Hello to all new Vegan’s starting the year out this year with Veganuary and making the change to a cruelty free lifestyle, team vegan welcomes you and we’re happy to have you on board. Making the change to veganism can be quite intimidating, it’s a complete lifestyle change, so here are my top ten tips for your first month into veganism, these are mistakes I find new vegans make and hopefully this list can help you to avoid them.

1. Learn the limits, new vegans either go 2 ways, jumping into it feet first without looking or not giving 100% but there is a middle ground to strive for, it is important for all vegans to be happy and healthy, if your aren’t happy and healthy then you are creating your own cruelty environment that veganism so strongly tries to fight, so remember the number 1 definition of being vegan is ‘as far as is possible and practical’ this definition is described by the vegan society. Which means do everything in your power, but take care of yourself too.
2. Medication – To expand further on number 1, this is the main thing I mean with learning the limits. All medication at one point or another has been tested on animals, so no medication is vegan friendly unfortunately. If you need that medication, don’t avoid taking it because it contains lactose, this is one of those areas you have no control over, I encourage all vegans to seek new alternatives via their doctor to reduce animal consumption but it is essential you keep yourself fit and healthy and if medication is part of your daily requirement to tick that box, by gosh you take it!
3. Read your labels. It isn’t just about looking out for milk and eggs on the back of the labels, you can follow this blog where I will show products that are vegan and that I use in my day to day life but there are many words that sometimes trick a new vegan, Whey Powder catches a lot of new vegans out, this is from milk, Lactose free does not mean milk free, Lactose is a part of milk that can be removed so a Lactose Free product probably will still contain milk, Free From doesn’t always mean vegan, another mistake many new vegans make but there are many options to be classed as a free from product such as gluten.
4. GLUTEN IS FINE, its something many eateries get confused with but gluten has absolutely nothing to do with veganism, so don’t think you need to start avoiding your pastas and breads.
5. Don’t just assume all treats aren’t vegan and you need to be limited to shopping in the free from section, Oreo’s, Bournville, Betty Crocker Frostings, Jelly Tots and Party Rings are just a few of the very many accidentally vegan products out there, I’ll be writing a list of my favourite accidentally vegan products so keep your eyes out for that.
6. It’s not just your food to look out for, many products still test on animals, unfortunately its something many new vegans and even long time vegans make the mistake with. UK laws prevents testing on animals, however anything sold in China is still by law required to test on animals, so you might unintentionally be contributing to cruelty with your money, so consider not just your food but also your cleaning products, makeup and sometimes even real fur can be found in your clothing.
7. But where will you get your protein? If you haven’t already got sick of hearing this sentence, buckle up because it will be thrown at you repeatedly. Protein can be found in a huge amount of place and not just in nuts and seeds, tofu has a huge amount of protein, but so do your vegetables, some of the biggest and strongest animals on the planet are herbivores but I bet no one wondered where the Rhino got his protein from, don’t make the mistake of thinking protein only comes from meat and you’re about to lead a life of malnourishment.
8. Supplements, do you need them? No, not if you are looking after yourself and eating a well-balanced and nutritional diet, if you’re living on Oreos then perhaps a supplement might help. The hardest vitamin to get enough of is b12 but you don’t need to take supplements to achieve it, Marmite and other yeast extracts contain b12, I know you have to either love or hate that but luckily many alternative plant based milks include b12, just check your labels when buying your alternatives.
9. Will veganism make me thin? The answer sadly is no. The only way to lose weight is by eating less calories than you are burning so for some yes swapping to a vegan lifestyle will make new vegans lose weight, but only because they are eating less calories, many new vegans will gain weight from consuming all the huge amount of vegan options there is to try, so if you’re doing this in hopes to lose weight, I suggest monitoring your calories to achieve the result you’re after.
10. But the main thing to remember is, you will make mistakes, it’s a huge lifestyle change and don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake, misread a label etc., the whole point of veganism is for the suffering of animals, 1 mistake does not cancel out all the hard work and reduction in cruelty you have done, dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes and do a little vegan swapsies on your products to make them vegan and cruelty free next time.Peace and Love… T x