not at home for lunch anyway and only need to worry about preparing something for themselves, rather than having to cater for others as well, which makes things easier. Here’s a short list of some vegan lunch suggestions to get you going:
- big mixed salads with beans, chickpeas or lentils
- sandwiches or wraps with grilled vegetables and hummus or avocado
- pasta dishes with vegetable based sauces
- Buddha bowls
- hearty soups
- rice dishes with vegetables
- falafel or veggie burgers with a salad or vegetable side dish
Day 9
Understand the difference between Vegan and plant based
Just a quick word about the differences between vegan, plant based, and whole-food plant based, as I find that there’s often some confusion around their meanings.
The term vegan was originally used to define a person who fully abstained from all animal products for ethical reasons. Over time, more and more people have started to adopt a vegan lifestyle for reasons other than animal welfare (such as health and the environment), and today the term vegan is used to describe someone who embraces a lifestyle that excludes all animal products, regardless of their motivation.
Plant-based, on the other hand, is a term used to refer to a diet consisting predominantly of plants. Most people use the term to refer to a 100 per cent plant diet, but some people include small amounts of animal products and call themselves plant based.
Whole-food plant based (WFPB) is another, more recent term, used to describe a diet of mainly fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. It excludes or minimizes meat, dairy products, eggs, and highly refined foods.
It is therefore possible to eat a vegan diet while eating very few whole-plant foods. A lot of manufacturers label highly processed vegan foods as “plant based”, which means that both plant based and vegan foods are not necessarily healthy, whereas whole-food plant based is.
You can, however, be both vegan and eat a whole-food plant-based diet. Some ethical vegans have adopted a whole-food plant-based diet for their health.
Another point to be made is that products such as real leather and real fur, honey and white sugar, to name just a few, have been obtained from animals and are therefore not vegan. Bone char is used to process white sugar.
The same applies to skincare products, make-up, household detergents, and so on – if they have been tested on animals, they are not vegan. But a plant-based, or WFPB person may not have any objection.
You don’t have to label yourself Vegan, PB, or WFPB this November (or ever for that matter), but understanding the difference between vegan, plant based and whole-food plant based will help you to decide what best defines you and your lifestyle.
Day 10
Introduce as many new vegan foods as you can
For every animal product that you give up, you can introduce dozens of alternatives. Many people think that going vegan requires sacrifice, limitations and struggle. But it’s actually quite the opposite. The trick is to crowd non-vegan foods out of your diet by replacing them with things you like more.
Every time you discover new vegan foods you enjoy, you’ll be crowding non-vegan foods out of your diet. You’ll make rapid progress just by sampling new foods at every opportunity. Try a few new vegan foods every week if you can.
Let’s have a look at an example. You love spreadable cheese on bread but you want to go vegan and give it up. In this case, you want something vegan which is spreadable on bread, right? OK, here’s a list of things that in my opinion are far nicer than any spreadable dairy cheese. These will also be a good substitute for chunks and slices of cheese that you would normally have eaten with bread.
- mushroom paté
- artichoke paté
- hummus (a spread/dip made of blended chickpeas flavoured with anything from lemon juice to roasted red peppers)
- Slices of avocado, seasoned with lemon or lime juice, black pepper, salt and a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil
- baba ganoush (a delicious middle-eastern aubergine spread/dip)
- cultured cashew cream cheese – plain, or with the addition of chives, horseradish, chili pepper, roasted garlic, roasted radicchio – the list is endless
- dried tomato and olive paté
- truffle spread (check the label – some are not vegan)
- roasted vegetable spread (like zacusca and ajvar, or make your own!)
- left-over aubergine parmigiana – it’s to die for!
- aubergine chunks in tomato sauce – one of my absolute favourites!
- left-over caponata (the only problem is finding leftovers – it’s usually gone in a flash!)
It only takes a few weeks for vegan foods to become your default choice. By the time your vegan November ends, you may well decide to keep going and stay vegan for good.
Day 11
All you need to know (for now) about vegan dinners
Even though dinner is probably a bit more difficult than breakfast and lunch, it absolutely can be done! Today is Day 11 of my guide on how to go vegan this November and you’ll learn all the necessary skills and tips to make your transition successful – so let’s get started!
First make a list of all the dishes you used to have for dinner, all the family favourites. Think of the ingredients in each one and write them down. Now circle the non-vegan ones; the ones you want to replace. Here is a list of those foods and how to replace them:
Cheese
On Day 13 there’ll be lots of useful tips on how to substitute cheese, so I won’t go into that here.
milk
You can simply replace dairy milk with plant-based milk in almost any recipe
yoghurt
If a recipe calls for yoghurt, the best option is usually soya yoghurt – it has the most neutral flavour. As a breakfast food or snack, eat whatever yoghurt you like the most – there’s so much choice: coconut, oat, soya, almond, rice… with or without added fruit. I add my own fresh fruit.
While I was in Amsterdam I discovered Alpro quark, which is uncannily similar to dairy yoghurt – very, very nice. Unfortunately, I can’t find it where I live.
Eggs
We’ll be looking at replacing eggs on Day 14 of this Vegan November guide. Of all non-vegan foods, eggs are probably one of the most complex to replace. This applies particularly to desserts. But don’t worry you can veganise most and there’ll be lots of other new vegan dessert recipes that you’ll probably like more.
