I often hear people saying "I tried being vegan but it is too hard!" This could not be further from the truth. It is just the way the people approach veganism which makes them "fail". However I don't even consider that a real fail, I mean they did not consume any animals products for a certain amount of time which saved at least some animals and was good for the environment. Still in my opinion it is not difficult to go vegan if you do it your own way and with your own pace.

How I went vegan:

First I would like to tell you a little about my way to become vegan. I grew up as a normal omnivore. Nobody in my family was vegetarian or vegan. Still we ate "healthy" One day my sister went vegetarian (she still is) and I never thought I would do it. However, during the time I lived in the US I ate little meat. I didn't notice it at first but at some point I realized that my host-family only included small pieces of sausages in meals and meat only every now and then. That made me realise, I do not need meet in my diet. I did not miss it at all. Also I struggled with an eating disorder during that time so I told myself I would eat healthier, fewer calories and less fat without meet. So I turned vegetarian in 2015. During my recovery time from my E.D. I watched lots of youtube videos about healthy diet and so on. I watched all those videos from vegans who ate so much and looked so fit and happy. I wanted to have that too. I will list the you-tubers who inspired down below. I started cutting out dairy more and more. My mum didn't want me to go vegan so I hid it as best as I could. After a while I also stopped eating eggs. Furthermore I watched more and more documentaries about veganism which I will also list below. There were so many reason to be vegan but still I wasn't aber to do it 100% I ate products sweetened with honey or roasted in butter evry now and then and to hide it from my parents I also ate non vegan but vegetarian meals sometimes. Of course I tried to eat as little cheese, egg,... during those meals but still I wasn't eating all vegan. Then I found ways to keep me motivated. I opened an Instagram-account (plantbased.dancer) where I posted my vegan meals. This made me more experimental with vegan dishes. Moreover I tried different trends like high fat low carb, high carb low fat, raw till 4 and I even did a 7 day raw vegan challenge, which actually lasted 12 days (let me know if you want an entry about that). I'm proud to call myself vegan since spring 2017. I eat all vegan and also my lifestyle is getting there. For me the food transition was the most important one. Only using vegan products can be hard at times but I do my best. Sadly I accidentally ate non-vegan stuff sometimes. When you do not make your own food all the time you can not be 100% sure, Still I consider myself a vegan because I did not consciously chose to eat animal products. Don't be too hard on yourself. Very few people go vegan overnight. You see I "failed" too a couple of times. So just keep on trying and I hope my tips will help you to go vegan all and for once.

My tips for transitioning to a vegan diet:

Take your time

Very few people turn vegan overnight. Start with cutting out certain products or replace them from time to time. Nobody will stress you. Every vegan meal you ate more helped the animals and the world a little. Just increase the amount of vegan meals at your own pace until you only eat animal products every once in a while and then at some point not at all.

Get inspired by others

This includes Instagrammers, bloggers, You-Tubers as well as family and friends. Seeing how good people are feeling on this lifestyle is very motivating and provides lots of tips.

Share your journey

It helped me a lot to share my transition with others on my Instagram account (plantbased.dancer). You get lots of postive feedback as well as motivating words and tips. This way you don‘t want to disappoint yourself and your followers.

Do research

The more you know about the benefits of veganism in terms of health and environment as well as about the horrible way animals are treated just so it is possible to produce more animal products, the more you will understand why veganism is so good. Furthermore it helps to make others understand why you are vegan. If you can state many facts they will more likely understand and support your decision.

Don‘t be too hard on yourself

Nobody is perfect and everybody makes mistakes, So do I, so do you. If you ate one animal product, so what? That does not mean that you can never be vegan. Just get back on track and don‘t let a little temptation set you back.

Turning vegan is a journey that can be pretty easy. You just have to do it your own way. I showed you my way and my tips and now it is your turn to find out what works the best for you. Never give up and always remember why you are doing it: for the animals, for your health and for the world :)