#1) Rebuild yourself! When I started this vegan journey (2 months ago) I thought alot about that my body would gradually be rebuild, and that I had to give it time to being replaced with fruits and veggies. All the cells in your body dies, and will be replaced gradually, so quite literally you are what you eat. Do YOU want to be a burger on legs?
#2) Part of you! Following up on your body literally being build from what you eat, if you're about to eat something bad, ask yourself "do I want this to be a part of me?". I'm guessing that too many times the answer will be no, and no matter if you choose to eat it or not, let alone thinking about it I think is a good exercise.
#3) Keep it simple! This was the tip that actually got me started in the first place. I was quite scared, you're going from a diet where you have a big repertoire of recipes to rely on when you come home late after a long day and just need something quick to cook. When you're changing your diet radically, you don't have that repertoire to rely on, therefore - KEEP IT SIMPLE. In the beginning what I ate was, fruits and veggies for breakfast and lunch, mainly fruit, in their whole form or in a smoothie. For dinner I'd pick one of my top 3 cooked carbs, potatoes, rice and pasta, and dress it up from there. Super. Simple. Guys!
#4) Carb up! Have your got an uncontrollable hankering for a BigMac, cake, pork chops? It's simple, you're not carbed up! Your body tells the brain that it needs food, unfortunately it doesn't specify, so you'll feel most inclined to go for the most stimulating and convenient food, not usually fruits and veggies.
#5) Embrace those crappy days! Seriously, if you're having a crappy day, embrace it! But not by allowing yourself to eat whatever. I like to say that I have an angry, or a sad vegan inside of me. That way I try to separate my crappy mood from the rational part of me. Therefore I focus on nurturing and comforting myself and making that angry or sad vegan inside of me happier.
#6) Every cell in your body runs on sugar! Don't be afraid of sugar, if you've had biology you know that every cell in your body runs on sugar, so give it some prime fruit-fuel!
#7) Find out what works for you! I've had many doubts whether to eat wheat or not, wheat pasta and bread. Then I realized, if it works for me to have some break with hummus and tomatoes in the afternoon, then that's what I'll do. Try out different things, and see what makes you feel the best and what keeps you nice and satisfied, then make your own rules!
#8) Find someone who inspires you! The internet if wonderful, and it's full of people to inspire you and motivate you. Whether you likes blogs, vlogs, forums or something completely different I'm certain that you can find inspiration out there. Personally, FreeleeTheBananaGirl and DurianRider, on YouTube, are my vegan-heroes! I find going online for help and motivation very important to me, because I don't know a single vegan, not even a vegetarian.
#9) If you're hungry, eat! Your body is telling you that it's hungry, and if you're eating a good clean vegan diet you can eat all you want. If you let yourself go hungry, and especially if your in a food-toxic enviroment, for instance a supermarket or otherwise surrounded by alot of unhealthy convenient foods, it'll be harder to resist!
#10) Do not restrict your calories! By restricting your calories you're teaching your body to be a energy-storerer rather than an energy-user. Also, a calorie is not a calorie, contrary to popular belief, the proof is in the banana-pudding, look at raw-foodists, fruitarians and long term high-carb low-fat vegans - they eat masses of calories each day and THEY'RE LEAN!
Hope you liked some of my tips, some of them are really quite repetitive but they underline an important point.
- Elk
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