Meat and fish
This is where we get to the crunch! For most of us, our traditions are deeply rooted in meat, potatoes and two veg. That’s what I grew up eating in England in the 60s and 70s – at least 4 dinners a week consisted of meat, mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The portions of meat were small, admittedly, and there was lots of gravy, which I loved. In those kinds of meals, you would replace the meat with vegan burgers, like black bean and red pepper burgers, or a vegan meatloaf. The good news is that vegan gravy is also delicious!
How to replace meat
Mushrooms
Many of my dinners used to be meat casseroles. The number one substitute in casseroles is mushrooms because of their meaty consistency and umami flavour. One of my favourite vegan casseroles has whole baby mushrooms, or mushroom quarters, whole baby onions, sliced red peppers, potatoes and red wine. Delicious even without meat – fake or otherwise.
Lentils
Italian ragù or bolognese sauce can be made with lentils instead of meat. It’s not the meat that makes ragù so tasty – it’s all the seasoning. Onion, carrot, celery, garlic, red wine, tomato sauce and herbs are what make it so delicious. Lentils can also be used for shepherd’s pie, lasagne, and so on – anywhere you would use minced meat.
Beans and chickpeas
You can make fantastic vegan one-pot dishes that are cooked on the stove. For vegans, these are hearty stews consisting of beans, chickpeas, or other legumes, as their main ingredient instead of meat. They are also used as a base for meatballs and burgers, along with other vegetables.
Tofu
Tofu can be used to replace meat as a source of protein, especially in oriental dishes, stir-fries, buddha bowls, etc.
Jackfruit
Jackfruit is a good alternative to chicken and can be used in anything from casseroles, curries, and pies, to nuggets, fajitas, salads and stir-fries.
New-generation plant-based meat
You can of course use new-generation plant-based meat for all your meat recipes. I’m not a huge fan – for health reasons really. I do eat them sometimes though, and I must admit that some are very nice. I enjoy a vegan burger in a bun, with all the trimmings; onions, tomato, lettuce, gherkin, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, etc. As long as you don’t exaggerate, especially if you have health problems, I think it’s ok to eat them now and then. That way I never feel left out at barbecues. I also sometimes use fake chicken in curries and fajitas,
Nut roasts
There are some absolutely delicious nut roast recipes out there that are equally as tasty as a meatloaf or wellington, for instance.
Seitan
Seitan is made of vital wheat gluten flour and dates back to the 6th century. It has a whole variety of uses and is particularly well suited to making vegan steaks, cutlets, burgers, and smoked seitan sticks, among other things. Although it is possible to make seitan at home, most people buy it in it’s ready-to-eat processed form. Seitan is a good option for those who cannot eat soy.
Textured soy protein
Textured soy protein, also known as textured vegetable protein, is often used as a meat analogue. It’s quick to cook, with a protein content comparable to certain meats.
Meal suggestions for vegan November
Because autumn is already in full swing, I’m going to suggest some popular vegan dishes for this November. Chestnuts, pumpkin, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, cabbage and Italian radicchio are all in season right now. Some vegan dishes you could consider this November are:
- pumpkin soups and pies
- bubble and squeak
- vegetable curries
- oven-roasted vegetables
- stuffed cabbage leaves
- leek and potato pie
- vegan Cornish pasties
- vegan canederli
- vegan shepherd’s pie
- mushroom stroganoff and bourguignon
- radicchio or pumpkin risotto
- pasta with walnut pesto or artichoke sauce
- stuffed portobello mushrooms
- bean chili
Replacing fish
Fish was far harder for me to give up than meat, cheese or eggs. I learned to cook fish Italian style, which involves very simple cooking methods – grilled, oven-roasted, cooked in tomato sauce, and occasionally in pasta sauces and risotto. So, although fish was one of the foods I enjoyed most, and ate regularly, it wasn’t an ingredient in a myriad of other dishes in the way that cheese, eggs and meat are. That helped considerably. I just decided that fish was an animal too (without any rights, at that) and that I wouldn’t be eating it anymore. I simply crowded fish out with other equally tasty alternatives.
Whenever I go to the seaside in Italy, I’m always horrified at just how much fish is consumed every single day by the millions of tourists that visit the country during the summer months (and not only summer, with the advent of smart working). Many species of fish are on the brink of extinction and desperately need to be allowed to recover before it’s too late.
Farmed fish, like salmon and sea bream, are amassed in filthy tanks and they have absolutely no quality of life. They are fed contaminant-rich fish meal, and chemicals and antibiotics are added to the cesspool to keep disease under control. Read the shocking facts here.
Wild fish, on the other hand, is unsustainable and often contains high levels of mercury. From every point of view, it’s best to leave fish off your plate. The good nutrients contained in fish can be obtained from their source: algae.
Introducing new foods is key
Remember that replacing the animal products with vegan in your usual recipes is only part of what you are trying to achieve. We aim to go way beyond that and introduce as many new dishes as you like and feel comfortable with. I have a far more varied repertoire of recipes now than I ever had when I was an omnivore. It’s that variation and crowding that I talked about on Day 10 that will leave you feeling 100% satisfied, with no regrets about the foods you are leaving behind. Feel free to browse my blog and try all those delicious vegan meals that you never even knew existed!
If you really struggle with vegan dinners, you could consider Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before 6:00 approach for the time being. Bittman has written a book on the topic, and it could help those who find it difficult to be 100% vegan, especially at dinner time. His Vegan Before 6:00 plan involves eating vegan every day until dinner.
