A Guide for New Vegans and Vegetarians: How to Transition from Animal Consumer to Animal Advocate

Lindsey Nemshick

24 Mar 2025 — 17 min read

In the United States, and in many places around the world, animals are at the center of the dining table. So, when you stop eating animals as a vegan or vegetarian, your perception of once familiar foods can shift.

Our society normalizes the consumption and exploitation of nonhuman animals, and going against that grain can make new vegans and vegetarians relate differently to their communities. Your world can begin to feel different as a budding animal advocate—for better and worse!—and you have the unique power to help reshape that world. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to lose your community, your traditions, or your culture by becoming vegan or vegetarian. Your community just might begin to adapt, change, and even grow around you.

This article explores common struggles for new vegans and vegetarians in the quest to stop consuming animals and start protecting them. It will also delve into strategies to help you feel more supported, more committed, and less alone in the effort to evolve beyond the status quo—in order to have a kinder, more pro-animal existence.

About Connect For Animals

Connect For Animals is a nonprofit platform for people who want to help end factory farming. Animals raised and killed for food account for the vast majority of animals purposefully exploited by humans, and we believe that ending factory farming is one of the most important and urgent issues of our time.

We’re dedicated to helping people find their niche in the movement to end factory farming. You can get started by signing up here: https://connectforanimals.com/sign-up.

Challenges for New Vegans/Vegetarians and Strategies for Action

A pro-animal existence is rewarding, exciting, and achievable. It has the potential to strengthen your sense of who you are and what you represent. It gives you an option to live in greater alignment with your most closely held beliefs. Many people before you have made this change and are continuing to embrace veganism/vegetarianism as a way of life.

There are challenges facing any new or aspiring vegan/vegetarian, but anyone who has ever tried something new encounters obstacles. If you have decided to stop eating animals and/or animal products to live a life more aligned with your personal ethics, you should be proud of your humility, open-mindedness and willingness to make a change. When changing any habit, there is inevitably an adjustment period in the beginning, but every change can become easier over time with the right support and resources. Let’s discuss the challenges you will likely face and strategies to help you succeed.

Challenge #1: Lack of a Support System

When beginning their new mindset and lifestyle shift, many vegans and vegetarians may feel misunderstood. Perhaps you want to stop eating animals, but your spouse or partner has no interest in joining you. Maybe you live at home with your parents or siblings, and they do not have any desire to change their way of eating or living. You could have friends or people in your life who even mock you as you begin this change. Social pressure can be intense, but do not let that negativity make you shrink away from what you believe is right. There are ways of navigating relationships with family through this transition, and you can build new social networks of like-minded individuals to support you along the way.

When going through any life change, it is very important to surround yourself with supportive individuals. You may or may not personally know anyone who is vegan or vegetarian, so finding others who can guide you along the way can be helpful. If you are looking to meet new people, you can make a profile and join Connect For Animals to connect with a pro-animal community. You can join your local pro-animal community groups on Facebook, follow pro-animal Instagram accounts, and visit your local animal sanctuaries to interact with the residents and other pro-animal people. (See the resources at the end of the blog to review a list of social media account recommendations.)

When you become vegan/vegetarian, the people in your life may take time to get used to the change, but they may also surprise you. You can start to strengthen your relationships with friends and family by having initial conversations about why you have chosen to stop consuming nonhuman animals. These conversations may not land with some people initially, but many will grow a deeper understanding of you and learn to respect your decisions over time. Some may even eventually start to leave animals off their plates too.

At food-centered gatherings, you can plan to bring vegan dishes that non-vegans will enjoy. Perhaps your home-cooked dish will spark a curiosity that will lead others to explore new possibilities. If you make plans to go out with friends or family, always try to find places with at least one good option for you to eat. It can be helpful for your loved ones to see you eating something delicious, helping to debunk the myth that vegans/vegetarians only eat side salads for meals.

You have the power to rewrite the narrative about veganism, and you will likely impact your social circle over time. People around you will learn something from you and be inspired by your enthusiasm.

Challenge #2: Communication with Non-Vegans/Vegetarians

It can be difficult to engage in conversations with animal consumers around veganism/vegetarianism. You may find that people ask why you do not eat this food or that dish, and they often end up asking these questions when you are already eating together. Sometimes, people have a judgemental tone rather than a curious one. This can be uncomfortable, and it is best to have a plan for how to handle these tough moments and conversations. Let’s discuss several resources and strategies to prepare for hard conversations.

