Start by educating yourself. The information age has brought with it many advantages which have made this part of the process, by far, the easiest. Not only has the information age given us easy access to several vegan food options, but it has also made accessible, at the click of a mouse, all the health and dietary advice and information that we will ever need to successfully make the transition from a meat to plant-based diet.

Next, is the most crucial step, which takes place internally. Going vegan is something that you have to first do mentally. You have to know within yourself your motivation for doing so. You have to know within yourself whether you intend to make this transition permanent or temporary. If you take your time with this step the next one will be a breeze.

The third step involves taking action, which for many can be the most difficult. At this stage you have to gradually change your diet. For instance, I started this journey as a pesco-vegetarian, then a lacto-ovo vegetarian then vegan. I evolved into this lifestyle. So at this stage the focus is on making the transition gradually and at a pace that is comfortable for you and conducive to your lifestyle. There will be times where this is challenging but with careful meal planning and if needed a vegan transitional coach this step can be seamless.

The final step involves enjoying the benefits of the transition. The best part about being vegan is that you get to enjoy the many benefits of doing so. By going vegan you lower your risk of contracting food born illnesses and cardiovascular disease. You also keep your weight down, have a longer life expectancy, more energy and strong bones. Moreover, if you’re a woman you get the added bonus of easing the symptoms of menopause.

Going vegan means different things to different people. Some do it for health concerns while others do it out of concern for the environment. Some even do it for a short period of time with a targeted goal in mind like weight loss. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you make a point to know why you want to do this and what going vegan will mean to you. It’s a very personal choice that has to be made independently and for your own benefit. So if after giving it careful thought you’re up for a minor challenge, because it’s not difficult, go for it and it will undoubtedly transform your life in ways unimaginable. The lifestyle is easy, but the biggest step is making the choice.

About the Author

Amirah Bellamy is a Vegan Transitional Coach, Vegan Fitness Meal Planning Expert, and Author. To learn more about her fabulous Vegetarian Meal Plans and Healthy Eating eBook or to INSTANTLY grab her FREE Vegetarian Starter Kit go to http://www.AmirahBFit.com

Source: How Do You Go Vegan - Vegan Family Living

When approached by a situation that involves cooking for a vegan, even professional chefs can face a struggle in deciding exactly what to cook for the main course and accompaniments that make up a proper meal. There follows some useful guidelines to aid you during the process of preparing meals for your vegan guests and relatives:

Vegan? What does that entail then?Many people get confused between vegan and vegetarianism. While a vegetarian typically steers clear of all fish and meat products, vegans avoid all fish and meat AND the by-products as well. Animal by-products include dairy products. Any product that is derived from an animal should be left out when cooking for vegans.

Plan AheadWhether fixing one meal or one dozen, making meals for vegans involves real planning. It is critical for each meal to be full of flavour and nutritionally correct, which is often a problem for the cook who is accustomed to using animal-based ingredients in recipes. The recipes should be specced-out early in the process, considering the best way to to introduce iron, protein, fiber, and flavor to your vegan meal.

Planning ahead is less complicated if you can locate a reliable on-line recipe collection with plenty of vegan recipes. Even then, you should verify each of these recipes cautiously before utilising them. Sadly, a few recipes labelled as vegan are actually not even close. To make life difficult, some individuals have very opposite perspectives of what ‘vegan’ actually means. Still, if you put in the effort most of these vegan recipes are exceedingly flavorsome and extremely nutritious. A few may need unusual ingredients, but again, the net can be a great help in finding these. You may even locate online retailers of vegan food ingredients, which, as they are normally ‘specialists’ in the vegan lifestyle, might even be able to provide advice on replacement ingredients for your vegan dinner.

Introducing VarietyWhen cooking vegan meals, it is all too easy to make boring meals that are not very different from one another. There is no need for ‘boring’ if you plan carefully. In fact, vegan dinners can be quite similar to those prepared for carnivorous cooking. With the great number of TVP style alternatives to dairy and meat dishes, you can find easy replacements for ingredients from fish to mince, which helps to introduce a great deal of flavor and variety to the meal.

Watch Out for Hidden Dangers As the main cook for a vegan meal, your first duty is to be completely sure you are observing your guests’ eating habits. It would be all too easy, as well as far quicker, to just assume that all non-meat ingredients are vegan-friendly and cook a recipe based on that. However, a good chef will remember to check the ingredient lists of all bought items needed for the meal in order to be completely certain the food is acceptble to vegans. You might find some unusual areas that meat products and assocaited by-products crop up, for example:

• Sugar: About 50 percent of the sugar producing factories in the USA use carbon produced from animal bones to process the sugar. As a result, quite a few vegans won’t eat refined sugar.• Gelatin: Most people do not know that gelatin is derived from meat or fish.• Vegetable Soups: Some tinned vegatable soups are have chicken or beef stock in their ingredients.• Bread: Often contain refinde sugar (see above), egg, milk and sometimes lard..• Worcestershire Sauce: This ubiquitous sauce is made using anchovies, look out for vegan alternatives – they are available

If you stick with these rules, any cook can produce a dinner party that is a delight for carnivores and non-meat-eaters as well, and your vegan friends will without doubt thank you for care and attention to detail.

About the Author

R.Wakefield is a writer who provides nutritionary support and cookery articles for Recipes 4U (http://www.recipes-4u.co.uk), one of the biggest free recipe collections on the internet. Recipes 4U has more than forty thousand recipes with specific recipe categories for vegetarian recipes, chicken recipes and salmon recipes.

Source: Vegan Cooking: What to Eat When There is No Meat - Vegan Family Living