Day 12
Snacks
Remember all those glass jars on your kitchen counter that we talked about on Day 4 of this Vegan November guide? Dried fruit, nuts and seeds are perfect as vegan snacks. If you do sport, you could make granola bars, or make a smoothie and add some protein powder. For the more figure conscious, some fresh fruit or a fruit salad would be ideal. Raw vegetables like carrots, fennel, celery, peppers and cucumber are also great as a snack food. Dip them in hummus or a red bean dip for more protein. Some of the things I mentioned on Day 10 are also great as snack food.
I’m a minimalist at snack time and only really eat when I’m hungry, so anything that is super quick to prepare is fine by me. No preparation at all is even better. I’m never without my cultured cashew cream cheese that I like to spread on my homemade sourdough bread, and I sometimes add things like artichokes, dried tomatoes or olives. In the summer I love a glass of chilled gazpacho. In the winter, especially during the festive season, a cup of tea and homemade vegan biscuits are a treat I love.
Compile a list of your new snack foods and pin it to the inside of a kitchen cupboard. Every time you want to reach for something non-dairy, get it out and remind yourself of the choice you have.
Day 13
How to substitute cHEESE
Here’s how to go vegan this November and survive (and dare I say thrive?!) without cheese! Most store-bought vegan cheeses are a huge disappointment for most of us. They lack the taste, smell and feel of real cheese. When you look at the label, there’s an ingredient list as long as your arm. If I see weird-sounding ingredients that I’ve never heard of and can’t pronounce, I won’t buy it.
Look at the nutritional label, you’ll also find that they’re high in fats, often unhealthy saturated fats that clog your arteries, just like dairy cheese. What’s the point in substituting real cheese with something that is second best in every way, and unhealthy with it? I have to admit that I have found 3 or 4 that are actually really good – the only problem is the price tag. So I figured out what was in them, experimented, and made them at home for a fraction of the price.
Any cheese worth its salt is cultured, whether it’s vegan or dairy. All my vegan cheeses are cultured, except for one. I’ll be sharing these exclusive vegan cheese recipes here on my blog in the coming weeks and months.
Different types of cheese and their uses
To substitute a dairy cheese, you’ll first need to evaluate what you want it for. For example:
- to eat in slices or chunks with bread
- to spread on bread and to put in sandwiches and wraps etc
- for cheesecakes
- for quiches, pasties, savoury tartlets, and so on
- to sprinkle on pasta and roasted vegetables etc instead of parmesan
- to put on pizza
- for use in baked dishes like lasagne, parmigiana, gratinated potatoes
- as a filling for ravioli, puff pastry, involtini, cannelloni, and so on
Once you’ve evaluated what you need it for, it will be easier to find a replacement and I can help you with that!
I have researched and come up with 100% satisfactory substitutions for all the uses mentioned above – tried, tested and approved, even by non-vegans.
There are some cheese dishes that I still haven’t tried veganising. Switzerland is the land of cheese and November marks the beginning of winter – time for comfort food – and the Swiss love a cheese feast. Raclette and fondue evenings are common all over Switzerland, in restaurants and at home. They are social occasions where everyone gathers around a table laden with pots of melted cheese or raclette grills. I just go and buy my preferred brand from the supermarket and join in the fun. A couple of Swiss vegan brands of raclette are quite good, and I don’t care if they’re not healthy – I’m not going to die from something I eat twice a year.
I love New Roots vegan fondue. If you live in Switzerland, you should try it out! New Roots makes great vegan cheeses – all cultured in the same way that normal cheese is – with no weird ingredients.
In the future, I will make a vegan fondue – so watch this space! Subscribe to receive all my recipes the moment I publish them, including all the dairy cheese substitutes I mentioned above.
Less is more
Sometimes less is more. By that, I mean it’s not always necessary or even desirable, to include cheese in a recipe because it does nothing to enhance the flavour or the texture of the dish – in addition to being quite indigestible to some, especially once it has gone cold. Even before I was vegan if found cold pizza very unappetising. I’m referring to dairy cheese here, but the point is this: if dairy cheese does nothing to compliment a dish, why on earth would you want to replace it with an inferior-tasting vegan cheese?
I’ll give you an example: pizza. Pizza originated in Italy, everyone knows that. But how do Italians eat their pizza? Well, you might be surprised to hear that when pizza was invented it didn’t have cheese on it. Not even mozzarella, let alone 4 formaggi (4 cheeses). In many regions of Italy today, including Campania where it originated, the tradition of pizza without cheese prevails. The topping is very often only tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes, with some oregano or olives. Other regions where pizza rossa (red pizza, with no mozzarella) is predominant include all the regions south of Rome, as well as Sicily, Liguria, and parts of central Italy.
So, if (some) Italians don’t put mozzarella on pizza, why should we? And I certainly wouldn’t want some yucky vegan cheese on my pizza! Pizza rossa every time for me! Try it – you never know, it might solve your problem of finding a substitute for mozzarella on pizza!
Day 14
How to substitute eggs
As I mentioned before, eggs are one of the most difficult foods to replace. Some recipes with eggs in them are extremely difficult to veganise because they serve multiple purposes in the recipes especially in desserts.
You obviously can’t veganise a fried egg, for example, or a scotch egg if you know what one of those is. I’ve seen photos of vegan eggs that look just like fried eggs – I don’t know what they taste like though! These foods are highly processed and best left off your plate if you value your health (in my opinion). Scrambled eggs are another matter and a healthy alternative using tofu gives very satisfactory results.
Eggs in savoury dishes
It’s considerably easier to substitute eggs in savoury dishes than it is in sweet things. You can use a combination of crumbled firm tofu and cashew cream cheese to deliver similar results to eggs in quiches and tartlets, for instance.
