How to became a vegan?

How did I become vegan?

I started my vegan journey in September 2019 with a 10-day Health Challenge. I was attending an event that was about mind, personal growth, development and unleashing the power inside of yourself. The last day of the seminar was all about health and energy where we learned a lot about water, food, exercise, energy and what the best ways for our bodies to thrive were. On that day of the seminar, we got a 10-day challenge to cut out from our diet all the animal products; processed fats; dairy products; excessive caffeine; processed sugar; refined white foods; processed vinegar; alcohol; nicotine and drugs, and increase our green vegetables, almonds, avocados, lemons, limes. Before I started I thought that I would complete the challenge and then get back to eating meat, dairy, poultry and fish. But that challenge was life changing, - it never occurred to me to going back to my old eating habits. I had become a vegan and I proudly continued to being so. It’s funny how only about 5 years ago I used to make fun of my vegan friends.

How much do you know about veganism?

I used to think that veganism is only about animal cruelty and that meat is a ‘must’ source of protein. From early childhood I was taught that meat must be part of the diet for healthy living.

After the challenge was completed, I felt so energised and amazing that I wanted to know more about veganism and started to educate myself by watching different documentaries about animal cruelty, health and how a vegan lifestyle can prevent you from different diseases. Most of my family members have died of different types of cancer and all my life I thought that this is part of my blood linage and maybe somehow, I am destined to have some sort of terrible disease. I didn't have any clue that many diseases are related to our food and lifestyle habits. So, I dug deep into veganism, watching movies, reading articles and researching everything and I became sure I never wanted to eat meat again and begun openly promoting it among my friends and circle.

Did you know that being vegan is better for the environment?

As time passed I developed a deep compassion for animals and couldn’t understand anymore why we as humans were eating meat in the first place. Why we were loving our pets so much, but we were treating other animals like piece of s*it and killing them cold heartedly.

One thing led to another and I got better informed and passionate about the effects of climate change, water waste and how much the meat industry contributed to this. I felt sick in my stomach - it broke my heart when I saw videos about how people are cutting down the rainforests to get more land to raise cattle, just because people love to eat dead animals on their plates.

Your health will thank you if you change your diet to vegan diet

In 2019 I was slightly obese and my blood pressure was usually a little high. In my head, I thought that it’s normal because I was in a relationship and some people gain weight when they feel comfortable - it seemed normal. My boyfriend still loved me for who I was and I didn’t have a problem with my weight. After being vegan for about 2 weeks I joined the gym, started to attend group classes and meditate every morning, and did different breathing techniques.

My blood pressure is now perfect and I feel amazing. I feel that my body has never been so clean, so energised and relaxed.

Do i have to eat rabbit food, when I’m vegan?

If you are scared to become a vegan because you feel there’s nothing to eat except salad, then you are wrong!

My favourite hobby right now is cooking - it feels so much easier to cook vegan meals than cooking meat. With meat, you have to be careful not to overcook or undercook, but with vegan food, it’s no big deal. It’s so easy to make different curries or soups with various vegetables and legumes. Just throw all the things in the saucepan, add some seasoning and when everything is cooked, just enjoy. If you feel that you cannot give up sausages, cheese or bacon, then don’t worry, every meat product you usually had, you can find a vegan version or a recipe online about how to make your own. But you have to balance your diet - you can’t just eat all the vegan junk food and think yourself as a healthy person, just because you are vegan! You still need all the nutrients in your body to thrive. Maybe someone who is vegan already or qualified nutritionist or dietician can help you to balance your diet, so you know what you should eat daily if you want to be healthy. There are also some supplements that are recommended to vegans. I take B12 and Omega 3, because it can be difficult to get these with a vegan diet. Some vegans are also taking iron supplements, but personally I don’t need them because I eat so much iron rich foods daily (chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, tofu, kale, lentils, beans, chickpeas, linseeds, dried fruits, quinoa, kale etc).

I’m still clueless, so what can I eat?

Every day people are releasing more and more vegan recipe books, blogs with recipes, YouTube videos, Facebook pages, Instagram pages that you can follow. You can just search with hashtags. I also launched my Instagram vegan food page one year ago to show people my version of simple and healthy meals (@leila_plant.bas3d_meals).

Some people are afraid that they have to ditch their favourite meals, but actually you can modify every recipe to vegan. Good meat alternatives are mushrooms, legumes, tofu, seitan, jackfruit, beyond meat, impossible burgers, different soy products, tempeh and more. Some vegan products are expensive, but they aren’t needed - I recommend to adding some legumes to your diet to create affordable meals - there is a huge variety of beans, peas and lentils, and so many dishes to make with them: salads, curries, soups, gravies, chilis, stews and you can roast them and add them to anything or eat them like a snack.

When should i make the change?

You don’t need special time to change your eating habits. But it’s always hard to change your habit routine. That’s why January is easy for some people to change their current habits, to make new year resolutions. You can make some challenge with your friends to be a vegan one week or a whole month. Maybe you’ll stick with it, like me!

Here is one of my pumpkin soup recipes, which is so simple to make, delicious to eat and also very cheap.

Pumpkin soup

1⁄2 kg pumpkin
1⁄2 onion
3 cloves of garlic

Vegetable stock
2 small potatoes
1 carrot
3 sundried tomatoes

4 sage leaves

Salt & pepper
1 tsp chili powder

In the saucepan add some sundried tomato oil (or olive oil). When the oil is hot, add the minced garlic, diced onion, sundried tomatoes and sage. Mix it well for around 7 minutes on medium heat. Then add the diced pumpkin, diced carrot and diced potatoes (everything same size).

Sautee all the vegetables around 5 minutes and add some salt & pepper and also chili powder, if you like your food a little bit spicy. Then add your vegetable stock to cover all the veggies. You can add some additional spices (coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, oregano, basil, thyme, dried mix herbs etc.)

When all the veggies are soft, then let the soup cool down. After cooling down you can blend it and then bring everything back to the boil. You can add some additional seasoning like salt, pepper, and more chili.

I like to serve my pumpkin soup with pepitas and sunflower seeds and on the side, and munch some crispy toasted dark rye sourdough bread. Perfect comfort food for a rainy day or cold winter. It’s also very yummy when chilled. So, you can also enjoy a chilled version of it on a hot summer day with some fresh salad.