Being Vegan In The New Year

This will be my 3rd New Year as a Vegan (11th as a meat-free veggie eater) and many of my friends interested in my journey have asked me how they can stick with or transition into the vegan diet in the new year.

For me, this is an easy question to answer. As an admin and event planner for an active Vegan Society and founder of an Animal Rights Organization, I get this question quite often from new members.

My first answer to the question is always “It’s easier than you think”. I say this because I live in California and even though we are inland the word Vegan is not as alien as some other cities across the country.

People are always amazed when I tell them I do 95% of my vegan shopping at the local Ralph’s and Stater Bros grocery stores.

Sure, at first it was like a little mini treasure hunt, but once you know the products you like they are just as easy to find!

Also, just in the last year, our area (supply and demand!) has been grouping many vegan refrigerated items all in one place, Score!

2018, The Year Of The Vegan

Then there’s the typical “I love cheese, ain’t never gonna be able to give that up” to which I reply “Yeah, I thought the same and then I found the good stuff !”

Again it’s all about how you view it. Does maybe a little extra time in the grocery store reading labels add to your shopping, sure, but what are the rewards?

A healthier body, glowing skin, optimal body, less risk of heart and other diseases, and the very important one for me not contributing to any cruelty for my consumption for me, it was effortless. I could spend the extra 5 minutes!

Becoming vegan doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite foods on, it means simply reinventing them with different proteins and finding the foods you find equally, if not more, delicious to create them!

I have so much fun creating things people typically don’t eat vegan, that I started a Facebook album on my personal page dedicated to all the yummy foods I make nightly for dinner!

Let’s just say I make a mean Chicago Deep Dish Cheese and Spinach Vegan Pizza! And a pretty darn good sloppy Joe!

Vegan Or Vegetarian. What Is The Difference?

There are many reasons for accepting a vegan lifestyle, For me it was a mixture of health problems and my love for animals, especially once I found out being vegetarian wasn’t enough to stop contributing to animal cruelty.

I will say it has to be something that you want to live with. A better diet and then just going full force into the lifestyle to keep at it.

Joining a vegan society locally is by far the best way to find support. Or finding a mentor program, such as the one offered by Vegan Outreach.

Going on Facebook or meet up and search your city and Vegan, or using the Google search to find vegans in your area.

And if it’s a group that does meet-ups or events, by all means, go to them! I went to my first Vegan Society event relocating from Chicago to California and was so thankful to meet like-minded people in my new area!

If you more about the animal rights to be vegan, then by all means join in a local protest, or if that’s not an option share (or start!) a petition about a topic you are passionate about.

There are many groups that send out active protest or petition emails that you can sign up for, the major ones being Peta and Mercy For Animals.

You just simply go to their site and sign up with an email. Or there are plenty of local rescue sanctuaries around, just search on Google and call them to see if they need help.

Once you do any of these, little by little people will know you’re serious about this new lifestyle and the ones that are supportive will step up.

And who knows you may just find your new best friend doing what you’re passionate about. I know I found a few!

So let me be the first one to wish you good luck on your new vegan journey and have an amazing new year with your new lifestyle, Congrats!