How to Transition to a Vegan Diet & Lifestyle

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by Alena Schowalter
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From climate change to animal suffering, there are many good reasons for transitioning to a vegan diet! This in-depth guide takes you through the most important steps and offers lots of resources & free downloads.

No matter why you want to start a vegan diet, we’re glad that you’re here. Perhaps you already follow a vegetarian diet and want to look into going dairy-free before making the move — everyone’s journey looks different.

We’ve already shared our top tips for starting a plant-based diet, what I eat in a day as a vegan as well as this guide on going vegan for beginners and the best reasons for going vegan but this article provides you with a structured and actionable plan!

If you think that transitioning to a vegan diet is super overwhelming, you’ll love this helpful guide as well as the following free downloads!

Free Vegan Transition Sheets

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download our free vegan transition sheets

Grab your free PDF and sign up for our newsletter by entering your email below!

To learn how to transition to a vegan diet, we invite you to read our article until the end and follow all links that seem relevant to your current situation!

We have lots of content around going vegan on our website if you’d like to take a look around.

Reasons for Transitioning to a Vegan Diet

As you might have heard, there are many good and urgent reasons to start transitioning to a vegan diet today – here are just a few of them.

  • Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions
  • Plant-based diets decrease your risk of major diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and even some types of cancer
  • Rainforests vanish in favor of cattle ranches and soy plantations for livestock
  • Drinking water is being contaminated by sewage and waste from farms
  • Antibiotic resistance that’s life-threatening to humans often comes from farmed animals
  • Close to 40% of the world’s grain (and 70% of US grain) is being fed to livestock, much of which is produced in countries where 17,000 children die of starvation each day
  • Millions of sentient beings suffer unimaginably for their short lives before being slaughtered needlessly 
  • Many slaughterhouse workers suffer physical injuries or develop post-traumatic stress disorder

Definition of Veganism

Veganism is an ethical standpoint and more than just a diet, as it includes things like not wearing leather or going to the zoo. But all of this can seem a little daunting and like a bottomless pit when you start dipping your toe into this topic.

This is why we and many other experts suggest that you start by changing your diet – this has the biggest impact on animals and the environment (as well as your health!) because most of the exploitation happens in this industry.

It is also the quickest way you can make a positive impact… by changing what you purchase at the store and what you let your dollar vote for.

Several cows standing next to each other in nature

3 Ways to Transition to a Vegan Diet

1. Crowding Food Out

This means that you don’t focus on what you should stop eating and instead try to add new plant-based foods and increase the amount of them in your diet. However, there should come a point at which you’ll recognize how you don’t need food x anymore and can just leave it out for good now.

If you’re feeling a bit anxious or unsure, this could be a great option for you. But be aware that you probably won’t notice drastic health changes that way since it’s not a drastic dietary change either.

2. The 3-Week Commitment

This approach has been popularized by Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM and works like this: you just start by collecting a couple of plant-based recipes first and trying them out over the course of 1-2 weeks.

Then, you make a commitment and eat 100% plant-based for 3 weeks to test the waters and to experience how much better or different you feel when eating this way.

The upside is that you have some time to get used to the new meals first and you’ll be able to experience the benefits better because you’re keeping out all the animal products at once.

3. Going Cold Tofurky

Let’s face it, once you’ve seen the truth and horrors of animal agriculture and all its consequences on the planet and humans, you probably feel sick to your stomach.

If you’re one of those all-or-nothing people, it’s possible that the way you view animal products now will have changed and you feel the need to throw all non-vegan food out of the kitchen.

Making this clear cut is the perfect decision for some as it also doesn’t leave any tempting food items in your reach. Because if one day, you’re in a hurry and haven’t eaten enough or are stressed, these convenient animal products might still find their way onto a dedicated but new vegan’s plate.

For other people, this approach is way too scary and they can just choose one of the options above – or make up their own personal one.

two large and colorfully stuffed beet burger patties in whole wheat buns with avocado, mustard, BBQ sauce, greens and carrot on a plate

Top Vegan Transition Tips

Alright, now that we’ve established the different ways of going about your personal transition, we’d like to share with you our top ten tips that will make it a lot more likely that you’ll be able to succeed at going and staying vegan!

Check your Mindset

Do you personally believe that it would be hard to transition to a vegan diet or that you can’t imagine not eating cheese, bacon or cake anymore? (Spoiler: you can, there’s a vegan version for everything.)

