Going vegan is like building your own furniture. The idea seems great in theory, but when it comes to putting the pieces together, it is not exactly easy. A vegan diet can be hard to start because you don’t eat what you eat, but the bigger challenge is always to stick to the diet. Plus, ditching some of your favourite foods can leave you feeling deprived and not so keen on persisting. To help you out, we got you some clear-cut directions to go vegan with ease.

1 Replace Your Favourite Foods With Plant-based Substitutes

If you want to sustain the vegan diet, it is important that you do not feel deprived. So if you absolutely cannot do without your yoghurt for breakfast, try a non-dairy breakfast option. Or if you cannot imagine life without some meaty goodness, go for vegan meat alternatives. Or if you are a cheese-lover at heart, there are tons of vegan-cheese options that will hit the spot. Whatever you choose, always go for options with the fewest processed ingredients.

 

2 Cut Out One Thing at a Time

Maybe you can quit red meat first, and then go cold turkey with fish and poultry after a week or two. Maybe you go dairy-free three days a week and allow yourself to your current diet, the rest of the days in a week. Do not go on a guilt trip if you eat a piece of cheese at a party, just do your best as you acclimate to the diet. Read the pros and cons of veganism. 

 

3 Invest In Some Quality Marinades

We agree that meat substitute like tofu is quite tasteless on its own, but it absorbs flavour extremely well. So invest some time in whipping up marinades and season your tofu like you would a piece of chicken. You can pretty much pick whatever you want according to your taste and get that same savoury effect. Only vegans can relate to these hilarious memes.

 

4 Avoid Eating Vegan Junk Foods

If the vegan diet is leaving you low with energy, consider avoiding junk foods. When you are starting a new diet, you want to make sure that you are consuming as many whole foods as possible such as legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds. A vegan diet leaves you with a lot of energy provided you are fuelling yourself right. Your body takes less time to digest plant-based foods so you might experience a sudden energy surge.

 

5 Incorporate Some New Ingredients to Recipes

A great way to keep your new vegan diet enticing is to incorporate new vegan-friendly ingredients in your diet that you have never tried before like nut butter and nutritional yeast. Consider your new vegan diet as an opportunity to experiment a bit more.

6 Keep a Pinterest Board or a Book of Your Favourite Recipes

The biggest challenge when you switch to a vegan diet is to come up with inventive meals to eat. So bookmark some go-to vegan recipes on your computer or save them on your Instagram. This way, you will always have some recipes on your hand when you simply do not know what to cook or are pressed for time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2019 08:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).