This was originally published on Substack.
I hope 2026 is the year you decide to go vegan, and I hope this post can be a small push towards making it a reality.
When I decided to live more ethically and morally compatible with my values back in 2014, I had the best resources at hand. Tumblr vegan girls wearing bikinis, drinking smoothies and living in Hawaii. Perfect inspiration. Who else to tell me how to eat than girls who don’t eat (much)? All jokes aside, it was actually pretty motivational to see that I can be “cool” and also ethical.
The other thing, besides super-fit and tan influencers, was books. But what was missing were in-depth posts like this one I am writing, where I could get all the info I needed in one place, so I can consume it in a short time. I really hope this can be it for you, as I am putting everything I know about how to go (and stay) vegan in this one post.
If you are reading this, you are most likely already with at least one toe in. I want you to step in with your entire body because I know that your deepest values of compassion, kindness and justice would be fully lived through your vegan choices. These 20 tips are the things I would want to hear if I were in your shoes again.
The transitioning phase is fun because you get to discover who you want to be now, but also rediscover who you are underneath the mask that our flesh-eating society told you to wear because it’s “normal”. So enjoy the learning, the exploring, and the becoming of a new version of you.
- The first thing I always tell people (in real life and in my posts) is to get very clear on why you are going vegan. If you just want to “try it out” or “lose weight and eat more healthily”, then you will quit eventually. Not only because veganism is not a diet but because it is a “theory of justice “ as Gary L. Francione describes it. If you are not going vegan because it is your moral duty to support animal liberation and the end of non-human suffering, then you can go plant-based and focus on the diet part. If this sounds harsh, I am not the person to help you, because I am here for animal liberation, not for diet tips. Although I will share some that will help you, because food is a big part of it. I mean, kind of the biggest (but not the only!).
- Read all the books on nutrition, with my go-tos being all by Dr Michael Greger. I’m not an expert on what to eat and how much, so I rarely touch on diet, because this is for people who actually study it. Reading books and watching videos from nutritionists or doctors who actually know about food is crucial at the start. If you don’t do the work and learn which vitamins are important, you will find yourself hungry, tired and upset that it’s not working for you! Don’t be that person who then eats one bite of fish and claims they are “healed”; just learn how to eat whole foods. Millions are doing it successfully.
- You can do it alone, with no support, but that will be tougher. I did for the first few months, and I was frustrated by the comments, but once my father went vegan as well, it was easier. While him being vegan helped, it was more important to have someone whom I could talk to. My sisters, for example, are not vegan, but they understand my choices and share my enthusiasm for new products I find or new meals I try. Even when I sigh at the sight of a slaughterhouse truck, they understand why I hate it, even though they themselves pay for it to be on the road. You don’t need vegan friends, although that’s ideal, but you need friends.
- Take time with the transition if this will make it easier for you. It would be ideal if you went vegan overnight, but that’s not realistic for most, and as someone who took 11 months (!!!) to go from omnivore to vegetarian to vegan, who am I to judge? Decide what you will change first, and what you know you will struggle with, so you’ll tackle it last. Not going to the zoo and other facilities created for “entertainment”, not buying clothing made from animal skin, and ditching meat were super easy for me, but I needed time to ditch baked goods and cheese. Not even because I loved cheese and cake that much (even though I did), but because there were no alternatives near me. It took years for my local store to get plant milks, yoghurts, puddings, ice cream and any other unhealthy fatty snacks. I mean, I ate my first vegan pizza 3 years in! Things were different, and when you don’t cook and rely on junk, you’ll want to take it slow so you learn how to eat in this new way. The podcast that can help you tremendously during this period is Food For Thought, which I sadly discovered only after I already figured it out.
- You will want to find a way to calm down your mind and practice mindfulness. I used to be a big meditator, and Waking Up was my go-to meditation app. My practice time was crucial in helping me stay sane, so whether you use Waking Up, a video you find on the internet, or practice mindfulness without any help, do so. If you are already thinking “absolutely not, I don’t meditate”, that’s fine, but I still need you to find an alternative. It can be ASMR (GentleWhispering ASMR is my favourite), or just daily walks in nature (no earbuds or calls).
