It’s Our Veganniversary: 10 Things We Learned After Eating Vegan for a Year

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If you became vegan today, do you think you could stay plant-based for 12 months?

And if you have kids, do you think they’d make the switch with you? And stick to it for an entire year?

Giving up the lifestyle we’d lived for three to four decades in favor of being plant-based, although inspiring, seemed daunting and overwhelming. 

And doing it with three kids? Impossible.

Or so we thought!

First off, Cheers to Our First Veganniversary! 

After taking one day at a time and immersing ourselves in information to help us succeed, our veganniversary snuck up on us! 

And after a year of eating vegan family meals, I thought we’d have it all figured out. But do you want to hear our confession?

…

We still struggle!

And while we are in no way pros at this, we’ve learned a thing or two this year that’s helped our family of five thrive.

Here’s what we’ve learned after one year of eating vegan—and stay tuned to the end to hear what our kids have to say after reflecting on their first year as vegans.

1. A Supportive (and Knowledgeable) Doctor is a MUST!

I’m not a doctor. And although there are doctors in all the documentaries about plant-based diets, those aren’t my doctors—or my kids’ doctors. I was scared our doctor may not be supportive, but I’m glad I faced those fears and met with her. 

Our doctor was shocked. “You’re including the kids in this, too?” When we said yes, she said, “If you can go on a completely whole-food, plant-based diet, that should be the goal. But not everyone is able to do that.”

Feeling secure in our decision, my hubby and I got labs done. We met with our doctor and a nutritionist to review dietary requirements for the five of us and to discuss supplements.

And FYI, if our medical team was NOT supportive, I would have sought a second (or third) opinion or found a plant-based doctor.

2. Grocery Shopping (and the Bill) Doesn’t Change too Much.

Finding all the new, tasty plant-based substitutes on shelves now isn’t always easy. Plus, I prefer organic produce and shop in bulk for our growing family. I shopped at three or four stores before becoming plant-based, and that number hasn’t changed. However, we could easily compromise and find what we need at one store. 

In 2018 we joined Financial Peace University and started keeping a budget. So I’ve tracked our groceries for the past two years. And guess what? Our grocery bill for our vegan family meals is the same now as it was when we ate animal products.

I cut costs by choosing store brands, bulk buying, and only purchasing costly substitutes on occasion. And I still buy organic!

3. Going out to Eat Is Hard.

Dining out got a lot more complicated. 

We can’t spontaneously jam through a drive-thru and order three kids meals, unless we make significant modifications.

Before we go someplace new, we research menus, reviews and prices. We stick to places we know when we’re in a hurry. When we do visit restaurants without vegan meals, we look for staples (for example, vegetarian meals, veggie salads and burgers, baked potatoes, fries, steamed veggies, rice and beans, pasta, fruit sides, avocado toast or bagels, and oatmeal) and then make them dairy and egg free.

Lastly. I miss going out to eat breakfast and brunch. Other than oatmeal, avocado toast and bagels, most restaurants don’t serve plant-based diet breakfast options. I look forward to seeing more plant-based omelets, sausages and pancakes.

4. Every Party Takes Planning—Even if I’m not Planning It.

Every party I’ve attended in the last year required me to do some—if not a lot—of extra prep. 

We have to spend extra time planning: We tell the kids ahead of time what foods (if any) we can eat, or we bring our own food so we can guarantee we have options, or we eat early so we aren’t hungry in a place where we can’t eat anything.

Holidays, school events, birthday parties, team awards nights and other get-togethers usually have the obligatory pizza, hot dogs, cookies and cupcakes. It’s something we know we have to prepare for—and prepare our kids for. 

And at times, it gets emotional (for all of us). But this lifestyle is something we believe in, and now, our kids believe in. So preparing ourselves before we enter the situation has become a necessity.

5. Build a Go-To List of Vegan Family Meals.

When I became vegan, I got amped to attempt all the new recipes I found on Pinterest. 

Well, I botched a lot of them.

It was then I reflected on my purpose.

I realized my goal wasn’t to be a plant-based chef. My goal was to feed my family healthy, tasty, and simple vegan family meals. I then decided to start small and focus on 7 plant-based dinners.

If I could start with a week’s worth of meals, and rotate through those, I considered that a success.

The five of us contributed significantly to our menu. We don’t rank the seven meals in the same order of most to least favorite, although we agree the vegan chili is our #1. Everyone has several meals they look forward to, no meals they hate, and a balanced diet to keep us going.

As we move past our veganniversary, and feel more confident in our meal choices we’ll start incorporating more whole-food, plant-based meals into the mix as well.

6. There Are Significant Health Benefits.

We don’t have after-dinner (and dessert) stomach aches anymore. I don’t have as many headaches. We have more energy throughout the day. And our weight has benefited, too.

Soon after starting a vegan diet, I lost 10 pounds. My husband lost 35 pounds. And as of our veganniversary, we’ve kept that off. We didn’t count calories or track what we ate. We didn’t make any changes in our physical activity. We just ate plants.

