Is it easy to eat a vegan diet?
Written by Minnie | Is it easy to eat a vegan diet?
On the whole, eating a vegan diet has been easier than I thought. Like most personal changes we want to make, it’s about breaking old habits and replacing them with new ones.
That’s not to say I haven’t encountered challenges – of course I have. Like many people, I adored cheese, chocolate, baking and eating out. Habits and ways of cooking and baking all had to be altered to recreate some of my favourite things to eat, while getting the all-important nutrients I need.
Below are the five things that were the main hurdles for me.
Life without cheese
This was a big one. I loved smoked cheese and ate it pretty much every day. It was super easy to whack a slice in bread for packed lunches, to snack on with crackers and grate on jacket potatoes. The usual stuff.
Sadly, so far, I haven’t been able to find a vegan cheese to rave about. But more recently, I’ve managed to find a brand that is better. I use this for recipes that call for cheese. Otherwise, my cheese habit is something of the past and to be honest, I no longer miss it.
To clarify, I’m referring to hard cheese here. Vegan soft cheese, the spreadable type, is actually very good and from a taste point of view, I have tried at least two where I can’t tell the difference from a dairy version.
Nutrition
This one really should have come before cheese but hey, I’m only human!
Naively, I gave this part little thought before plunging into my solely plant-based diet. For the first few months, I loaded up on far too many carbs, was horribly bloated every single day and oh… Realised my body didn’t react well to soya. Oh yes, one of the most heavily relied on ingredients for protein in a vegan diet gave me terrible tummy cramps.
Although this was initially a challenge, because a lot of plant-based products contain soya, I have been able to omit soya from my diet. I can eat very small amounts if I want to, but frankly, it doesn’t bother me too much as I’m personally not a fan of things like tofu scramble. Plus, just over the past couple of years, there have been more and more vegan products that are pea protein based rather than soya which makes my life easier.
Back to nutrition… My learning in this area continues and there are lots of professionals and apps out there that can help ensure you get the nutrients you need. I’m certainly no expert in this field.
I will say that becoming vegan really has made me more aware of nutrition. I didn’t give two hoots about nutrition when I was eating meat or a vegetarian diet and it’s only with the basic knowledge I have now, that I can see how lacking my diet was.
Some friends and family see you as a pain in the behind
To be fair, many of our friends and family will do their best to rustle up something but we always, always offer to bring a vegan dish with us if we’re going to lunch or dinner. I can tell you that when we do, our vegan dish gets wiped and I absolutely love it! Not because I’m on a mission to turn everyone around me vegan, rather because people realise that being vegan isn’t as dull or boring as they thought! Actually, vegan food can be pretty damn delicious!
Generally, I do get that it is a pain if you’re not used to cooking plant-based and you have to cook something separately for vegan guests.
Eating out
Yes it’s true. Many restaurants still only have one main meal vegan option and often, no dessert possibility. It’s getting better, but for now, it’s just how it is.
I suppose it also depends on where you go but even many Indian restaurants, where you think you’d be safe with a tarka daal or aloo saag, use ghee, butter or cream.
There’s only ever been one occasion where there wasn’t a single thing I could eat on the menu at a French restaurant and even then, the chef was happy to put together a very delicious stir fry with rice noodles.
Hand on heart, I can say that even when there has only been one thing I can eat, it’s rarely been disappointing, and I’m pretty fussy about flavoursome food!
Travelling at home and abroad
For daytimes, I tend to prepare packed lunches but if time is short or the fridge is empty, there are usually plenty of vegan options for a sandwich, wrap, salad or soup here in UK.
Equally, as already mentioned, although options are limited, I personally haven’t encountered a problem eating in restaurants, even with my soya issue. Vegans are catered for quite well in the UK.
For international travel, it really depends on where you go and it’s definitely more challenging in some countries than others. It also varies in different areas within a country.
As you’d expect, finding vegan food is more likely in tourist areas and cities. However, there are some countries outside Europe where vegan isn’t quite understood and even after explaining, you can find veggies cooked in butter or a layer of mayo in your sandwich.
So far, in my experience, breakfast is a straightforward affair – there’s always things to choose from. Lunch and dinner can be hit and miss. Taking a supply of healthy protein bars when travelling abroad is never a bad idea.
So, is it easy to eat a vegan diet?
You do of course have to give up food you love and break habits of a lifetime but, for me, the thought of these changes was definitely worse than the actual switching to a vegan diet.
I did it gradually. I decided I was going to make the switch then over the course of around three months, I replaced whatever I needed in the fridge/freezer/food cupboard with a plant-based version. This gave me time to use up what I had already bought, and the opportunity to find replacement products I was happy with.