Strategy #2: Working on Effective Communication Strategies

To combat the social challenges you may face as a vegan/vegetarian, it’s important to learn about effective communication styles. In the beginning of your journey, it could be helpful to read The Joyful Vegan. Author Colleen Patrick-Goudreau promotes a positive outlook, and her perspective is particularly helpful for planning conversations with family and friends about your choices.

Dr. Melanie Joy is another great resource for developing effective communication strategies. Joy is a social psychologist who has a lot of insights into social dynamics and effective communication strategies for vegans/vegetarians. Joy is the founder of Beyond Carnism, which focuses on helping people understand the psychology of eating animals, or carnism. Joy’s Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has several courses you can take to learn more about how to communicate as someone who no longer eats animals. You can watch Joy discuss more about these topics here.

Joy advocates for relational literacy through empathetic, respectful communication, and she highlights evidence-based strategies for better relationships. Joy maintains that the formula for healthy relationships is practicing integrity and honoring a person’s dignity, which leads to a sense of security and connection. Being gentle with others is a good habit in general, but it is also an effective one, according to Joy. She suggests reductionism is a good approach for those who are veg-curious, and she emphasizes encouraging people who are making small changes rather than tearing them down.

For a good example of a vegan who maintains composure and calm while debating the ethics of eating animals, follow Ed Winters, known as Earthling Ed, on YouTube and Instagram. Winters is a vegan educator and a master at keeping cool in heated conversations. Dive into The Disclosure Podcast to hear more of Winters’ perspectives. You can gain even more insight into Winters’ communication approach by reading How to Argue With a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time).

Communicating with loved ones and strangers about animal rights will undoubtedly take consistency, empathy, and patience. Be confident in your personal choices while calmly respecting others, and your grounded approach will gain you more respect in the long run.

Challenge #3: Misinformation and Education

If you grew up on the standard American diet, nonhuman animal meat, milk, and eggs were likely on the menu for most meals. Some even consider eating animals “healthy,” though there are now studies disproving the health benefits of eating animals. Unfortunately, many clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and household products use and harm nonhuman animals as well. As a vegan, it can be challenging to discern what foods you can and cannot eat, what products you can and should not buy, and where to find reliable information easily. Below are several tips for practicing pro-animal consumption and doing your best as a consumer in an imperfect world.

Strategy #3: Get Informed and Educate Yourself

Before you go on your next trip to the store, consider researching vegan alternatives to your current favorite foods, fashion, and other products. Let’s review tips to approach your consumption in a more informed way that aligns more closely with your ethics.

Food and Ingredient Labels

Go food shopping with a meal plan in mind and bring a list so that you can feel more empowered when you are going down the aisles. You can browse your local bookstore for vegan cookbooks, or you can use vegan recipe blogs, Instagram and TikTok accounts for inspiration. Some great vegan blogs are This Savory Vegan, Rainbow Plant Life, and Nora Cooks. This Savory Vegan creates weekly 5-night meal plans on her blog with grocery lists that she releases every Saturday.

For your first few grocery trips as an aspiring vegan/vegetarian, it can be helpful to set aside some extra time, as you may need to ask where certain items are and familiarize yourself with the plant-based sections in your store. It may be helpful to plan to shop when the store is not typically as busy to give yourself a bit more space to navigate as you look for new things.

Keep in mind that these trips to the store will become much easier over time as you develop new favorite plant-based staples and become skilled at reading labels. One way to speed up this process is to familiarize yourself with scanning ingredient labels and vegan trademark symbols. For a more detailed review of ingredient labels and what to look out for, check out this guide. If you are shopping online, you can copy and paste ingredients into the Free Vegan Ingredient Checker to see if something is vegan. There are also several “accidentally” vegan products and snacks you can learn about here.

If you commonly shop at stores like Trader Joes, Aldi, or Whole Foods, you can find lists online of their store-brand products that are vegan. No matter where you shop, you will start to find vegan options once you start looking for them. You can also request products if your local store does not currently carry a specific item. Sweet Simple Vegan is a helpful YouTube account that highlights easy vegan Trader Joe’s meals, and you can watch their videos here.

Fashion

Beyond the grocery store, you may be starting to wonder what materials in your clothing and shoes are vegan and non-vegan. A helpful resource for learning about materials to avoid is PETA’s guide to shopping. It may be easier to check materials of clothing items online as opposed to guessing about a product’s origin in the store. Over time, you will begin to have a better sense of what animal-derived materials feel and look like, but in the beginning, it is good practice to verify them online.

You do not necessarily need to throw away or donate your whole wardrobe overnight, as this can be an unsustainable and expensive choice. However, you can donate your animal-containing clothing and shoes over time. You cannot undo your past purchases, but you do have an exciting opportunity to support vegan brands and products moving forward. You can read through PETA’s list of approved companies and search for specific companies you might want to support. Thrifting is another good option when making clothing purchases, as this is also environmentally friendly.