- You will learn what supplements you’ll benefit from taking as you learn what your body requires (blood tests are helpful here), but vitamin B12 is a must. I also take Omega-3 and iron, but vitamin B12 is a non-negotiable. Even non-vegans take them!
- Some of you (some of us tbf) are struggling with money, so there will be times when you will face a dilemma. This is my latest one, and I’ve been vegan for over 10 years: I had to take my two cats to the ER in December, which cost a lot, so I was left to survive on 14€ for one week, feeding four mouths, and during that time, the soles on my only pair of cheap shoes tore. They were only 20€, and there was a snowstorm outside, so the worst combination imaginable. Anyway, if I wanted to walk and go anywhere, I needed new shoes asap. Luck listened, and my father’s partners’ parents brought a box with their other daughters’ old stuff and among them were two pairs of Adidas sneakers. But here is where I faced the dilemma… do I wear these “new” second-hand shoes made from LEATHER, or do I wear torn shoes for another week, in the snow, and then buy the same pair to replace them, but with no animal skin? In a week, I will have 8 bills to pay (catching up on the previous month!), four months to feed for a month, a vet appointment so Lia gets her shot for asthma, an annual chimney sweep appointment, two train trips with one to the capital, and pellets for the heating. All of this on social security because I can’t work due to my BPD and physical issues (wrote about it here). I chose to take the shoes and have been wearing them ever since. This is one of those moments when you weigh your options, and I believe that choosing to take the second-hand leather shoes and not spend money on new ones was the best choice for me. It’s not about perfection, just like taking the vaccine during Covid, tested on non-human animals by the way, was a choice I made. If you understand both choices and why I was and remain vegan, then you understand life and how we exist in its imperfection.
- The vegan police will try to arrest you and take your vegan badge away all the time. They tried to take mine away when I said I didn’t want illegal immigrants in my country (I’m Slovenian). Don’t listen to them. They want purity from you but are standing in their own shit.
- It’s okay if you don’t like plant milks, meats, alternatives, etc. Just because you eat plant-based food, it doesn’t mean you must like everything that we eat. I only like one milk brand, Alpro, and besides the little chocolate milks, I only drink their plain soy milk (sweetened, of course). I absolutely hate oat, rice and coconut milks.
- Find a way to regularly move your body and stay active. I love walking, especially now that I am unable to exercise due to my spleen issues. Well, I always loved walking, but now I actually put more thought into doing it mindfully because this is also the time I connect with my body. Our bodies have evolved to move and stretch. Listen to nature.
- Drink water. Hydration is important, people!
- Also, moisturise. This has nothing to do with veganism, but I still think it’s important to take care of your skin.
- As someone who never liked to cook, I will have to sit you down if you’re the same. Let me hold your hand when I say the following: “You will have to learn how to cook.” I know you are probably shaking right now, having a panic attack and questioning this whole vegan thing, but you will be fine. Here are three quick tips that you need to absorb into your cells and turn into identity: a) start by preparing the easiest meals known to humans, b) find the staples that you love to use and eat, and c) experiment with ingredients and use lots of spices.
- There will come a point when you will want to become an activist and speak up about what you now know. You must choose something (or many things, but let’s start with one) that will pull you out of bed in the morning, and that will make you feel valuable in the movement. For me, writing was the most exciting tool to use because I have been writing since childhood. I did try volunteering with the main vegan organisation in Slovenia, and it was interesting, but I am not the best at, you know, talking to people. I’m just more comfortable with writing because I can think before, and really put my thoughts in the correct order. It’s also difficult to feel connected to many activists in Slovenia because they are openly wearing communist shirts and waving terrorist flags during vegan events, and I just don’t want to be a part of that. You can be vegan, and someone I don’t want to hang out with.
