Vegan For A Month - 6 Lessons I Learned The Hard Way

At the end of August, I decided that after a few years of being mostly vegetarian, it was time for me to see what veganism was like.

I say "mostly" vegetarian because my reasons for being vegetarian stem from environmental and animal rights concerns, not from a dislike of meat. In fact, I grew up in a city that turned BBQ Tri-Tip into an art. But the more I learned about the environmental impacts of beef, the less I could enjoy a hamburger. And the more I learned about the conditions of poultry farms, the less I could enjoy a chicken salad. And the more I learned about unsustainable fishing and its impact on our seas, the less I could enjoy one of my most favorite things in the world - sushi. I didn't cut meat out altogether because a few times a year, particular cravings and access to cruelty-free chicken or (yay!) sustainably caught fish would converge and I'd enjoy a guilt-free meat-centric meal.

But, it started to grate on me that if I cut out meat for environmental and animal rights reasons, why am I not cutting out dairy as well? Dairy, too, has a profoundly negative impact on our planet and so, if I continue with that logic, I should go vegan and eliminate animal products from my diet, right? Logically, yes. Practically, not so much! Give up cheese? Give up steamed milk in my coffee? Sigh.

But I decided I'd give it a month, and see how it went. On the next page, check out the lessons I learned.

1. Pick Just How Vegan You Want to Be

Just like with vegetarianism, there are different levels of veganism. One can be a dietary vegan, where animal products are banned from food but not the rest of daily life, or a strict vegan, where everything down to clothing and personal care products are dutifully scanned for signs of animal-based ingredients. The more days of veganism went by during September, the more I realized each person has to pick their own battles. Living in the middle of wine country and being a bit of a wine fanatic, I decided I wasn't going to worry about selecting only vegan wine. Similarly, I wasn't going to exclude vegan foods whose labels said "This product was manufactured on equipment that also processes milk" or other notifications. If the item itself was vegan, that was good enough for me. My month was more about eliminating the lowest hanging fruit, or rather, lowest-hanging animal products that make the biggest environmental impact - milk, eggs, cheese and similar animal-based products - from my shopping list and restaurant menu choices. So just as I was "mostly" vegetarian, I was also going to be "mostly" vegan.

2. Create Your Elevator Pitch

This drawing of a fine line between exactly how vegan I was going to be lead me to another lesson. When people hear I'm vegetarian, they often ask questions about my reasons, or how I get enough protein and so on. I thought I was already prepared for the same thing should it come up during my month of veganism. However, I realized that people will get even more specific in their questions. "Well why not just vegetarian?" "Well what about honey? Wine? What about chocolate?" "How come you'll eat this and not that?" It pays to have a quick explanation about why you're vegan at the ready that can cut off most questions before they're lobbed at you. It also pays to be patient - consider it your opportunity to be an advocate on behalf of the planet. After all, ultimately it's less about your choice of what's for lunch, and more about your choice to make the world a little more sustainable.

3. Ready Your Substitutions

Here's a big lesson. When you take nutrients out of your diet, you need to have replacements that give you the same healthful benefits. I failed to do this right away and paid for it miserably. Pulling my primary sources for protein and calcium - milk and cheese - out of my daily diet and keeping the rest of my menu exactly the same left me undernourished within about a week. Woops. I not only just felt crummy, but I caught a cold for the first time in ages. I realized I needed to boost my fats, proteins and calcium intake with other items. I needed to add in more nuts, tofu, vitamin supplements and other plant-based foods that contain the healthful nutrients that dairy products were supplying me. So, if you're going vegan, do what I didn't - read up on how to find and include the nutrients that you aren't getting from animal products but still need to be healthy, and stock up on vitamins like B-12 right from day one.

4. Listen to Your Body

I noticed that in addition to the stomach aches, fatigue and that blasted cold that came from thoughtlessly eliminating nutrient sources without replacing them, I also got some serious cravings that I didn't used to get. I woke up at 4 AM one morning with an intense craving for a hamburger - intense enough that the only thing stopping me from heading to the nearest burger joint was the fact that it was 4 AM. Cravings like that are something that (nearly) never happens to me. Part of why our bodies crave certain foods is not because we want that particular food, but because we want what's in it. My craving was more about my body wanting things like iron and complete proteins found in beef than it was about wanting a burger - and these were things that I could get from non-animal food sources, but hadn't been focusing on consuming. Listen to your body and pay attention to how you feel and what you're craving, and adjust your diet accordingly.

5. Be Comfortable Asking Questions

Animal products are everywhere, and in surprising places. In addition to reading labels carefully, you'll have to do quite a bit of question asking. There are a lot of foods, especially in restaurants, that seem like they should be vegan but aren't. When you're getting a veggie Pad Thai at your favorite restaurant, you now have to ask if they use fish sauce in the dish. Does that bean soup use a cream base? Or does it come garnished with cheese and the menu fails to mention that? I'm lucky enough to live in San Francisco where vegan options on menus are usual, clearly marked, and servers don't think twice when you ask "Is that veggie dish vegan?" But it might be a bit less comfortable in areas where veganism is less common. Get comfortable asking questions about menu items, and get comfortable asking for substitutions. Again, you get to be the planet's diplomat, so if you're inclined to shy away from asking menu-related questions, think of it as a great opportunity to educate restaurants and do a bit of green activism.

6. Get Ready to Make Friends

Vegans come out of the woodworks when they sense a fellow vegan is nearby. The reason becomes fairly apparent after awhile - eating out is way more fun in a crowd of people who are all hunting for the same animal-free options. So are dinner parties, and simply swapping recipes and great grocery store finds, like amazing cheese substitutes (yes, they can be amazing) or unusual high protein grains (I only learned about the wonders of quinoa this year). I definitely made new friends based in no small part because of that commonality. So be prepared to meet great people, explore new restaurants, and get creative in the kitchen with your cohorts!

A Final Word

On a night just a few days shy of the one month mark, I went to a wine bar with a couple girlfriends. I asked the server for some bread, which she brought out with a dish of butter. I dove in, lathering butter onto the bread in an amount far more copious than usual. Butter never tasted so good. I decided my body was telling me something, and that my month of being vegan was up.

If I needed to pick the most important thing I learned during my month of veganism, it's that animal-based ingredients are shockingly ubiquitous, and there are countless ways to move towards a vegan lifestyle and lesson our environmental footprints. So, even though I'm back to buying organic milks and cheeses, and cage-free eggs, I buy them in far smaller quantities. And I must say I have a whole new affinity for vegan desserts, trying some of the best ice creams, cupcakes and cookies I've ever had during September, and so am sticking with those, too! The impact of minimizing animal-based food and product consumption wherever possible does indeed add up, even if that means calling yourself "mostly" vegan.

I will likely one day soon reconsider why I should be a full-fledged vegan and give it another, more whole-hearted shot. But next time, I'll be much more prepared for both the challenges and the fun.