What I Wish I Knew Before Going Vegan

Regardless of your reason for going vegan, it's a long journey with many learning points along the way. These are several things I wish I knew before I went vegan!
Did I miss anything? Please share in the comments below!
Tags: vegan, vegan lifestyle, plant based, plant based lifestyle, sustainable living, sustainable lifestyle, vegan education, vegan food videos, vegan recipes, plant based recipes, things i wish i knew before going vegan, what to know before you go vegan, how to go vegan

[@VegaNurse.]

You're right to bring up the mental health aspects of it. For anyone here reading this thinking of going vegan, you're going to feel muuuuuuch better freeing yourself of the cognitive dissonance of thinking of yourself of someone who is "against animal abuse" yet consumes their abuse. At the same time you're going to feel worse that despite you coming to that better place 99% of the world, your society, culture, friends, family, workmates haven't done that. It's inherently isolating, and this is often why people quit, it's the social pressure, not the lifestyle changes themselves. As you say, you don't need to watch all the animal suffering itself, all you need to do is think "If I feel that veganism is tough I'm still thinking of myself, but the moment you think about the animals veganism is as easy as it gets".

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

All good points!!

[@RatsPicklesandMusic]

Yeah so I'm also sensitive and I MADE myself watch those documentaries when I was just going vegan. I wanted to solidify my choice to become vegan. So I could NEVER forget why I made this choice. But nowadays I don't force it anymore. There's no need to.

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Right, I hear you! I forced myself to watch some of the stuff too. It traumatized me enough 😂

[@mrmiller2503]

Thanks for this video 😊

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Of course! Thanks for being here! 😊

[@rikidavis6563]

Credo blanco oatmilk queso is a really good mexican cheese swap!

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Oohhhh I haven't heard of that! Adding to my cart asap 😍 thank you!!

[@jessiejayjess]

Love this! Maybe you could do a video on how you transitioned into veganism? Or the differences between transitioning and doing it cold turkey? Just a thought :)

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Oh for sure! That's a great idea!

[@oxanadc]

some of this are very good, like people think being vegan = expensive but that is so untrue, that is why I love sharing my own recipes in my KZbin channel as a uni student who is literally broke 🤣 I dont think money should be the main excuse ppl have to use overall though I still advocate for ppl to just eat more plant based there are studies that show actually that being fully vegan is not for everyone and that some bodies cannot actually thrive well in a vegan diet, that is why it is so important to do what is healthier for your own body

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

For sure! Many people have sensitivities or allergies to legumes or soy and I'm sure that would make it super difficult to thrive on a plant based diet.

[@oxanadc]

@@CorpseFreeKitchen yeah not only that but some people might not be so good at absorbing certain vitamins and minerals and can quickly become deficient

[@RatsPicklesandMusic]

I have a pet pig just like the lady you described. Me and my hubby used to eat bacon right in front of her. 🤢 I see that as quite shameful now... We both went vegan a year ago. ❤️‍🔥

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Aww yay that's lovely! The vegan part that is 😆

[@breeze3364]

My vegan queso recipe (not healthy at all 😂): brown a brick of impossible meat, add two packets of taco seasoning with enough water to mix it in. Add in two bags of violife cheddar, maybe a cup of mild salsa and vegan sour cream (I don't measure anything), use plant milk to get it to the right consistency. I don't make it often because it's pretty expensive lol, but it makes a huge batch!

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Ooohh wow that sounds delicious! I'll have to try it sometime! Thank you for sharing!

[@breeze3364]

@@CorpseFreeKitchen you're welcome 😁

[@l.k.roline4296]

Omg! I'm so surprised to see this video has such few views. I have 3 main problem with going vegan (already been a vegetarian for a year and half, mostly for ecological reason). 1st problem: The isolation, I'm already boycotting most well known fast food. This is so isolating. The only thing left are the local restaurant. I live in a small city in France, there is like one restaurant that offer vegan option and it's way out of my budget. I find saying no to my friend, when they decide to celebrate our exams or anything is hard enough, but at least I can convince them to go somewhere that does not finance genocide. How do you deal with not being able to go out (btw I'm 20, wich may be why I think that). 2nd problem: I have suffered from the longest time with an eating disorder and I'm scared cutting out so much food will trigger me. (And also the cheese, like I know you said it was kinda ridiculous, but I swear cheese is like the only thing helping me not eating out. And I think yogurt is my main protein source). 3rd problem: being vegan is smth that goes with a lot of important values. If you're just not eating animal product you're plant based. There are some thing that I still don't feel close to. Like I'm a big ecolo and feel better eating honey that my neighour made with his cute (and seemingly) happy bee, than an avocado, which can't be locally sourced where I'm from and has a huge ecological impact. So sorry to be infodumping under your video. Anyway, it was really interesting! Thank you a lot for this video

