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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UH chapter.

What do Kendrick Farris, Sia, Liam Hemsworth, Daniella Monet, Mike Tyson, and Ellen DeGeneres have in common?

They’re all vegans!

Veganism is no longer a thing of the past. Our very own Queen, Beyoncé is a vegan! If you care about your health, cute animals, and given Mother Nature a break then becoming a vegan might just be for you!

The path is surely not easy, but it can be well worth the effort. Here is a guide to the baby steps of becoming vegan.  

1: Decide Why

First of all, you need to decide why you want to become a vegan. You are not going to get very far if you “just want to try it.” Find a reason that lines itself with your beliefs.

2: Meatless Monday

Take the next step by dedicating a single day to eating absolutely no meat. You will begin to discover wonderful options of a plant based diet. Once you’re comfortable with going out a single day, you can increase to two or three times.

3: Pescatarian

Here is a helpful step for the beginning. A pescatarian diet ditches meat from pigs, cows, and chickens and focuses on fish. There are plenty of fish options out there; sushi being the best one, right? This step helps you steer clear of the livestock industry products while not completely ditching meat.

4: Vegetarian

Next, once you’ve explored the life with less meat, commit to not eating any! This will probably a hard step, especially if you like to go out a lot, but there are plenty of ways around it.

5: Vegan

Finally, you’ve arrived to your destination. This will be the hardest, especially in the beginning, because now your diet will commit to no meat and no animal products. That typically means no eggs, honey, or dairy products. Yes, Blue Bell will be missed, but there’re plenty of options. An easy switch I made before even becoming a vegan was switching dairy milk with almond milk. Explore the wonderful option of a plant-based diet!

Hopefully by now, you will have decided you need to mostly cook yourself meals. There are lots of recipes for those classic dishes you love. You can find them on sites like OneGreenPlanet.org as well as the latest vegan news.

 

Allison is a sophomore English major and Education minor at the University of Houston. A bookworm and an artist at heart, she loves cliche quotes and all things nerdy. You can usually find her curled up on in a comfy chair or sitting against a wall working on things from her social media job at Zulees to her hopeful novel. When not glued to her phone, she loves to work with her Rotaract and Rotary club to better the community.
"Writing means sharing. It's part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, opinions."