To make a nut roast firm enough to slice, you can add ground chia or flax seeds to achieve the same effect as egg in meatballs, meatloaf and so on.
Eggs in baking and desserts
Cakes
Depending on the type of cake, one egg can be replaced by:
1/2 mashed ripe banana
4 tbsp apple sauce
4 tbsp silken tofu
vegan yoghurt
shop-bought egg replacer
Biscuits
In biscuit recipes, you can replace one egg with:
All of the above, or
1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 2 1/2 tbsp water
1 tbsp ground chia seeds + 2 1/2 tbsp water
1/4 cup of milk + 1/8 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
Meringues
Where whipped egg whites are called for in a recipe, you can substitute one egg with:
2 tbsp aquafaba
Aquafaba is the water chickpeas were cooked in. Because it contains similar proteins to those contained in egg whites, you can whip it to make meringues etc and once sugar is added the result is very similar to desserts made with egg whites. Cream of tartar (a by-product of winemaking) is used to stabilise it.
Mousses and creams
In mousses and creams, a combination of aquafaba and cashew or soya cream provides great results.
I first evaluate the purpose of the egg in a recipe (to thicken, bind, add moisture, leaven, and so on) and then decide which is the best substitute for the egg in that particular recipe. On my blog, you’ll find clear indications on how to replace the egg in both savoury dishes and baked goods.
Day 15
Vegan is not expensive
Contrary to popular belief, vegan is not necessarily expensive. Since going fully vegan in 2020 I have halved my food bill every month. Some clarification is necessary here. Adopting a whole food plant-based diet is not expensive. The idea that eating a vegan diet is expensive derives from the fact that processed vegan foods, such as vegan sausages, burgers, and ready-made meals can be very expensive. Apart from burning a hole in your pocket, they will also do nothing to improve your health.
By opting for whole foods, i.e. dried legumes, fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, etc, and limiting your consumption of ready meals and processed foods, you will not only save a lot of money but you’ll also be on the right track to improving your general health.
How did I reduce my monthly food budget by 50%? You can do it too while you go vegan this November – here’s how:
Use dried legumes
Dried beans, lentils and chickpeas are about 10 times cheaper than meat, and much more economical that their canned counterparts. The soaking process is lengthy, so I usually do a kilo at a time and cook the whole batch. Afterwards, I either jar or freeze what I don’t need straightaway. By doing this, you’ll not only have a cheapy healthy meal that day, but you’ll also have 2 or 3 meals stashed away for convenience later.
Make your own baked goods
Homemade bread, pizza, focaccia, pita, Indian breads, tortillas, piadinas, pies, pasties, cakes and biscuits – all at a fraction of what they cost at the supermarket. Once you learn how to make them, you’ll be surprised at how quick and easy it is. Look at the labels on shop-bought baked goods… You only need 4 ingredients to make practically everything I mentioned above, so why is the list on the packets so much longer? They contain all sorts of additives to extend shelf life and so on.
make your own tomato sauce
In August, when tomatoes are cheap and abundant, I make enough tomato sauce to last a whole year. The savings here are debatable and to some, it may not be worth the effort. Especially when you consider the initial layout for the jars and tops, and the pan you’ll need to sterilise the jars in.
However, homemade tomato sauce is another league of deliciousness that I find hard to do without. It’s also the base for so many sauces and countless other dishes. Once you’ve amortised the initial cost, you can use the same glass jars year after year.
Make your own jam
When fruit is inexpensive and abundant during the summer months, I make my own jam. It’s super easy and only takes a couple of hours from start to finish. You could also make chutneys and your own fruit in syrup.
Grow your own vegetables
If you’ve got a garden, grow your own vegetables! There’s no need to use pesticides, so all your fruit and vegetables and salad will be organic. In addition, the payback will be huge once you’ve offset the initial cost of the plants or seeds that you buy. It’s also immensely gratifying. There’s something incredibly relaxing about pottering around in a garden, but growing your own food adds another dimension to the experience. We go back to our origins, and being in contact with the earth and the natural cycle of the seasons has beneficial effects on our mental health too.
Don’t have a garden? Get an allotment if you can, like I did. Lots of towns have communal allotments, although there’s sometimes a waiting list.
Pick or grow your own herbs
Most people recognise at least some herbs and edible wild plants. Grow your own herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme and sage. They also do well on a balcony and most are perennial. When you go on walks, you can pick wild plants like mallow, chamomile and horsetail to make herbal teas. Or dandelion and purslane to add to salads. You can cook dandelion and purslane in the same way as spinach, or add them to soups, stews and curries etc. Many wild plants have been almost forgotten, which is a pity because they often contain far more nutrients than the vegetables we buy in the shops.
Use a waste-saving app
Download an app like Too good to go, Phenix, FoodHero, or Karma. You can get some great food which is still perfectly good to eat at a fraction of the price. To be on the safe side, I usually stick to the vegetable-only offers or the ones that are specifically labelled vegan.
Buy foods that are on offer
When I go to the supermarket, I have a short list of the things I need. If I write fruit and vegetables, for example, when I get to the supermarket, I’ll see what’s on offer. If broccoli is cheap and cauliflower is more expensive, I’ll buy broccoli. The only time I’ll buy ready meals or processed vegan food is when it’s on offer. Very often, close to the sell-by date, supermarkets will discount stuff to avoid food waste. Here in Switzerland the two biggest supermarket chains Migros and Coop both reduce the price by 50% on the sell-by date. You can always freeze it if you don’t need it straight away.
