It has been more than two months since I started my journey on the path of veganism. It has been a beautiful journey - more than just being a change to my diet it has been about exploring a new bath of life, exploring the extent of willpower , adding discipline to my lifestyle and making better, wiser choices for myself and for the environment. It has been a journey of inspiration to my family and friends, and through my blog posts I aim to inspire many more people.
In a lot of my other posts I have explained the process of becoming vegan, the do's and dont's of veganism and how to be vegan on a budget. In this post I want to share a couple of common mistakes that people make, and I also made as I began vegan. Some of these mistakes are related to the diet you take.
Since, we are familiar with the fact that vegans don't consume milk, yogurt , cheese, butter , meat , eggs etc. This leaves people in a state of shock and this can take a person towards eating the wrong foods just to compensate for better taste, lack of time or flexibility. Also, vegans tend to loose out on some nutrients which are imperative for the body, and that needs to be compensated for with the right diet. Thirdly, some times vegans tend to be too fussy, we need to avoid that and not make our choice of veganism an issue of trouble to others.
So, here are the top 3 mistakes to avoid :
1. Don't eat junk food : This is a major mistake you might be making. If earlier you ate poached eggs, or a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast and now you can't make such a quick breakfast- you might switch to skipping meals and also eating junk food in its place - like grabbing a sandwich or noodles or fries. This is a very very common mistake we make, and you might feel it is just this once and you will not even realize how this has inculcated into a habit of its own. So, make sure that before you even go vegan you have some quick recipes in mind to substitute for older ones.
One of my favorite recipes is vegan pancake- it has a total cooking time of less than 8 minutes and it takes another few minutes to eat it . It requires the minimum amount of effort.
In case you wanna use this super easy recipe you can follow the link below :
This is a super easy pancake recipe that I have tested and invented. It is purely vegan and you won't feel any difference in the taste. Pair it up with a banana to feel full and to energize yourself.
The second recipe that I like is that of a Tofu Subway sandwich- it takes slightly longer about 15 minutes, but you save time because you can eat it on the go. Instead of putting anything difficult in the subway - add onions, bell peppers and tofu which has all been lightly fried on the pan. Add some sauces to the subway and you are ready to go. Trust me it tastes yum!!!
I will be adding the link for that recipe shortly.
So, the whole point of saying this is - monitor the amount of junk food you are consuming, don't over eat on some of the tasty food just to compensate. A lot of Youtube videos can make your vegan meal taste better than th previous one.
One more option is to stack food, if you are free on the weekends, try a new recipe and make a larger quantity so that you can use it the next day as well.
Ensure that you are eating enough fruits or drinking juice. The importance of this can't be emphasized enough. I will explain it further in the next point.
2. Lack of nutrients : Vegans tend to have a deficiency of some of the necessary vitamins and nutrients that are a must for the body . These are calcium, ferrum (iron) , zinc and vitamin B12, and protein.
So, let us go step by step:
a. Calcium deficiency - this is common in vegans as they give up on the main sources of calcium which is milk , yogurt and paneer (cottage cheese). These are almost consumed daily and contains high amounts of calcium. So, vegans have two substitutes for this. I recently found fortified Soy Milk - which is fortified with Calcium . I drink Sofit (soy milk) which contains calcium in its flavored milk packs. So, this should be a good source of calcium. The second option is to consult your doctor and consumer calcium supplements. If you start feeling a kind of weakness or lack of strength in your bones then its better to take supplements. However, that is why prevention is better than cure - so take this advice seriously.
b. Iron deficiency - Iron deficiency can be avoided by consuming more of spinach , broccoli and ensure that it is part of your meals. Additionally to tackle loss of iron - drinking juices of apple, beetroot and carrot can help avoid anemia. Iron is also fortified in the soy milk I was talking about earlier so add that too.
c. Zinc deficiency - Zinc is mostly found in meat, that's why quitting meat may lead to a zinc deficiency in the long run. And for this we have our Soy milk to the rescue once again - the fortified soy milk also takes care of your zinc needs. Out of all the substitutes I have seen so far - this milk brand is just the best option.
d. B12 deficiency - B12 unfortunately cannot be found in vegetarian products. So, the only option is to take supplements - but this is only after proper consultation with your doctor or dietitian.
e. Proteins - a lot of people say that meat is their main source of protein and going vegan will make them lose out on protein. This is absolutely not true and eating pulses, beans and soy milk wont cause this problem at all. You might even be over compensated and get leaner over time.
3. Being flexible - I realized that often at times when I visited someone's place and they didn't know I had turned vegan and had not planned to include a vegetarian meal. So, in these cases you don't want to infuriate your host and hurt them or sound rude. So, the best way is to accommodate with whatever vegetarian options are available at best , and keep the non veg at the minimum.
It may also happen that you go to a restaurant with a couple of friends since it is a majority choice, so instead of fussing around a bit too much, it is to find the closest option to your diet. It could be soup or noodles, mushroom , rice - I am sure they might have some decent vegetarian options. A change of diet for one meal or one instant in a long time doesn't change your choices as a person or makes you no less vegan. And slowly, you might even realize that your host keeps you in mind next time and gets to experiment with a vegetarian dish just for you, and they might also fall in love with it . You can be a turning point and an inspiration for many .
Thus, take care of all these most commonly made mistakes and your journey with veganism is good to go.
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