A vegan lifestyle has numerous benefits.

It can lower your risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as give you a sustainable boost of energy throughout the day.

But in addition to the personal benefits you’d get from living a vegan lifestyle, this choice also has moral significance with respect to the way you interact with nature and other sentient beings.

When you choose to become vegan, you also choose not to instrumentalize animals.

But I am not going to discuss whether it’s right to go vegan for moral reasons. I think it’s up to you to decide what your starting point should be.

Either way, you will eventually find that being vegan makes you more conscious of your choices and their moral implications. And that’s a good way to expand your awareness and keep growing in your self-development journey.

Going vegan is a decision that I have made. And this is what I have personally learned when I switched from a carnivore diet to a vegan diet.

If you are thinking about changing your diet, then you should consult with a medical professional.

1. Go Big and You’ll Go Home

Becoming vegan takes time.

First, I had to shop for the right food. Having never eaten a vegan meal in my life before, shopping for vegan food felt so limiting. It took some time to get used to it.

Second I then had to prepare it AND make it palatable. This also took a little bit of time, but then I quickly got the hang of it.

Third, even though ate healthy most of the time, it took my body some time to get adjusted to this new diet.

I was prepared for that.

In fact, a dietician mentioned to me that if you’re used to eating a lot of meat, chicken, and burgers all the time, your body is going to react negatively to the radical change in diet. Your body will start craving the food you used to put in your body and that can be a painful experience to go through.

However, this is a purely physical reaction to the change in diet.

Your body will tell you that there’s something wrong.

In order to counteract the “withdrawal” that your body is going to feel when you switch to a new diet, you can begin your transformation slowly.

Here’s what I did.

2. Eat One Vegan Meal a Day

Instead of eliminating meat from your diet completely from day one, dietitians recommend starting with eliminating meat from one meal…and one meal only.

So eat as you usually would but make sure at least one meal a day is going to be a vegan meal. That’s much easier on your body to adapt to and it’s much easier for you to get used to.

They suggest doing one vegan meal a day for one or two weeks depending on how quickly you get comfortable with the new change.

Then add another vegan meal. Now you have two vegan meals a day.

Follow this diet for another week or two and see how you feel. And only when you’re comfortable with this change, create a meat-free diet and eat like that for a week or two.

Again, see how you feel.

Just because you’ve been able to go for two weeks without any meat, that doesn’t mean that you have to keep it out of your diet for ever just yet.

Some people benefit from having some meat after going vegan for two weeks. It helps moderate the transition and lessen the likelihood of withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

So the slow transition from a meat diet to a vegan one will be much easier on you when you start small and raise the bar every week or two.

3. Drink Lots of Water

When you switch to a vegan diet, you will probably lose some weight.

You will probably eat less food too.

And you’re going to feel hungry every now and then…at least in the beginning.

That’s a great time to start drinking more water. It will fill you up and will make you less likely to indulge in your food or even crave salty or sugary food.

The point of a vegan diet after all is to promote your own health. There’s really not much benefit for eliminating meat from your diet and replacing it with sugary food and drinks. So controlling cravings is an important part of the transition, and water will help you in that regard.

I have a personal rule where I must drink at least half a gallon of water before 1:00 P.M every day. I drink the other half and sometimes a little more throughout the day and during my workout. It has helped me tremendously shed the extra fat, build muscle and keep me full.

Drinking a lot of water will help you eat less food in general and more healthy food and veggies in particular.

4. Working Out As a Vegan

Vegans have it much easier than vegans when it comes to working out and building muscle.

Vegans can still have dairy; especially eggs, which are rich in high quality protein. And while vegans are possibly at some disadvantage when it comes to building muscle compared to carnivores, they’re nevertheless much more likely to stay fit for a significantly longer time. That’s because their diet is free of the bad fat that’s contained in fatty meats. And for that reason that makes them less likely to suffer from certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases compared to heavy meat consumers.

Accordingly, they will be able to stay at fit and stay consistent at it for a longer time period that those that eat a high protein diet and consume their protein from fatty meats.

Again, you don’t have to be a full vegan if you choose to follow moderate the amount of meat in your diet. Consult with your medical professional and see what works best for you, your lifestyle and your health.

You may find that being vegan on Saturdays and Tuesdays works best for you or that having a few vegan meals a week works better for you, etc.

As with other goals, start slow and then ease yourself into a more committed vegan lifestyle.