Even if you’re not short of cash, money saved is always money that you can spend on something else.
Don’t let food go to waste
Every time food goes to waste, you’re also wasting your money. There are some great apps that help you to keep track of what’s about to expire in your fridge and propose recipes based on those ingredients. On Vegan Hot Stuff you can search by ingredient
Day 16
Use Vegan Hot Stuff
Make use of all the free resources on Vegan Hot Stuff! At the time of writing, my blog is just launching, so at the moment there isn’t a lot of content. But I will be posting recipes every week, so remember to check them out! Maybe you would like to subscribe so that you receive them directly in your inbox as soon as I publish them – that way you’ll never miss any!
Coming from a catering background, I never used to weigh ingredients. The only problem is that you get a slightly different result each time.
I understand that a lot of people want precise indications of quantities and easy-to-follow instructions with photos and videos, so I decided to do just that. The recipes on my blog are dishes that we eat regularly at home, and they have all been tried and tested over and over again so that they deliver perfect results to anyone that wants to make them.
Day 17
Learn how to read food labels
It’s fundamentally important to understand food labels, especially if you’re vegan. You can generally trust foods that are labelled vegan, although there have been cases of erroneous indications on the packaging.
Not everything vegan is healthy. Get into the habit of checking food labels. Do your own research and find out what those ingredients are that you can’t pronounce. Chances are they’re not good. Sometimes there are unnecessary ingredients in foodstuffs. Let’s take soya milk for example. When I first started looking for a good soya milk, I checked the labels of as many different brands as possible and compared them. In the end, I settled for one with 2 ingredients – water and soya beans. I bought it, I liked the taste, and so I stuck with that.
Many of the other makes of soya milk contained things like salt, sugar, acidity regulators, calcium carbonate, aromas, thickening agents, stabilisers and E numbers. Seeing as you can easily make your own soya milk at home with just water and soya beans, I don’t see why it should contain anything else.
Some foods are vegan even though they’re not labelled vegan. I once found a wonderful artichoke sauce in the fresh foods aisle of Conad supermarket in San Remo, Italy. The ingredients were 100% plant-based even though it wasn’t labelled vegan. Another example is dark chocolate. The ingredients are often all plant-based even though it doesn’t say vegan on the packet. Sometimes the reason for this is that it’s produced in a factory where non-vegan chocolate is also made, and so some “contamination” is possible. To some people, it’s unacceptable to purchase vegan food from an establishment that exploits animals in the making of other foods that they produce. It depends on just how far you intend to take your veganism and where you want to draw the line. Do your own research, learn to read food labels, and consult a vegan-savvy nutritionist if necessary.
Day 18
Plan ahead
When I first became vegan, I struggled a bit, especially at dinner time. I’m the kind of person who thinks about cooking when I start to get hungry and I throw something together with whatever I have on hand. When you disrupt your eating habits by going vegan, forward planning becomes a necessity, and I was ill-prepared for that. I would continue with my daily activities until late afternoon and then panic when I had to prepare dinner. I had no intention of cooking two different meals and just preparing something for myself and leaving the others to fend for themselves also wasn’t an option.
What I really wanted was to have the rest of the family on board as well, and I wanted them to be raving about my vegan cooking!! I dreamt of making stuff so delicious that everyone would want to become vegan. Well, it didn’t quite happen like that, and I still haven’t converted them, but they do rave about my food and happily sit down to eat it every day.
Don’t go it alone like I did. Use my recipes. Plan ahead if you want this to be a successful vegan November. Decide early in the day what you’re going to make – it’ll save you a lot of stress later.
Day 19
Join vegan support groups
While going vegan this November, be sure to join some vegan support groups. They were created to do just that – provide support. There are charities like The Vegan Society and PETA, where you’ll find lots of great resources. They’re free and the vegan community is usually very welcoming towards newcomers. There are also lots of Facebook groups – choose one or two based on your needs and/or where you live. Even though I joined them after I had already gone vegan, I found them very useful.
Some of the ones that came up when I searched for “vegan” on Facebook were Vegan in Ticino, Vegans and Veganism in Switzerland (English group), Vegan for Beginners, Vegan and Menopause, London Vegans, and UK Vegan. Obviously those groups showed up on my search because Facebook knows where I live and pretty much everything else about me. If you live in a different area, you’ll get different results.
In the local groups, we share information about anything and everything happening in our area… from looking for a vegan-savvy paediatrician, to what vegan foods are on offer and where, sharing information about protests and demonstrations, restaurant reviews, and lots of other things.
Day 20
Socialise and find community
On day 19 of How to go Vegan this November, we talked about joining online vegan support groups.
There’s nothing like meeting up in person with like-minded people though. Go out and socialise and find some real-life community. November and the pre-Christmas period are ideal months for socialising.
Meetup.com offers an unmatched directory of local vegan gatherings. Just type Vegan into its search box and see what comes up. You will probably find at least one regularly-held vegan dining or potluck event in your community. If nothing turns up, maybe you could use the Meetup platform to start your own.
You can also meet like-minded people at big regional vegan festivals held in cities near you. To find one, visit VegEvents.com.
When you go vegan there can be mixed reactions from the people around you, like work colleagues, friends and family. Some may be really supportive and nice, while others may be exactly the opposite. It takes time for people to get used to the idea, and in the meantime you’ll get all sorts of comments, so be prepared. Get on with your own life, filter out the negative, and don’t be drawn into useless discussions about other people’s beliefs versus theirs.