Cosmetic and Household Products

You can take a similar approach with cosmetic and household products. Look for cruelty-free products with PETA-approval seals on their labels, or use their search engine to look up any product or company to discover if they test on animals. Stores such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty usually indicate if a product is cruelty-free or vegan in its description, but you can always verify it with the PETA search tool. It is important to note that not every cruelty-free product is vegan.

You can start by looking up the cosmetics and household products you currently use and researching if they are vegan or not. You do not need to throw them away if you discover they are not vegan, but you may plan to try a vegan alternative in the future. In our consumerist society, it can seem difficult to evaluate all of your purchases before you make them, but it is a good practice in general to try to understand the origin story of your products. With so many resources readily available on the internet, you can narrow down your selections to make more ethical purchases on a regular basis. It may require extra research on the front end, but by forming this habit, you are helping both the planet and animals.

By investing your time and energy, you are also investing in products that are kinder to the world. Through this process, you will develop expertise that can be shared with others. Information is powerful, and your informed choices as a consumer have a larger ripple effect than you can imagine. Putting your money toward your ethical goals increases the broader demand for more ethical products.

Challenge #4: Facing the Size of the Problem

When you start thinking about the true impact of factory farming, it can feel immensely heavy. In the United States alone, nearly 10 billion animals are killed for consumption each year, and 99% of those animals are raised on factory farms. Factory farming is a huge problem with devastating impacts for nonhuman animals, the environment, and human health. While factory farming is one of the biggest issues of our time, it cannot be stopped or solved by one individual alone. But one individual can still make a big difference. Here are some strategies for facing the size of the problem and thinking about ways you can make an impact.

Strategy #4: Discovering How You Can Make a Difference

Though factory farming is an immense issue, individuals like you are needed to help bring it to an end. Your contributions matter, even when they might seem small. Every vegan saves approximately 200 animals per year. You serve as an example to others around you who are unfamiliar with alternatives to their current lifestyles and diets. You prove that there is another way to live and eat that reduces harm to nonhuman animals.

Your example and choices alone make a huge difference and if you want to have an even bigger impact, there are other ways you can help. You can start by taking action online for animals and signing petitions to your local and federal government. If you have the financial means, you can donate to organizations that focus their mission on ending factory farming and reducing animal suffering. Below, you can find a list of organizations to research and consider supporting with donations.

You can also make donations to animal sanctuaries that need resources and vet care throughout the year. If you do not have the financial means to donate, you can volunteer and get active for pro-animal organizations or sanctuaries. You can research volunteer opportunities that best suit your skills and can have the greatest impact. You may even consider a career in animal advocacy.

Remember that you are not alone. There are others like you living and working every day to protect sentient beings. Every positive shift in history started with a few individuals who persistently made an effort to help change the world for the better. Stay hopeful that a kinder future exists, and remember that you can make a difference.

Challenge #5: Mental Health Struggles

If you have embraced veganism/vegetarianism to respect and protect other sentient beings, this can sometimes come at a cost to your mental health and inner peace. Let’s discuss how to protect your mental health as you navigate a pro-animal lifestyle.

Strategy #5: Taking Care of Yourself

Even if you are currently struggling to find a community that shares your desire to help end nonhuman animal suffering, remember that you are not alone. There are others who share your perspective and who have made the same commitment to help protect nonhuman animals. Also, remember that there was likely a time when you were not vegan/vegetarian. You did not always have the same mindset that you do now, showing that people can evolve with new information and time.

If you find community by engaging in pro-animal content on social media, be sure to listen to yourself when you need to take breaks. Pro-animal or vegan social media accounts can be an amazing way to combat loneliness, but constant engagement with graphic or violent content can be harmful to your mental health. If you have already educated yourself by witnessing footage of the horrors of factory farming, you do not need to continually engage with upsetting content. You will be more helpful to nonhuman animals if you take care of yourself and your mental health. If you feel you need to use videos and graphic images to remain convicted, it is certainly an option, but it is also healthy to take a step back when needed.

Therapy can be helpful to anyone navigating any lifestyle change. Meditation and breathwork are also helpful tools to stay grounded and feel more at peace. In general, it is very important to practice self care habits and make time for things that bring you peace and joy. You are always more helpful to others around you when you are nourishing yourself first. If you are feeling burned out, do not be afraid to ask for help. You can also check out more resources to combat burnout in animal advocacy here.

