I went vegan about four months ago. And I’ve noticed a few things along the way. Learning about this lifestyle is a journey and is not always easy. While these are just from my experience, and everybody will struggle with different things, if you’re considering becoming vegan or are a new vegan yourself, hopefully these tips for avoiding common mistakes will be helpful
Mistake 1: Not Eating Enough
If you try to go vegan and feel hungry, tired, and dissatisfied, you are probably not eating enough. When you remove animal products from your diet, you have to replace those foods with something else. One of the most common mistakes is simply removing meat and dairy and only leaving vegetables on your plate. There is so much more to being vegan than eating salads.
Think about it. Fat has more calories than protein and carbohydrates. Animal products are loaded with fat. So if you eliminate animal products, not only must you add additional types of foods in, but you need to eat larger quantities. To feel satisfied on a vegan diet, you must find a balance of whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Learn how in my How to Build a Balanced Vegan Meal post.
This is probably one of the biggest mistakes people make because we’ve been conditioned to limit our portions. We need to realize that the deprevation and counting of calories, and the focus on portion sizes is a result of an animal product rich diet. Alternatively on a whole food vegan diet, we can eat much larger portions without guilt.
Of course if you are simply switching to vegan processed food, you will run into the same problems as our animal eating friends. Junk is still junk. But that’s a topic for another day.
Mistake 2: Adding Too Many Legumes Too Quickly
In the first mistake, we talked about not eating enough and adding things like beans in place of meat. But on the other hand we don’t want to go too quickly, especially with beans.
Beans are one of the best foods on the planet for us to eat, but we actually can’t digest them on our own. We need our gut bugs! And we want to feed our friendly gut bugs because they do so many good things for us. If you’ve been eating a diet full of animal products, your gut has been depleted of many of the good gut bugs that can digest the beans and instead filled with the bad bugs that thrive on animal products.
It makes sense then that we may have symptoms of poor digestion, gas, and bloating if we suddenly start eating these foods in large quantities. Have no fear though, our guts are extremely maleable and we can tilt the balance back in favor of the good guys quickly. We simply must exercise our gut by building up slowly.
Most experts suggest starting with about ½ cup beans a day. Once your gas or other symptoms are reduced, add another ½ cup. Most people are able to tolerate this intake. A slow transition to plant-based eating is probably best. So as you decrease your meat, dairy, and egg intake, you can slowly ramp up your fiber-rich bean and grain intake. In the long run, your gut will thank you.
Mistake 3: Limiting Food Variety
This again ties back to not eating enough. Not just in the quantity of food, but by restricting the types of foods. Variety of food is so important for our health and our tastebuds! Whether you purposely try to or inadvertently cut out certain food groups, you are missing out on a lot of nutrition. Make sure you are hitting all the groups with most of your meals: whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
There is a lot of bad information out there demonizing certain types of food such as grains and beans. As I mentioned in my introductory post, I fell victim to this misinformation myself even before going vegan. But you simply need to look at the “Blue Zones,” the areas of the world with the longest lived and healthiest people, to see that whole grains and legumes are a common denominator among these people.
In my observations, super restrictive versions of a vegan diet like a vegan keto or raw vegan diet, are generally not sustainable. If they work for you and you feel amazing, great! Keep it up! But if you are feeling sluggish or tired, you may not be giving your body all the fuel it needs.
Being really restrictive can also lead to a disordered relationship with food. I also struggled with this before going vegan, so for me changing to a vegan diet actually gave me so many more options than before. I’m still working on this, but shifting to a whole food vegan diet has helped me to build back a better relationship to food.
Be patient and kind with yourself. Allow yourself to experiment, but don’t overly restrict what types of plant foods you are eating. Transitioning from an animal-based diet to a plant-based one is hard enough. Don’t make it even harder by adding a bunch of rules. Stick with plants, listen to your body, and go from there.
Mistake 4: Being Hyperfocused on Nutrition
On the other hand we also don’t want to become obsessive about nutrition. Many people worry about certain nutrients like protein and iron. But you know what? Humans have existed for millions of years without needing a food pyramid to tell them what to eat. When we eat real foods, our bodies know what to do. It’s only when we start eating the highly processed junk that things go haywire.
This is not to say you can completely throw nutrition out the window. But you can rest easy knowing the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that a vegan diet is healthful and appropriate for all stages of life. And at the risk of being a broken record: if you are focusing on whole plant foods and hitting all the categories—whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds—you’re going to be fine.
It’s funny, when you eat a standard American diet, nobody cares about your nutrition. But if you go vegan, suddenly everyone is concerned about your health. Just know that if you’re focused on whole foods, you are likely getting much better nutrition than the standard American. Whole plant foods are so much more nutrient-dense than animal-based foods.
After tracking for a couple weeks on Cronometer, I found that I usually hit all the targets for macro and micronutrients. I get around 65-70 grams of protein every day, much higher than the 46 grams recommended for the average woman. And I always hit 100% of the recommended amount of iron and most other micronutrients. So while it is good to think about your nutrition, take it easy. The only nutrient you must supplement is B12. So when someone expresses worries over your health on a vegan diet, just smile and thank them for their concern, but know that you’ll be fine.
Mistake 5: Being Angry
Once you start educating yourself about animal rights, human health, the environment, and all the other aspects of life that are affected by the western diet, it’s easy to become angry. You feel betrayed by society, government, our medical system. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that we’ve been told one thing all our lives, and it turns out there is another better, easier way.
Billions of animals do not need to be killed for our traditions or taste pleasure. The planet does not need to continue to succumb to massive climate change. Many of our chronic health issues and number one killers could disappear. But the systems in place are so intertwined and dependent on a cycle of unhealthy eating.
Once you see these facts and know how simple the solution actually is, you want everyone to know. You want to tell your friends and family because you know it could improve their quality of life. You want the whole world to go vegan. But when you try to spread the word, you quickly see how hard it is to overcome a lifetime of living and eating a certain way. So it is easy to get passionate and angry and frustrated.
But in order to affect real change, it is best to focus your energies on positivity and what you can do as an individual. Recognize that the choices you make with each meal translate to countless animals saved, massive reduction in your environmental impact, and benefits to your own health. You may not be able to turn everyone vegan, but what you are doing matters and makes a real difference.
If you’re eating with non-vegans, enjoy your food without drawing attention to it. If someone offers you animal products, simply say “No thank you.” Until you’re ready to confidently defend your position, I recommend avoiding a debate with someone, as simple questions can often turn into a heated discussion.
You don’t have to preach the benefits of this lifestyle if you are a shining example of it. If you are not quite ready to fully defend every argument against veganism without remaining calm, you may have better luck persuading people simply by living the example.
Mistake 6: Being Too Hard On Yourself
Finally, we are all human and we all make mistakes. It’s easy to hold yourself to a high standard and disappoint yourself. Instead, try letting go of judgments and expectations. If you slip up, remember that it is ok and all is not lost. Remember that you are up against cultural norms and a lifetime of living a certain way. It can be difficult to change our habits, but it absolutely can be done.
When you do make a mistake, acknowledge it and simply make a better choice next time. One single choice is insignificant in the long run. The sum of all the choices we make over a lifetime is what makes an impact.
