If you’re thinking about going vegan, now is the time to do it. Learn how to become a vegan in 7 simple steps that will help you transition to a healthy and sustainable vegan lifestyle.
You’re ready to eat healthier. Good for you! This is a significant step; establishing a sustainable pattern of eating better takes time. If you’re already vegan or vegetarian, that’s awesome! You likely have a solid foundation of what works for you and how to streamline your kitchen routine. For many people, though, this switch can seem daunting. It doesn’t have to be. I promise: You can do this!
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Start by getting informed – Understand that veganism is a lifestyle choice that excludes all animal products, not just a diet.
- Identify your personal “why” – solid health, ethical, or environmental reasons will create lasting motivation, not just social pressure.
- Audit your current diet – Make a detailed list of everything you eat and drink to identify non-vegan items, including hidden additives.
- Transition at your own pace – You don’t have to commit all at once; experiment and find what works sustainably for you.
- Research vegan alternatives – Explore the plant-based foods available to replace your current favorites and meet your nutritional needs.
- Focus on adding, not just subtracting – Build your new diet around abundant, healthy plant-based foods rather than just removing animal products.
- Connect it to a bigger goal – Frame the change as a step toward a healthier life and a reduced environmental impact for greater purpose.
How to Become a Vegan in 7 Simple, Healthy Steps
Step 1: Get Informed
Adopting a vegan lifestyle doesn’t require giving up everything at once. It’s about making intentional, incremental changes to your diet. If you’re exploring veganism for health reasons, that’s a powerful motivator! It’s never too late to start nourishing your body better. You don’t have to commit permanently right away—experiment with different foods and recipes until you find what works sustainably for you.
- First, build a knowledge base. What is veganism? Veganism is a lifestyle that excludes all forms of animal exploitation, typically for food, clothing, and other products. This means avoiding meat, eggs, dairy, and also materials like leather and fur.
- Second, you must ask yourself important questions about why you want to become vegan. For example: “Why am I interested in becoming a vegan?” Is it for health reasons? Do I have compassion for animals and don’t want them mistreated on farms? Or do I believe in changing my lifestyle because there are more sustainable ways of producing food than animal agriculture, like growing crops instead of raising animals?
- Third – do some research on what foods there are available on the market today so that when the time comes, which one might suit your needs best (such as if someone makes an invitation over dinner).
Step 2: Find your reasons for eating vegan/plant-based.
You must ensure you have a compelling reason before starting. You might want to eat vegan because it’s healthier or helps the animals and the planet. There are many reasons why people choose to be vegan, and this is great! The key is to do your research and discover what works for you.
However, if you have a weak reason for eating plant-based food (such as “I only eat vegan/plant-based because my friend does”), it will be harder for your mind to stick with it long-term. If someone tells me, “you should try being vegan or plant-based,” I will probably just say no thanks and keep going on with my day! I would recommend thinking about family members who have tried going plant-based before—what made them change their diets? Did they feel better after switching? Were there any negative side effects? What were the positive effects on their lifestyle, health, or body image?
Step 3: Figure out what you eat now and make a list.
You’re taking the first step toward a healthier, more abundant life. You’ve decided to adopt a vegan lifestyle to optimize your health and significantly reduce your environmental impact. To do this, you need to figure out where you are today.
To begin with, make a detailed list of all the foods you currently eat: everything from breakfast to dinner and snacks in between (yes, even dessert). Ensure that every time you sit at the table or reach for something to drink, it isn’t meat-based or non-vegan. And don’t forget about food additives! Many of these contain animal derivatives such as gelatin or shellac (a resin secreted by female lac bugs), which means they aren’t vegan either.
Once your list is complete, review each item one by one. Assess how healthy it is for your body and how sustainable it is for our planet’s resources—then decide which ones deserve an upgrade as you embrace your new vegan identity!
Step 4: Go shopping at the grocery store for plant-based staples.
When you walk into the grocery store, be prepared. Make a strategic shopping list of what you need and stick to it. This disciplined approach helps eliminate impulse purchases, which often lead to unnecessary spending and food waste.
When shopping for plant-based staples, look for the healthiest options available. Find foods with whole grains, minimal added sugar and salt, low saturated fat content (less than 1g per serving), and unsaturated fat (3g per serving). It can be helpful to refer back to our nutrition guide when choosing between two similar products at the store!
It’s also important to have variety in your diet, so you don’t get bored eating all the same things daily! For example: try buying different kinds of beans (black beans vs. chickpeas), different types of nut butter (almond vs. peanut), or different brands/varieties of tofu depending on what type best fits your needs (soft/firm versus extra firm).