It can be a bit scary to change something you’ve done since birth and which most people around you will keep doing — but this can be a new and exciting chapter for you!

Even though we crave familiarity, you can get over the first few weeks until all of the new foods become your new normal. Think of it in terms of “replace, don’t restrict” and going vegan will seem much more doable.

Education Is Key

This probably sounds more boring than it actually is. But without the information on why it’s a good idea to drop the animal products (and other forms of animal exploitation), how will you get the motivation to start making changes?

One of the most convenient and fun ways to learn more about veganism is to just listen to a vegan podcast show while doing your chores or taking a break!

We’ve also created guides about helpful books, inspiring documentaries as well as our favorite vegan YouTubers which you can find below.

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40+ Best Vegan Books

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The Best Vegan Youtubers

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16 Great Vegan Cookbooks

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The Best Vegan Documentaries

Go at Your Own Pace

It’s somewhat counterintuitive for a wholehearted vegan to tell this to those who would like to transition, but it’s true: the only way you can make this new diet sustainable is for you to do this at your own pace.

Although we would love to see all the animal suffering ending today, we understand that habits and social constructs run deep in our personal lives and society overall.

We’re not going to lie, living an “alternative lifestyle” can put you in uncomfortable situations where you’ll have to stand up for your beliefs and decisions because you’re going against the status quo.

Not to sound too serious here, but people will have lots of questions and might tease you or tell you to just “suck it up” or “pick the cheese off the food”. That’s why we recommend you start your change at home, in a safe environment, and not tell everyone and their mom about this right from the start.

They will have questions and you better have read some good books or articles to be prepared for this! Don’t worry, it doesn’t require a degree to learn some important facts that you can use in these situations, but it still is a bit of work.

Here are some good points to start with. One caveat, though: please be honest with yourself and leave your comfort zone from time to time. Otherwise, there’ll be no real progress.

The Best Vegan Comebacks
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Start with Easy Foods

We like the idea of “crowding out” your favorite animal-based foods, but there will still come a point when you’ll have to say goodbye to them for good in order to adopt a fully vegan diet.

And we suggest that you don’t start with your all-time favorite grandma’s cheesecake (or whatever this is for you).

Think of something you didn’t really enjoy that much to begin with: maybe it’s boiled eggs or sausages or fish fingers. You could make a conscious decision not to have them anymore and replace them on your table with a tasty plant-based alternative.

Doesn’t have to be tofu sausages or another replicate like this, either! How about a handful of nuts as a snack instead, or just more of your potatoes and veggies?

Easy Food Swaps

Leave your favorite hard-to-part-withs for the more advanced stages of your transition, when you’ll have learned that it can be easy to let go.

Tip: Why not start by swapping out cow’s milk for soy milk or oat milk? Most people find that step one of the easiest. Every bit counts!

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join our free vegan course!

Learn how to thrive on a plant-based diet with practical tips & a 3-day meal plan!

Keep Things Fun

Do you know how many different types of grains or legumes there are? How about the strange-looking fruit or veg at your grocery store? There’s a world of food items you don’t even know yet, and they’re out there for you to discover.

We encourage you to pick a different one every week or so and look up what delicious meals you can create with it.

You can go over to findingvegan.com and just enter the name of the food to get a whole bunch of recipes. Or maybe, it would be more fun for you to try out all the different types of plant-based milk at the store?

Make a blind taste test with your family or friends so everyone can find their favorites. There are also a whole bunch of delicious vegan treats you can make yourself, such as:

Veganize Your Favorite Meals

Think you cannot live without Mac and Cheese, bacon, or ice cream? Great news, you don’t have to. Nowadays, you can find vegan versions for all of these at the store. And if you’re not into processed foods all too much, there are also plenty of recipes to recreate these foods at home.

Just like vegan chicken wings, banana ice cream or a quick and healthy cheeze sauce which you can use to make the most delicious vegan lasagna (pictured below).

You can browse Pinterest or your favorite search engine for a huge variety of vegan comfort foods or similar meals with a delicious twist that might just become your new favorites!

baking dish with creamy dairy free vegan lasagna where a piece has been cut out

One Day at a Time

When the thought of changing for good or letting some food go forever seems too overwhelming, just try to stick as much to a plant-based diet as you can for today. One day seems doable, right?

You’ll always be free to make your own decisions, to go back and forth – tell this to your anxious mind to see things more relaxed. You can do this.

It’s not about perfection but taking the little steps until they’ve become second nature and require no effort at all anymore.

