By Caitlyn O’Kane

So, you’ve decided you want to go vegan or incorporate more vegan meals into your diet, but you don’t know where to start? As you might have heard, there are many great reasons to start transitioning to a vegan diet today – and although the lifestyle has been heavily criticised, there is no denying that veganism provides fantastic health benefits, creates less stress on the environment and protects animal welfare.

Transitioning to a vegan lifestyle can seem really daunting after being an omnivore your entire life, but luckily, going vegan has never been easier thanks to an endless supply of online information, innumerable recipes and the growing availability of meat and dairy alternatives.

Here are 8 essential tips and guidelines for vegan beginners. Even if you're just trying to adopt a more plant-based diet for better health, these tips are a great way to get started.

1. Educate Yourself.

Getting your facts straight is step number one. Doing your research will help you feel more motivated and secure in your decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle, but it also will help the people around you to understand why exactly you’re doing it as well – win-win! There are bountiful resources available to educate yourself on the topic. Documentaries such as The Game Changer, Cowspiracy, Earthlings and Forks over Knives are great tools to get started. There are also many books, websites and blogs that are valuable sources that will provide the insights and support you need.

2. Go at Your Own Pace.

Most people cannot become vegan overnight. Start off with reducing red meat in the first week, then poultry, fish, eggs, and so on. Another tip? Try keeping meat and dairy out of your diet until dinner or try going vegan 1 or 2 days a week at first. You could also start it as a 7-day or 30-day challenge - Veganuary may be over, but it isn’t too late to smash some of your 2020 goals!

3. Veganise Your Favourite Comfort Foods.

You don’t have to give up your favourite foods when becoming vegan – as there is always a satisfying way to veganise it. Once you have a tasty vegan version of your preferred comfort foods, veganism becomes a little less daunting.

4. Going Vegan Doesn’t Mean Deprivation.

It must be noted that veganism should not be used as a crash diet – and it doesn’t mean you have to eat super healthily 24/7 either. You must realise that plants are more calorifically dilute than animal products, so you must eat more in order to reach your daily recommended calorie intake, and to get all the nutrients that you need. Don’t deprive yourself of your favourite foods – as I said many of your favourite foods or meals can be veganised, and there are also great meat and dairy alternatives out there you can eat to satisfy your cravings! Maybe don’t carb up either and just eat bread or pasta with everything, that’s easy, but you need to be expending the energy you consume in a healthy way.

5. Plan Your Meals.

Meal planning can save you a lot of time, energy and money. By planning ahead, it allows you to control exactly what’s in your food and helps eliminate a lot of stress when going shopping. Picking a few recipes with similar ingredients each week will help cut the cost of your weekly food shop, as well as helping to reduce food waste. It’s also a great idea to stock up on some vegan cookbooks to help you start planning your meals. Some great cookbooks include Deliciously Ella, Bosh healthy vegan, Vegan Richa’s everyday kitchen and Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats – all great sources to get you inspired and start cooking yummy vegan food! If you cant afford the books, follow great vegans online and get recipes and planners on YouTube and Insta, as well as Facebook and everywhere else!

6. Find a community.

And speaking of Facebook, it’s 2020 – and there are more online vegan communities than ever before. Joining Facebook groups such as ‘Power to the Veg’ or Veganuary can be extremely useful in your journey when you are confused or have any questions, as there are plenty of vegans available there to give you advice or answer any queries you may have. Online communities and forums are a great space to be honest, find insight and motivate you to keep going, as there is nothing worse than being alone when you’re working towards a goal, if you’re facing criticism at home or even if you fail and fall off the wagon one day!

We worked with Kim Constable from The Sculpted Vegan to create some Veganuary recipes back in January, you can check out that blog HERE, but eating out can be challenging for new vegans, but thankfully more and more restaurants are catering to the ever-growing number of those that eat a vegan diet. Apps such as ‘HappyCow: Find Vegan Food’ are the perfect guide to help you discover veggie restaurants around the world, saving you a lot of time and hassle.

Here are my top five restaurants in Belfast and Dublin that have lots of tasty vegan options (Non-vegans, you might just be converted).