As soon as you get nifty in the kitchen, invite your friends round. Cook something special for them and non-vegans in your family. Win them over with your culinary delicacies. You may not convert them, but does it matter? Everyone has their own path in life. But they will get a positive impression about vegan food and be more open to veganism in general through you. If nothing else, you’ll have a lovely time together with no animal suffering involved.
Lots of people I know have opened up to change through my food and now have more meatless and dairy-free days.
Day 21
What to do when you’re invited to someone’s house
I’ve always found that people are incredibly welcoming when they invite me round to their house, but they are often stumped as to what to prepare. Most of them genuinely have no idea what vegans eat. I try not to put them out and tell them that I’m perfectly happy with a salad or a slightly larger portion of a vegetable side dish that they were going to cook anyway. Whatever they cook is fine by me, as long as it’s vegan.
If they ask you what you’d like, try suggesting a crowd-pleaser that’s naturally vegan and that everyone can eat. If you have the time, you could even offer to help make it. Pretty much everyone likes pizza and pasta with a tomato-based sauce, like penne all’arrabbiata or vegan spaghetti alla puttanesca.
Sometimes I’m invited out and I know there won’t be much for me. So I either take my own food or eat something before I go or when I get back home. Vegans have a bad rap, and I always try not to be one of those vegans.
Inevitably, at the table, people will start to ask questions and make comments. If I see they’re genuinely interested and just curious, I’ll happily engage in a conversation about my vegan lifestyle. Sometimes though, the conversation takes a different turn and I find myself trying to defend choices against people who will never understand. It’s not worth my time and effort, so I politely ask if we can change the subject. Some are reluctant to give in and you have to be firm. It’s like talking about politics or whether one should get vaccinated or not. They’re not nice conversations to have at the table.
I’m always outnumbered because apart from my daughter, I’m the only vegan I know. I don’t like engaging in ten-against-one arguments. I’m a Libra and I hate public confrontations. If you’re the kind of person who likes to hold their own in a discussion about veganism, no matter how many people you’re up against, I suggest you check out Earthling Ed. He’s a vegan activist, educator and public speaker. His style of activism focuses on drawing people – whether his students, the people he debates, or his viewers at home – into reasonable, logical, and understanding discussions about veganism.
Day 22
Vitamin B12 and other supplements
No matter what other people might tell you, if you’re going vegan this November, go and get yourself a vitamin B12 supplement. It’s not just vegans that can be deficient in vitamin B12, omnivores can be too.
B12 is essential to the proper functioning of the central nervous system, and a deficiency in this nutrient can lead to a wide variety of symptoms, some of which can be very serious. The most common symptoms are fatigue, headaches, depression, nerve damage, and a specific form of anaemia. The most worrying thing is that by the time you manifest symptoms, it’s often too late and the damage can be permanent.
During my first year of being vegan, I didn’t take a B12 supplement and I did manifest some of those symptoms, although I don’t know for sure that they were due to a B12 deficiency. One symptom was particularly annoying; I had this horrible sensation that something was crawling over my skin. It was so bad that I kept checking that there wasn’t an insect crawling on my skin under my clothes. Sometimes it would go away for a few days and then come back again. When I started taking a B12 supplement regularly, it disappeared completely.
18 months into being vegan I went for a full check-up. All my blood work was fine, except for a borderline result for B12. My doctor told me to take a supplement regularly and I’d be fine, which I have done ever since.
It’s not worth taking the risk in my opinion – it’s water-soluble, so anything over and above what your body needs is just excreted in the urine.
B12 injections are generally recommended for people who can’t properly absorb B12 from food or supplements, like those who’ve undergone gastric bypass surgery or people with certain autoimmune diseases.
Both vitamin B12 supplements and injections are considered safe and well-tolerated, even in large doses.
Other common deficiencies found in vegans (and non-vegans) include vitamin D, calcium, iron and zinc. Only your doctor can tell you what supplements you should take and in what form, based on the results of your blood tests.
Day 23
How to get enough protein
“Where do you get your protein from?” is one of the most common questions we vegans get asked. It’s actually a myth that vegans don’t get enough protein. Have you ever heard of anyone with a protein deficiency? No. Me neither.
Here is a short extract taken from the official Forks over knives website, the content of which is in line with other medical journals and government recommendations:
“HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO MOST OF US REALLY NEED?
For the general population, getting 10–15 per cent of daily calories from protein is sufficient. This is true even for people who lead an active lifestyle.
Government-issued recommendations for protein intake have varied over the years. Currently, the U.S. government’s protein RDA is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. The World Health Organization, on the other hand, recommends 0.66 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For a 140-pound person, the U.S. RDA translates to about 50 grams of protein a day; if that person consumes 2,000 calories in a day, 50 grams of protein is exactly 10 per cent of total calories.
HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO MOST OF US GET?
Science shows that most of us already get more protein than we need.
In 2013, the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics published the largest study to date comparing the nutrient intake of more than 71,000 non-vegetarians, vegetarians, and vegans. The study found that, on average, vegetarians and vegans get 70 per cent more protein than they need every day (70-plus grams), while non-vegetarians get even more than that (almost 80 grams).
Without even trying, you are most likely getting more protein than you need—whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore. Protein deficiency is almost exclusively seen in people suffering from a calorie deficiency. In these cases, the concern should be getting more calories and more of all nutrients—not just protein.
CAN ATHLETES GET ENOUGH PROTEIN ON A VEGAN DIET?