Vegan Breakfast Guide

Prepare & Stock Your Kitchen

One part of this largely depends on the type of transition you want to do: fast or slow. Either way, gain knowledge regarding which foods in your kitchen have animal products in them, which ones you don’t want to buy again and which ones you might even get rid of right now.

Some people do well with just giving away all non-vegan foods at once and stocking up on vegan items instead.

Others just want to part with a few foods, maybe because of some footage they’ve seen regarding a specific animal they don’t want to consume anymore.

No matter what you choose, you should learn which foods make up a well-sorted vegan kitchen and what groceries to get in the future.

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download our free printable vegan grocery list

Grab your free PDF and sign up for our newsletter by entering your email below!

Get into Meal Planning

If you’re into having all your meals laid out for you, then sticking to a vegan diet might be easier. All it takes is prepping some vegan staples which you can eat over the next couple of days – find some easy yet intriguing recipes and you’re almost set.

And if you’re new to meal planning and want to help ensure your success, this can be a very helpful tool.

Just having a few staples, like rice, beans, dips, fresh fruit, and chopped veggies, at home will make creating plant-based meals so much easier! It can also save you a lot of time and money.

Here’s our article on how to be vegan on a budget and below you’ll find our top resources for meal planning and prepping.

Woman drizzling white sauce over glass bowl filled with rice, avocado, broccoli, green onion and tofu

Vegan Meal Prep Guide

Don’t Overcomplicate

Eating vegan is easy, honestly. You probably have so many plant-based foods at home already or are familiar with them. Think of oatmeal, avocado toast, pasta with tomato sauce, veggie soups, and more. Snacks can be fruit or a handful of nuts.

We recommend not sticking to a particular plant-based diet in the beginning as this will take away even more food choices from you! It would be easiest to stick to your familiar meals and way of eating but simply veganizing everything.

If you want to take things up a notch and get healthier at the same time, simply put an emphasis on whole foods.

Whole Food Plant-Based Diet (Full Guide)

Remember that any diet can be unhealthy and if you switch from meat and dairy to mock meat and coconut ice cream, don’t expect everything to suddenly get better. One of the reasons people turn their backs on veganism is that they don’t get lean and healthy bodies right away.

It’s understandable that you might get excited about all the tasty vegan convenience foods out there but please remember to eat normal, whole foods too.

Put rice, beans, pasta, and potatoes on your plate for your main meals and add your favorite goodies like Gardein products to these whole foods.

It is easy to get all of your essential nutrients as a vegan when you make sure to include whole grains, legumes, fruits, veggies, and nuts or seeds into your daily diet.

The only nutrient that you’ll definitely have to supplement is vitamin B12.  For more information, check out our vegan food pyramid!

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download our free vegan nutrition printables

Grab your free PDF and sign up for our newsletter by entering your email below!

Get Some Support

Finally, everything’s easier with people on your side that are on a similar path. Since we all live in a meat-eating world and are confronted with how “normal” it is to consume animals on a daily basis, it’s a good idea to get regular reminders that it could be different.

Back when we transitioned to a vegan diet, we went through all the social media platforms we were using and filled them with inspiring pages that shared lots of information on plant-based eating and vegan living.

Funny memes, delicious food pictures, posts about how to deal with non-vegans and conversations with people who’ve been in your position are all tremendously helpful.

You’ll find new friends in these communities, maybe even someone who lives in your area (search on Facebook for “vegan + your city”) you could meet in person.

And if you’re really lucky, you might even have an old friend or good colleague who would be interested in transitioning to a vegan diet with you!

This would give you the chance to swap recipes, prepare lunch for both of you, discover delicious options at restaurants, watch documentaries, and have insightful conversations. Although this case is rare, they do exist!

More Vegan Guides

If you found this article helpful, be sure to browse our other vegan guides!

Have you been trying to shift towards a vegan diet? What have been your struggles and did you like our tips? Let us know in the comments below and Pin this article here.

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Hi, I'm Alena Schowalter — a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with my husband, I founded nutriciously in 2015 and have been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages toward a healthy plant-based diet. I enjoy discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature, and creating new recipes. Read more about us here.

21 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for this very helpful information. I’ve just started my journey one month ago. I am learning more everyday. I have cut out dairy and red meat, as a start. Your information has been so enlightening. I will print what I’ve downloaded and started a paper file to keep track of all I’m finding.
    Thank you again,
    Sharon Swedren
    Salisbury NC.

