Of course, I’m an advocate of being vegan. I personally don’t see why you’d be happy to eat animals or products of animals that suffer for the 10 minutes they belong on your plate. Especially when you can get everything you need from plants. But at the end of the day, that’s none of my business and I’m just here to educate those who wish to read and learn more.

There are side effects.

Of course, if you drastically change your diet in any way, your body’s going to go into shock and have some adjusting to do. This is the same for any diet.

Whether you’ve already gone vegan and are wondering if it’s right for you or you’re about to make the change, the following bits of information are good to know. So keep going, you’re doing great for yourself, the planet and of course, the animals.

Eating enough.

When changing to a plant based diet, there’s a few adjustments you’ll need to make in relation to the volume of your foods. This section’s mainly for those out there that aren’t going to really be eating many processed foods from day to day and want to have a wholesome diet.

When you’re not eating processed foods or meats, that your body may be used to, this is where you might lose the calories you need to keep you going throughout the day.

Personally, I don’t believe in calorie counting and I prefer to eat mindfully. When you are making the change however, I would recommend firstly finding out the amount of calories you should be eating and then tracking them for the first couple of weeks. This will help you get an idea of how much to be eating each day.

What’s also useful is knowing what volume foods work best for you. These are foods which are pretty low in calories but you can eat plenty of them. This is things such as mushrooms, oats, boiled potatoes to name a few. They’re always handy to be aware of for if you’re feeling really hungry due to having less calories than usual.

A good calculation of how many calories you should be eating is linked here: If it fits your macros.

Being tired.

This can be accounted for due to not getting enough energy and calories from your food throughout the day.

It could also be from not eating the right foods. If you’ve made the switch but are eating processed ready meal style food or meat alternatives, you’re not going to be getting the right nutrients to keep your energy up.

For this reason, try and avoid sugary, as well as heavily processed foods. Of course, everything’s good in moderation.

Nutritional needs.

This sounds like a lot but it ties in with the two points raised above. You need to make sure you’re eating between 7 and 10 different portions of fruit and veg a day.

It’s important that the fruit and veg you consume is different, as each piece has different vitamins and minerals which help to keep you nourished.

Read more about the nutrition of different fruit and veg here: British Nutritional Information.

Oh, the cravings.

Trust me, they’ll hit you hard. It may even just be a case of you craving foods, simply because you’re choosing not to eat them anymore. For me, this was always pizza and chocolate.

I find it ideal to always have vegan alternatives in my house, to stop me from straying. It too, will help you keep on top of your goals.

Things to keep in the house (well, for me personally) are;

• Vegan chocolate (Bournville, Fry’s, NOMO, Vego)
• Crisps (always check the labels)
• Jelly (loads of vegan options for this!)
• Nuts and dried fruit (for when you have a sugar craving but you’re trying to be good)
• Biscuits
• Ice cream (The vegan Magnums are my FAVOURITE)
• Pizza (Chicago Town BBQ Jackfruit one is my ultimate)

Bloating, gas and pooping.

Yes, you’re gonna bloat, trump a lot and find yourself pooing way more than normal when you change your diet. This is because your gut bacteria needs to adjust to the new diet.

As junk food and meat don’t have fiber, you’ll find that when changing to a vegan diet you’ll all of a sudden be pooping more. Once you’ve stuck to it for a few weeks, you’ll be in a normal routine – it’s just teething pains.

The fiber you’re eating is really good for your digestion and your bowel, it just won’t be used to so much. For this reason, it’ll go into shock you may look like you’re about 4 months pregnant and you may need to learn how to hide your trumps whilst in public.

This is only for a few weeks though, as I say, it’s just the transitional period.

I hope you’ve found this useful and I’d love for you to join me on my socials. I’ll be posting inspiration, facts and illustrations all about veganism each day and your support really helps and makes me happy.

If you have any questions or ideas about what you’d like to see in future, be sure to let me know in the comments.

Love, always – B
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