Challenge #6: Staying Committed

One of the biggest challenges facing new vegans and vegetarians is staying committed to eliminating animals/animal products from their plates long-term. A Faunalytics study found that 84% of vegans/vegetarians at some point abandon their diet. The most common reasons for this were dissatisfaction with vegan/vegetarian food (32%), health (26%), social issues (13%), inconvenience (13%), cost (6%), lack of motivation (6%), and other reasons (25%). Let’s make a plan to navigate a world that makes ethical behavior inconvenient and normalizes human animal lovers eating other animals.

Strategy #6: Make a Plan, Change Your Perspective, & Find Community

Knowing that the most common reason for abandoning a vegan/vegetarian diet is dissatisfaction with food options, it makes sense to experiment with different foods by trying new recipes and visiting vegan/vegetarian restaurants. As previously mentioned, a good place to start is to try to veganize your current favorite meals. For example, if you used to love spaghetti and meatballs, you can look for great vegan recipes to test out alternatives. Though you may aspire to make some meals from scratch, it may be easier while you are getting used to new recipes to try store-bought or ready-made products.

Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok feature a variety of vegan/vegetarian food influencers who creatively approach making delicious meals. If you had an animal-centric diet before, it can be a bit shocking to your taste buds to eliminate animals from your plate overnight. Vegan food influencer Rene Barker has a fantastic food blog and Instagram account featuring a myriad of savory vegan meals that are sure to please vegans and non-vegans alike.

Unfortunately, some places in the United States have few vegan/vegetarian options in public places (i.e. restaurants, theaters, stadiums, and airports). While you can certainly advocate for vegan/vegetarian options at your local establishments, it is important to plan ahead to maintain your veganism/vegetarianism on the go.

Sometimes, you may need to eat before you go out if you know there will not be options for you. You can bring your own snacks or a vegan/vegetarian dish if you are going to an event hosted by family or friends. You can also discuss the menu in advance to make sure you plan appropriately.

You should review menus at restaurants and other establishments before you commit to plans to make sure there will be something you can eat on the menu. HappyCow is an incredible resource for researching restaurants that have vegan/vegetarian options. It is helpful to use this both locally and when traveling. If you do visit a restaurant with good vegan/vegetarian options, be sure to leave a positive review expressing your satisfaction. You can inform your server or even leave a note behind expressing your interest in their vegan/vegetarian offerings. Positive feedback can go a long way!

It is important not to view your commitment to veganism/vegetarianism as deprivation. Instead, focus on all the different foods you have never tried before that you can now experience. Once you settle into the transition, you will find new favorite foods and flavors that you are excited to eat. This perspective of optimism and excitement is essential if you are striving to maintain a pro-animal lifestyle long-term.

A community of supportive people can be helpful to ensure vegans/vegetarians stay aligned with their values. Remember to sign up for Connect For Animals, join your local vegan/vegetarian Facebook communities, and follow pro-animal social media accounts to start building your community. You can also listen to podcasts on your commute to work, while you exercise, or while you are doing household chores. Continue to stay committed and informed via all media forms, including by watching powerful documentaries that you can recommend to family and friends.

You can also make a plan to attend your local vegan restaurant weeks or vegan festivals. Visit your local animal sanctuaries or center your future travel plans around any vegan/vegetarian restaurants and events you are interested in attending. If you are going to a new city, it may be fun to search local vegan food tours to get a good understanding of the vegan food scene and also potentially make new friends in the process. If you are looking to book a vacation to a vegan-friendly destination, here is Happy Cow’s updated 2025 list of the top 25 vegan cities in the world. Travel can offer a window into the global expansion of the vegan movement, as many places you might not expect to be vegan-friendly have become more plant-forward. If you ever feel alone, remember that you have pro-animal allies all over the world, and veganism is growing.

Conclusion

Congratulations on beginning your pro-animal journey! This is a very exciting time in your life, and you are definitely going to make a difference for animals everywhere. Hopefully, after reading this article, you know what challenges you can expect to face. More importantly, you now have tools to help you successfully strategize and overcome obstacles.

At a minimum, by becoming vegan, you are likely to save 200 animals this year. Beyond that huge accomplishment, you are also likely to influence others around you to become more veg-curious and more informed about the origins of their food—and other products they use daily.

Remember that you are an inspiring leader in your community because you are making the brave step to live in greater alignment with your beliefs. You are proof that people are capable of growth, and the world needs more people like you. You should be very proud of yourself for embarking on this journey!

Starting small new habits is the best way to move toward a bigger, brighter future. Be gentle with yourself. If you falter, just remember to get back up and try again. Nothing and no one can be perfect in an imperfect world, but trying your best will go a long way.