Generally speaking, athletes can easily get enough protein on a whole-food, plant-based diet, and they don’t need to consume protein powders or bars—or even focus on eating whole foods with high concentrations of protein, such as beans—to do so. As Alona Pulde, MD, and Matthew Lederman, MD, write in The Forks Over Knives Plan: “Athletes do require more protein (and all nutrients) than sedentary people, but there is no evidence that they require a higher percentage of protein compared to other macronutrients in their diet to perform more optimally.” In other words, most athletes just need to eat more food, period.“
As vegan ultramarathoner, Matt Frazier writes in The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, “It’s not just tofu, beans, and nuts that pack the protein in a plant-based diet. Indeed, just about everything else in whole-food, plant-based diets—grains, veggies, everything except most fruit—has a protein content at or above 12 to 15 per cent of total calories. Put it all together, and you get a diet that provides you with plenty of protein—even as an athlete.”
I spent my first few months of being vegan worrying that I wasn’t getting enough protein. I hope I’ve busted that myth for you now.
This vegan November you can get plenty of protein from seasonal produce like broccoli, green beans, green peas, brussels sprouts, sweet potato, artichokes, spinach, walnuts, and seeds
Can too much protein be harmful? The short answer is yes. So, relax – on your vegan diet this November you’ll be getting all the protein you need!
Day 24
Tastes change and your body changes
Our tastes
You may not like the taste of soya yoghurt, or oat milk, for example. Don’t worry, your tastes WILL change. Shop around and try different makes – some are much better than others. Don’t forget to check the labels! Once you’ve found the yoghurt you like best (or dislike the least), try adding some fresh fruit – chances are the difference in taste will be less noticeable. Over time you’ll find your tastes change and you’ll actually grow to like it. Some vegan foods taste disgusting and I’ll never get used to them. I dislike most shop-bought vegan cheese and I’ve thrown plenty of the stuff away – and I’m someone that hates throwing food out! They just don’t cut it with me so I make my own.
I’ve found great commercial substitutes for butter, milk and yoghurt. Over time my tastes have changed and I don’t miss dairy at all now. To me, vegan butter is just as nice as dairy butter, and even the non-vegans in the family are perfectly fine with the fact that there’s no real butter in the fridge. Everybody’s OK with Barista oat milk as well, even though they ummed and ahhed a bit in the beginning. This November, try different vegan dairy substitutes, at least the ones you need for cooking, and stick with them – you’ll get used to them faster than you think.
Our body
Another thing that changes over time is our body’s reaction to certain foods. Beans are a classic example. A lot of people have problems with beans and legumes in general. Others say that if they eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, they’re on the toilet all day the next day. They complain about flatulence and bloating, and changes in bowel habits.
The time it takes to adjust varies greatly from person to person and depends mainly on what you’re used to eating now. Luckily, I’ve always loved vegetables – all of them – so going vegan was easy for me. My body didn’t need to adapt because I already ate all of those things. If you’re going from a junk food diet to vegan this November, you will almost certainly have a reaction. Take it easy, transition gradually, and look for advice and other people’s experience in the vegan communities you’ve joined.
Day 25
Eating out
If you live in a big city, eating out this vegan November will likely be a culinary delight. If you live in a rural area, it might be a completely different story. I’ve been to places where I’ve been spoilt for choice and others where there was absolutely nothing vegan on the menu. A quick call beforehand to reserve a table and mention that there’s a vegan in the group usually meets with a positive reaction. Most are eager to please and letting them know in advance puts them in a position to come up with something good on the day. In some places, I got the red carpet treatment and they really went out of their way – they gave me the choice of a couple of starters, main courses and desserts.
Another way is to search for vegan food near me on google. This usually brings up all the vegan joints in the area, as well as other restaurants etc offering vegan dishes on the menu.
Happycow.net is the world’s largest vegan community and food map. As soon as you google it, all the places offering vegan food near me instantly pop up. Happy Cow also have a forum, blog, community, an app, and a shop. They’ve been up and running for a long time and they have loads of free resources. Your can even add a listing or share a recipe with the community.
To learn more about Happy Cow – how it all got started and where they are headed – see their About Us page.
Sometimes, rather than planning in advance, I just browse the menus outside the local restaurants. There’s usually something naturally vegan on the menu, and in that case, I don’t advertise the fact that I’m vegan – I just sit down and order. Last time it was a delicious dish of gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce. I just asked the waitress to check there was no egg in the gnocchi – end of story.
If I go to an Italian pizzeria, I never ask what vegan pizzas they have because the answer is always: “We don’t have vegan pizzas”. So I just choose a pizza that’s on the menu and order it without mozzarella – easy. If you go to a pizza place this November, try ordering your favourite without mozzarella – if it’s a pizza worth its salt, it’ll be delicious. If it isn’t great even without cheese, it wasn’t much of a pizza anyway. Next time order something different.
Day 26
Find a vegan Skincare range
As you come towards the end of your vegan November guide, you may already be asking yourself questions about other aspects of being vegan, such as skin care. As soon as I had everything under control in the kitchen, I started to think about what I was putting on my face and body. Seeing as our skin is porous and absorbs moisturisers and body lotions, what we put on our skin and hair should be equally as important as the food that goes inside our bodies. To me, that means they must be toxin free and not tested on animals, without compromising on quality. At an affordable price.
