Tips for Going Vegan

• Do it gradually. Don’t cut out all dairy, eggs, and meat in one go. Start by replacing certain items with vegan alternatives, and just keep doing that until pretty much everything you eat is vegan.

• If you see food as something more than just fuel, you’ll want to learn to cook, as vegan options at restaurants are often disappointing (except at dedicated vegan restaurants). Get good at making sauces and you can make pretty much anything delicious.

• One of the best decisions I made was to subscribe to Purple Carrot, a plant-based meal kit delivery. This opened my eyes to loads of little techniques to make things more delicious, and taught me basic vegan skills like making a creamy vegan sauce (which I can then remix in other recipes).

• Keep it simple learn how to make a variety of things from a few ingredients. Slowly figure out what your staples are that you keep coming back to.

• Veganism is not about purity - sometimes you accidentally eat stuff that isn’t vegan. That’s ok.

• Be pragmatic: I consider myself 95% vegan, which achieves most of the value but the 5% flexibility makes life much easier, and makes it much more likely I’ll stick with this diet long-term (and do more good overall).

• Learn about macro nutrition to make sure you’re getting a decent balance of protein, carbs, and fats. This is actually pretty easy to do while vegan if you pay a little attention. Use Cronometer. But also take a B12 and D3 supplement.

• Focus on whole foods where you can (they’ll make you feel more satisfied) but don’t stress too much about processed stuff.

• There’s a lot of pseudoscience in veganism. Don’t fall for juice cleanses, raw food diets, fruitarianism, or any other overly restrictive diets.