The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Living
Are you interested in going vegan—or even just dabbling in plant-based living? Welcome! This guide will show you how to go vegan in simple, manageable steps, with frequent reminders that there is no such thing as perfection. Let’s do this!
The idea of becoming a vegan wasn’t difficult for me until I had to confront the fact that I was giving up cheese. I really loved cheese. And yogurt. And ice cream. Okay… I loved pretty much all the dairy.
I’d been vegetarian since the age of eight, but I could hardly imagine life without my favorite yogurt, big bowls of cereal in milk, or burritos laced with cheesy goodness.
But when I picked up this book in college and found out how horrific the dairy industry was, I decided that however hard it may be, I had to become a vegan.
Table of Contents
- My Vegan Journey: The Struggles That Inspired This Guide
- Things I Struggled With the Most
- Let Us Help Guide You
- What You’ll Learn In This “How to Go Vegan” Guide
- Is This Plant-Based Thing Really For Me?
- Why Our Readers Chose to Go Vegan
- How to Become a Vegan: A Step-By-Step Guide
- 1. Take It Slow
- 2. Don’t Worry About Being The ‘Perfect’ Vegan
- 3. Read Books and Watch Documentaries
- 4. Learn Vegan Nutrition Basics
- 5. Build A Collection Of Great Recipes
- 6. Start Meal Planning
- 7. Veganize Your Kitchen
- 8. Experiment In The Kitchen!
- 9. Find Community
- 10. Have Fun And Enjoy Your Plant-Based Journey!
- Let’s Crush Those Vegan Myths!
- How to Go Vegan In College
- “I Wish I’d Known…”
- Tips for Going Vegan
My Vegan Journey: The Struggles That Inspired This Guide
While it would probably be better for site views if I had a dramatic story about dropping cheese from my diet, the whole thing was pretty, well, uneventful.
Since cheese is basically just fat and salt, I started using avocado with salt as my go-to cheese replacement for most dishes (burritos, sandwiches, and beyond). Later on, I started using nutritional yeast (a.k.a. “nooch”), and before I knew it dozens of delicious vegan cheeses came to market.
The Vegan Learning Curve
But of course, just as I realized that cheese was this big paper tiger—totally daunting at first but not actually a very big deal, I started to realize that this whole “vegan learning curve” thing was a lot steeper than I’d anticipated.
Not only did I have to let go of my beloved cheese (easy!), but I had to figure out how (and where) to grocery shop. I had to find a whole new collection of satisfying recipes. Discover how to navigate social situations (like what-the-heck to do when you go to a restaurant and there’s nothing vegan on the menu). And so much more. It was a bit overwhelming, to say the least.
Going vegan can certainly feel challenging at times, but having good guidance, camaraderie, and support makes all the difference in the world. And that’s exactly why I started this website. World of Vegan now exists to be the vegan resource that I wish had existed when I first went vegan.