- When you change your diet and start consuming more plants, your body might go through an uncomfortable phase. You might feel sick and ill because you’re going through the detox. All the unhealthiness will slowly flush out, and that is not a nice feeling. Some people freak out when they start getting gassier, and their skin breaks out. It’s fine. It’s normal. It will go away after a while.
- Surround yourself with vegan content. Look at who you follow online and what you’re seeing on your feed daily, and change it to be more informative, engaging and educational. While I currently have my Instagram set to private and I don’t use it for writing anymore, I also changed what I see when I go on it. I unfollowed accounts that were mainly posting personal photos and dancing reels, and went on a hunt for people who were teaching me about history, sharing petitions that I can sign (and share), and keeping me motivated by posting happy rescue videos from various organisations and sanctuaries.
- Learn how to stand up for yourself and defend your ethical choices. I had to learn this 10 years in, when I was sent to the ER in late 2024 due to severe anaemia. I was told by three doctors, in a span of 24 hours btw, that I had to start eating meat again. That was only after two blood tests (and an iron IV) but before ANY, absolutely any further testing, scans or other checkups. Three different doctors blamed veganism for my anaemia, when less than a month later, I learn that I had a giant splenic cyst and that heavy bleeding and passing out from cramps is not normal. Turns out that when you’re losing too much blood and your spleen is not working properly, things go to shit, and it has nothing to do with your diet. I was also “forced” to stand up for myself when, during hospitalisations, they “forgot” to bring me my vegan meals, and I couldn’t eat anything. I reported them for that, though! Oh, and my doctor did later backtrack and admitted it’s not my diet, but other issues.
- Take a weekend to study all the ingredients and what they are, and take a stroll around your favourite grocery stores to find foods that have the vegan label. Of course, most products don’t actually have the label, and that’s where knowing the ingredients comes in handy, but you would be surprised by how many actually do have the little yellow label that will be super helpful when you’re in a rush and can’t read the back.
- While there will come a time when you won’t necessarily need to consume graphic media to stay motivated, you don’t want to ever stop being informed. The truth remains that trillions of non-human animals are murdered every year, and you don’t want to risk falling asleep again. And yes, this can and does happen. Find how and where you want to consume it, and take some time every week to remind yourself of the reality for trillions of individuals on our planet, or follow accounts that post a few posts per week, so you are always keeping an eye on them.
- Don’t make it your entire personality. Most of the girls I followed on Tumblr when I decided to go vegan aren’t vegan anymore. Two of the main reasons that they gave in their infamous “why I’m no longer vegan” videos are that they were too consumed with being a perfect vegan, or they didn’t eat properly (although they would never admit it was their orthorexia that made them sick and not eating plants). If you don’t have things that you love that have nothing to do with saving other animals, then you will be too consumed and too stressed, and you will quit in a matter of years. I find that many quit in their 5th year, and it fascinates me, but that’s a different topic. I personally enjoy listening to Latino music, ASMR, and political podcasts (Making Sense, Blocked And Reported), as well as reading books about business. Oh, and hiking.
Truth be told, I wanted to go for 50 tips, but I soon realised that this would take too much space for one post. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and I do think I covered all the things I planned, but I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
Before I go, I just want to remind you that this is your personal journey. Every vegan on this planet can tell you how to do it and what worked for them, but no one is you, and no one can guarantee that their unique path will resonate with your heart.
All you need to do is remain open to everything you hear, because no one but you knows what will be helpful. I know that for me, it took eleven months to go vegan, and even though everyone I listened to said to do it overnight because “animals are dying, Tanja”, I knew that if I wanted to do this forever, I had to go slower.
My path was unique because even when I say that I was a vegetarian during those months, it doesn’t fully describe it, as I was “only” consuming cheese on occasions and baked goods. I was so, so close to being fully vegan. I was living on 85% for a long time before I was ready to jump to 100%.
Who knows what your path will look like? Start walking and find out.
Tanja
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