I’m concerned about the number of people jumping into veganism these days. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the plant-based lifestyle and have literally just gone vegan myself. My problem is with people jumping into veganism without fully understanding what it is and what they are giving up. There is nothing worse than going vegan for the wrong reasons.

Four years ago I was one of the eager souls that went vegan. Back then I did it to be “healthy” and, to be honest, it felt good to be “above the others” and survive without meat *cringe.* So sure, I adopted a vegan diet for about a year but then I caved and devoured a whole pizza. Why did I do that? Because being vegan is freaking hard! It requires you to severely restrict your diet and that’s a very difficult thing to do if you don’t have a firm reason for doing it.

Restricting your diet not only means you get less food variety, but it also interferes with your social life. Wanna have pizza with your friends at that party? Sorry, you’re vegan so you can’t have cheese anymore. Wanna go out to get a quick bite with that cute person you’re into? Better check the menu beforehand or you’ll be stuck awkwardly sipping water. And even worse, have a bad history with food? Being vegan requires you to be VERY restrictive. Is that something you can handle right now?

As you can see, being vegan takes a lot of sacrifice. It took me about three years to reflect on and educate myself before confidently deciding to get on the vegan track again. And I’m still taking it slow! I’d say I’m a vegan in progress and have a long way to go before being confidently vegan.

There is no rush to be vegan. Eat more plants, cut out animal products when you can but first, really consider and meditate on why you want to go vegan. Veganism is a lifestyle choice. It’s a philosophy that sees animals as living, breathing, sentient beings that are more than just a commodity. Only go vegan when you really REALLY agree with this and I promise it’ll be worth it and sustainable.