And honestly, if we spent more time exercising and eating a whole-food plant-based diet, I think we could lose more.

We feel great for other reasons, too. Did you know our family of five saves roughly 40 animals a month and leaves a smaller carbon footprint on our planet by eating vegan?

Choosing to become a vegan family has benefited our physical, emotional and mental health immensely. 

7. Saying Goodbye to Honey is Harder than Saying Goodbye to Bacon.

I don’t miss milk. Or cheese. I don’t miss meat—and yes, that includes bacon! *Gasp!* 

We switched to a plant-based diet almost overnight. (Don’t try this until you talk to your doctor.) We jumped into the deep end, and it worked for us.

With one exception: Honey. 

I suffer from allergies and for years our doctor recommended local honey. 

I figured, bees aren’t animals. I can eat honey. But, I’m a huge bee lover and once we started looking into moving farther than just being plant-based and into veganism, I learned how harvesting honey harms bees.

So, now we replace honey in recipes with other sweeteners. Lately, we drink tea without honey, too. But in all honesty, I still struggle to quit it completely. 

This is a goal for me as we move to our next veganniversary: Save more bees. Give up honey.

8. Just Because It’s Plant-Based, Doesn’t Mean It’s Healthy.

There’s a growing number of plant-based products on the market. However, I pay close attention to their ingredients. Some have high amounts of sodium, sugar and oil. 

For example, Oreo cookies and Skittles are vegan, and therefore, technically plant-based. And although tasty, I think we can agree, “healthy” isn’t how we’d describe them. 😉

A year ago, eating a whole-food, plant-based diet was the goal. Eating plant-based and vegan is our reality. I’ve learned there is a difference.

Forks Over Knives elaborates: “Whole food describes natural foods that are not heavily processed. That means whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients. Plant-based [or vegan] means food that comes from plants and doesn’t include animal ingredients such as meat, milk, eggs, or honey.”

Using whole foods seems impossible when we’re on the go, or pressed for time between homework and extracurricular activities. Sometimes, quick meals are all I have the energy for.

But we know eating whole foods is our healthiest option. We plan to continue to reach for this goal as we move into year two as vegans. 

9. People Want to Talk About Our Diet.

We waited a while to tell most of our friends and family about the switch. We didn’t want to make people (including ourselves) feel uncomfortable. We were still new to this lifestyle, and insecure about answering other people’s questions.

When people found out, they wanted to hear more.

We hear the expected questions about whether we get enough protein and how we can live without bacon. But if they delve deeper, I let them lead, answering their questions as factually as possible. Without passing judgement. Because remember, a year ago I was in their shoes.

I often feel anxious talking about our diet. I’m not interested in arguing. And thankfully, most people are simply curious, kind and supportive of our decision.

10. There is Power in Making this Change with the Family.

I didn’t foresee this blessing. 

During Lent last year, it was my husband who asked if we could switch due to health reasons. And he surprised me by saying, “If we switch together, I’m more apt to succeed.”

With that honest and vulnerable request, I happily signed up to partake on the journey together.

But I quickly learned he planned to include the kids, too. 

Would the kids be able to look past being deprived of the food they were used to? Could they understand our motivations for making the change?

Surprisingly, including the kids turned out to be one of my favorite parts of this process.

We share our concerns and sorrows on the hard days and our successes on the good days. And as we do that together, it strengthens our bond. 

We aren’t perfect. But we have four other people under this roof who’ll love and support us when we struggle, and celebrate with us when we triumph. And the best part is, we aren’t doing it alone. 

BONUS: Resources and Support Groups Are SUPER Helpful.

We don’t have a wealth of personal acquaintances who are vegan. So we searched for support groups on social media. I signed up for PETA’s Vegan Mommy Mentor and have been in touch with my mentor for almost a year. We follow vegan YouTube channels, Instagram accounts, and Facebook groups to keep us educated and connected. 

How Do the Kids Feel After a Year of Eating Vegan?

Now for what really matters! Here’s what our kids had to say on our first veganniversary. 

Our 9-year-old:

• I wish I could still buy lunch at school.
• I like saving animals. 
• I feel like I’m faster and stronger.

Our 6-year-old:

• It’s hard because I can’t eat what my friends at school eat. And my friends always have dessert.
• I feel healthier. 
• I like keeping animals safe. 
• I like almond milk more than cow’s milk. 

Our 2-year-old: 

• I don’t like beans.
• I like lollipops now.

Switching to a vegan diet was one of the best decisions we made for our family. And after hearing our kids’ thoughts, I’m thankful to say I believe our kids feel the same way. If you want to know more about how we helped our kids switch to a plant-based diet, check out this post.

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I Want to Hear About Your Family!

If you are plant-based, what are two challenges your family faces with the diet? If your family isn’t vegan, what would your two greatest challenges be if you chose to become plant-based.

Let me know your thoughts in a comment below!

Stay mindful, even when your mind’s full.

Chelsea

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