    Reply
  2. My transition to a vegan diet was very satisfactory!! My conscience is clear and I got the social thing down. Nutriciously helped tremendously! However, I have a rash that started when I cut out all animal-based foods. I went to the doctor with it and she said it could be a sensitivity thing, (I tested for allergies as well, but that came back negative for gluten etc.) I’m not entirely sure what I am doing wrong, it could not be related to food at all, but I was wondering if this is common? Or a strange reaction.. haha

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Aww, glad to have been helpful! But it was YOU who did all the work, remember that :)
      Weird regarding the rash. Have you started eating something you didn’t eat before going vegan? We don’t really hear this very often and since we’re not trained professionals would just like our readers to get a proper consultation. There isn’t anything in the animal products that should prevent you from keeping a rash – so it’s probably nothing you have taken out, rather something you added. Huge doses of vitamin B12 would be one possibility.
      Feel better soon!

      Reply
  3. I love your site! Thank you for the information, it’s all very clear and inspiring. The downloads are beautiful and your e-books are amazing! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience!

    Reply
    • Wow, thank you so much for this beautiful feedback, Ines! We greatly appreciate it. So happy to be putting all this time, love and effort into this project to be making a small difference <3

      Reply
  4. “Eating a vegan diet doesn’t have anything to do with willpower when you remember why it’s important to you and what you will be gaining from all of this – just until you have internalized your new way of eating…”

    This is so, SO true. When you focus on what you’re gaining and the strong, powerful ethical stance you’re taking, it has nothing to do with willpower. I loved this article. Thank you so much for providing support and honest information to others trying to make the switch!

    Reply
    • Hey Brittany,
      thanks so much for taking the time and going through the article! Love your comment and positive feedback :) Your words are much appreciated and I’m happy that this thought resonated so much with you.
      By the way, your blog is pretty awesome, too! Looking forward to sharing some of your work in the near future.
      Warm wishes,
      Alena

      Reply
    • Thanks a lot of the appreciation, hopefully others will find it just as useful :)
      Your work is wonderful, too, Nicole. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  5. Thank you for great tips Alena. I personally found that veganizing my favourite meals was a great way of being creative with the old classics and keeping it fun. I also think that listening to your body and going at your own pace is key. Our bodies always know what they need, we just have to listen to them.

    Reply
    • Wonderful input, thanks so much for sharing Tania! Yes, great way to step into your creativity and getting in touch with your body. Love your thoughts on this :)

      Reply
  6. I wish I had this when we transitioned. I am sure this will help a lot. Thank you for sharing your tips.

    Reply
    • Thanks so much for your comment, I’m happy you found this article valuable. Love your latest buffalo cauliflower recipe, by the way :)

      Reply
  7. I don’t really like tofu. Is this going to be a problem? It doesn’t bother me if it’s part of the ingredients in a product that I would purchase. To use it in a recipe myself or to just eat it I’m not sure if I could eat it. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  8. Thank you for your wonderful, helpful and inspiring website. I’ve been vegetarian and dairy free for four months now and your website helps. Thank you very much.

    Reply
  9. I’m two weeks into eating a plant based diet, cutting out dairy has been easy substituting oat milk rather than cows milk. I’m trying to get recipes together as this is what I find daunting, suddenly everything you’ve ever cooked needs to change. I will try using my normal dishes but just substitute the necessary ingredient out as you suggest. I’ve downloaded all the links so I have plenty of material to read up on. Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Hello,
    I am transitioning to a vegan diet, pretty much cold turkey. Not really difficult to do because my heart finally got to a place where it just won’t let me participate in the suffering of animals. The diet that was easiest on my stomach in the past was a lean meat, vegetables (low carb, I guess you’d call it paleo). Now on the vegan diet I am adding more carbs in the form of grains and legumes and such and my stomach is not as happy. Suggestions? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Hey Diane,
      so wonderful that you’re switching to a vegan diet! Anytime you drastically change what you’re eating, your body has to adjust to it — especially your gut microbiome. You might want to check whether your fiber intake suddenly doubled and just go slower on the new foods like legumes. Also, instead of black beans or chickpeas, you might want to go with more processed plant-based protein like tofu or seitan, try some mock meats which all have less fiber and are usually easier to digest! Soy yogurt is also great.
      If your digestion issues continue, definitely see a health professional! Just give your body some time to adjust first.
      Best wishes!

      Reply

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