My choice for vegan skincare is an Austrian company called Ringana. Their products are not only highly effective but are also made by a family-run company that cares deeply about people, animals and the environment. They have won multiple awards for their products and they source their ingredients ethically and sustainably. Ringana is also certified climate neutral and they are the only company to date that use only fresh, natural ingredients with no artificial preservatives or fragrances. All their products have a use-by date and are only a few days old when you receive them, packaged in airless containers that will never come into contact with air or germs. Guaranteed organic, they contain no microplastics or other harmful substances that are destroying our ecosystems and the environment. With Ringana, what goes down the plug hole is just nature returning to nature. Read more here.
Day 27
Decide what to do about Clothing, shoes and accessories
During your first 30 days of transitioning to vegan this November, the subject of clothes, footwear and accessories will most likely be one of your lesser concerns, but it’s worth a mention anyway.
Going back to what I said about wasting food on Day 2, throwing out clothes, bags and shoes which were manufactured using animal skins and fur, isn’t going to save any animals or bring them back to life. Wasting things or throwing them away is far worse than just using continuing to wear them even though you are vegan now. The time will come when you need to buy new shoes and accessories because they are worn out – that’s the time to replace them with vegan ones.
If you feel uncomfortable wearing anything which has come from an animal, that is perfectly understandable. The best thing to do would be to donate them to charity so that those less fortunate than ourselves can make use of them. There’s so much poverty in the world, and it is now being aggravated by drought, floods, hurricanes, spiralling energy costs, economic crises, and war. Many people will be in need this winter so there’s bound to be someone who’ll be only too happy to receive your stuff.
Day 28
Pets
Here’s a little consideration about pets for this vegan November.
I’ve been vegan since the first Covid lockdown in 2020. We’ve got two cats that we’ve had for 7 and 8 years respectively. Cats are obligate carnivores, so there’s no way I’m going to try and feed my cats a vegan diet, and I would never dream of rehoming them – once an animal moves into our house, it’s for life.
It is a bit of a contradiction though to be vegan myself and keep two cats that eat meat. I think about that every day.
I don’t know how often people stop to think about how much meat our furry friends consume, and whether it’s morally right to kill one animal to feed another. Imagine all the pet dogs and cats in the United States of America, all eating meat around twice a day. If those pets had their own country, it would rank fifth in terms of global meat consumption, after China, Russia, Brazil and the US. Now add all the cats and dogs in Europe and the rest of the world. That’s a lot of meat being gobbled down by hungry pets.
If you’re going vegan this November, and you’re thinking of getting a pet, maybe it’s something worth thinking about.
Once our two beloved cats have gone, I don’t think we’ll be getting any more. I’ll stick to herbivores if anything, and only rescues at that.
In the world today we have a huge problem of unwanted pets in shelters that will spend their entire lives locked up (if they’re lucky, or euthanised if they aren’t). Stray dogs and colonies of stray cats are rampant in many countries, even here in Europe, and governments can’t be bothered to draw up and activate a plan to sterilise them. The least we can do is not fuel the problem by going out and buying a cat or dog from unscrupulous breeders who are just out to make a quick profit by exploiting innocent animals.
Day 29
Vegan families with young children
Although vegan hot stuff will provide you with loads of healthy recipes, and all the tips and resources you need to ensure your diet contains all the right nutrients, children can be very picky eaters. If you have a family, especially with young children, I would recommend finding a paediatrician or nutritionist who is knowledgeable on the subject of veganism. They are qualified to diagnose and treat any nutrient deficiencies that might arise because your children won’t eat certain foods. There are also vegan communities, Facebook groups and vegan blogs created with children in mind.
Day 30
Remember why – Don’t give up
Well, we’ve come to the end of my 30-day guide on how to go vegan this November, but the message today is just as important as all the other days – perhaps even more so.
Remember your why
Keep reminding yourself of the reasons why you’ve decided to go vegan. After reading through this guide I hope you’ll find going vegan a lot easier than you expected.
If you do have a bad day or feel this whole vegan thing is too much for you, stop for a moment and remember why you’re doing this. It might help to write down your reasons. Remember the animals – watch nice documentaries about animals with happy endings, like 73 Cows, which is a 2018 documentary about farmers in England who gave their herd of beef cows to the Hillside Animal Sanctuary and took up vegan organic farming.
Think about your own health benefits – keep going and monitor your progress. Take note of your energy levels, weight loss (if applicable), changes in mood, reversal of symptoms, and so on.
I come from a family who ate like most British people eat, and who got diseases that many British people get. When my father died aged 61, my brother and I were told that we were also at risk. That was back in 1985 and we both took that warning seriously. Our health should be the most important thing in our lives because, without it, everything else takes second place.
Within weeks of going vegan, my joint pains disappeared, my energy levels increased and I felt better generally. Most important of all, that feeling of guilt was finally gone and I felt free!
I’ve never had any serious health issues, probably because I’ve always been careful about what I eat and exercised regularly, and I was also vegetarian for a long time before going vegan. My improvements were minimal compared to some people, who experience profound changes that they can both see and feel. Some have reversed the symptoms of life-threatening diseases and shed stones in weight, especially on a whole-food plant-based diet.
Trying to go vegan this November is one of the most important things a person can do for the planet!
Don’t give up
Remember, being vegan in a predominantly non-vegan world is something admirable. If you slip up one day, don’t worry – nobody is perfect. It’s your good intentions that matter. Put it down to experience and get back on your bike. Even if you can’t quite manage to be vegan 100% of the time, nobody’s keeping score. 20 aspiring vegans are better than one perfect vegan!
I hope you enjoyed my 30-day guide and found it useful! I’d love to hear from you and I hope to see you on my blog soon!