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

No need to be sorry! I really appreciate your feedback and I'm always open to hearing other perspectives! Especially from another country! Those are all very valid points. Being vegan absolutely can be isolating. To your question about going out - we just generally find something to do besides eating, like grabbing a cocktail, coffee, or going for a walk. Or if someone REALLY wants to eat and they want something I don't have many options, I just eat before I go and still go. On your 2nd problem regarding your ED, that's completely valid. My comment about cheese was mainly directed towards the people that use their taste buds as an excuse to not go vegan. Your reasoning is completely different, and I think it's incredibly brave that you're doing the best you can to avoid triggers! Don't let strangers on the internet make you feel any other way about it 💕 To your thing about your neighbor's honey - for sure! Like I said, veganism is a HUGE umbrella term and there are varying levels of intensity. When I first went vegan, I still had local honey for a while. I know of veg people that eat eggs from their pet chickens. I think the broader message from the "veganism" aspect of it is more about not financially supporting the corporations that mistreat the animals! Thanks so much for commenting! I loved hearing your perspective! 💕

[@jaylen76]

Think of veganism being rights based. Extend human rights to animal. No animal should be used or killed because no human should be used or killed.

[@lokifan-44]

One point that was “surprising” to me is that you don’t have to be an animal lover to go vegan. I don’t love animals. Other than my own pet I can’t stand other animals. I don’t even like petting dogs etc like I see other people do. And I’ve still gone vegan primarily because it’s extremely obvious that we simply do not have the right to use animals like we do, especially if we have alternatives. There is just no excuse for it and the parallels with how we mistreat animals today and how we mistreated groups of people in the past are just too strong.

[@lokifan-44]

Another point is that if you’re into tech/science/sci-fi at all, and if you believe AI will become much more powerful than it is today, I’d much rather have that AI trained in a vegan world where “lower” species are not treated as resources because if AI starts running our world and the AI isn’t vegan, it will likely start treating humans as resources like we do animals.

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

Woww that's such an interesting perspective!! That's so true about the AI thing. I could totally see that being the case, so I'm right there with you.

[@mattdonalds9996]

Sorry to be this honest so quickly, but if shaming doesn't work, can you please explain why the majority of South America and the Philippines are Catholic and the majority of the Middle East and Africa are Muslim?

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

I appreciate your question, but I don't know enough about those things to give an answer! I'm specifically talking about veganism 😊

[@mattdonalds9996]

@@CorpseFreeKitchen that's fine I appreciate your honesty. I was making the point that as much as we may regret the fact that shame and force do seem to be an effective tool for change the same as any other sort of activism. But I'm that sort of vegan with a tad of Gary Yourofsky in me. Also, there are more seitan recipes besides just chicken. I've been making seitan beef, steak, pork, sausage, etc. for years now. Mastering seitan and homemade vegan dairy has helped me to convert my old favorite recipes and given me the tools to convert any that I find curious to try of non-vegan recipes as well. Just tonight I had jalapeno popper and seitan chickun casserole. If you plan on making seitan often, may I suggest you buy a mixer with a dough hook. It'll be well worth it. On an additional note, I very much enjoy your channel and hope you grow into the success you deserve to be. 🌱

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

There is definitely room for shame and it is useful in some contexts! I've just rarely seen it work with people in the context of veganism, because there is often a bit of defensiveness that comes with the conversation on the omni's part. That's all I was referring to 😊 I also recognize that it could be environmental factors! I live in the southern US and people are often very defensive of their dietary habits here lol. Also I do hope to experiment more with seitan! I only recently discovered it and have made it twice. I made swedish meatballs and chick'n nuggets. Next I'm hoping to make some "lunch meat" haha. Also thank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate you being here and commenting! 🥰

[@mattdonalds9996]

@@CorpseFreeKitchen I live in Alabama, understand completely. It's just my personality to (if someone else wants to argue veganism with me) win, and then make them realize they are not a good person for defending their own actions. Like I said my personality is argumentative and I enjoy confrontations. I know very few people do. My mother always said I should be a lawyer because I would argue with a fence post. Take care and see you in your next video.

[@hellomynamesninooo6017]

Because people almost always have to be raised with that form of shame practically from birth. It has to be an integral part of their social communities. Shaming someone doesn't work, but every single person putting shame on you for an action from the moment you're born does. Clearly, she's talking about the former! Shame can change some people sometimes, but it simply isn't an effective motivator for change. The efficacy of your activism will suffer if you use shame as your crutch.

[@jaylen76]

I wish I knew we needed sodium

[@CorpseFreeKitchen]

I think this is definitely dependent on diet! We all need sodium of course, even non-vegans. Some plant-based people need to supplement additional sodium, for sure.