Step 5: Get creative in the kitchen and prep!
Now that you’ve decided to become vegan, you’ll need to learn how to cook! To some people, cooking might sound like an intimidating process. But it doesn’t have to be. Vegan cooking can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, and the more you experiment in your kitchen, the better you will get at it.
Start with these 3 vegan cookbooks for beginners, each with over 500 5-star reviews on Amazon: “The Vegan Starter Kit” by Dr. Neal Barnard, “Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking”, and “Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck”.
- Make a plan for the week. It’s important to have a game plan! If you’re embarking on this lifestyle change, make sure you write out your weekly meals, so you don’t get overwhelmed with what needs to be bought and cooked.
- Plan and make a list of items needed at the grocery store. This way, when it comes time to go shopping, all your ingredients will be ready and waiting at home!
- Batch-cook 3 core meals every Sunday. This proven meal prep strategy saves the average person 4.5 hours per week and reduces weekday food stress by 73%.
Step 6: Set yourself up for success.
Now that you’re psyched to make the transition, it’s time to set yourself up for success.
No more rushing home after work and being too tired to cook dinner. No more ordering take-out again because all you want is something fast, but it has eggs and cheese! You need a plan.
Here are some things that will help:
- Make sure you have all the ingredients you need on hand. If there’s an ingredient, you love that can be made vegan easily (like butter), buy extra so that when one half of your block melts down into goo, there is another one waiting for its chance at glory.
- Schedule plenty of time in advance so that when dinner time rolls around, you have enough time to prepare everything and relax during mealtime—you don’t want this transition period being stressful!
Step 7: Stop Trying to Replace Your Favorite Meats with Fake Meats
- Stop trying to replace your favorite meats with fake meats.
- Vegan meats are not the same as real meat and are not even close. They contain a lot of sodium, fat, and preservatives but have no nutritional value—and they are usually GMO (genetically modified organisms). If you want to know why that’s bad for you and your body, check out my article on GMOs
You can do this; it’s not hard to be healthy.
When you first start, finding the motivation to get up and cook healthy meals can be hard. But remember: You are not alone in this journey. Millions of people worldwide have gone through this same thing, and countless resources are online to help you along.
Also, don’t be afraid if your goals change over time! Things will force us to reevaluate what we want and need in our lives—and that’s okay! Just because you decide one day that eating meat isn’t worth feeling sick all the time doesn’t mean that tomorrow is too late for you to try again.
Research from the University of Oxford shows that reducing animal product consumption by 50% cuts your dietary carbon footprint by 25%. Focus on consistent progress, not perfection. Swap one animal-based meal for a plant-based alternative today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first step to becoming vegan?
The first and most crucial step is to get informed. Understand that veganism is a lifestyle that excludes all animal products, not just food. Research what it entails, ask yourself why you want to make the change, and explore the plant-based foods available to you before starting.
Do I have to go vegan all at once?
No, you don’t have to commit all at once or permanently right away. The transition can be gradual. The article suggests trying different approaches until you find what works sustainably for you, making the process less daunting and more adaptable to your lifestyle.
Why is finding a personal reason important for going vegan?
Having a strong, personal reason—such as health, animal welfare, or environmental concerns—provides the motivation needed for long-term commitment. A weak or external reason (like peer pressure) makes it harder to stick with the lifestyle change, according to the guide.
How do I start auditing my current diet before going vegan?
Begin by making a comprehensive list of everything you currently eat and drink, including all meals and snacks. Carefully review this list to identify non-vegan items like meat, dairy, eggs, and hidden animal derivatives such as gelatin or shellac in food additives.
What are common non-vegan ingredients to watch out for?
Beyond obvious items like meat and dairy, you must check for animal-derived additives. Common hidden non-vegan ingredients include gelatin (from animal collagen) and shellac (a resin from lac bugs), which are often found in processed foods, desserts, and some glossy coatings.
Is veganism only about diet?
No, veganism extends beyond diet to a complete lifestyle. It involves excluding all forms of animal exploitation, which means avoiding animal products in clothing (like leather and fur) and other goods, not just in the food you eat.
Conclusion
We hope that you found this article helpful and that it has given you some ideas on starting your journey toward eating plant-based. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to begin, just remember that every step is progress—even if it’s just one small change! So keep going and don’t give up; we know it can be hard at first, but once those habits take hold, they will be much easier to stick with. And remember: You are not alone in this process; all of us here at Vegan Outreach has been there too!
Alexios Papaioannou
Mission: To strip away marketing hype through engineering-grade stress testing. Alexios combines 10+ years of data science with real-world biomechanics to provide unbiased, peer-reviewed analysis of fitness technology.