How to Survive Week 1 of Your New Vegan Lifestyle
Okay, so if you're like me the first time I tried going vegan, you probably thought you could survive the first week by eating whatever didn't have animal products that was in the house (this scenario most likely happens if you are living with your family). Sadly, this is hardly ever the case – and if it is, lucky you! – most of the foods we have in our homes are animal-based. This brought me to the conclusion that it really shouldn't be this hard to find foods that are beneficial to our health. If you do end up finding non-animal-based foods, you will probably find fatty processed foods. Then again, if your family is pretty healthy, I doubt you'd have this problem.
This time around, I scavenged for the funds (because I didn't have a job) to go to the store and buy myself some fruits and veggies – clever, I know. A good source I found online for the essential vegan grocery list is "Vegan grocery list: Top 50 staples for a meat-free diet" by Melissa Breyer on the Mother Nature Network because it gives you a jumping off point and some nice substitutions for foods you might be craving, like cheese, but keep in mind that this is like regular grocery shopping; you'll need recipes in mind because fruits and veggies go bad faster than food with preservatives, obviously.
Something else I found very helpful was watching vegan youtubers. One of my favorites to watch is Alyse Brautigam's channel Raw Alignment because she just gets me pumped and gave me the motivation I needed to continue on with the lifestyle. Other helpful youtubers include but are certainly not limited to Cheap Lazy Vegan, Whitney Lauritsen's channel Eco-Vegan Gal, etc. There is basically an unlimited amount of great vegan youtubers out there, you just have to find them. Another good way to spend your first week vegan is to educate yourself. You might be doing this to save the animals, to be healthy, etc. but some good documentaries are on Netflix, like "Forks Over Knives". Go check those out.
If you're craving for non-vegan foods, it's okay; it's only your first week. Like I said, there are so many vegan substitutions for anything you might be craving. Daiya makes great vegan dairy products, Lightlife makes almost any kind of non-meat meat you could think of, you can almost always find almond or soy milk in any local grocery store, and a big glass of smoothie is always a great start to the day as opposed to a bagel with cream cheese.
Also keep in mind that you will probably have to eat more often than you did when you weren't on a plant-based diet because, since what you're putting into your body now is natural, it's going to pass through you a lot faster. So I would either recommend eating maybe five small meals or eating three big meals throughout the day.
If you can't find what you're looking for in the grocery store, some great websites I found that deliver healthy vegan-friendly options are: iHerb, Vitacost, and Thrive Market.
I hope you found this post helpful if you are either thinking about becoming a vegan, have been a vegan for a little while, or if you've been a vegan for a long time. I'll keep this post updated if I find anything else that might be helpful to beginner vegans. Stay tuned for more!