CHAPTER 3 
How to Start
OKAY, IT’S TIME TO BEGIN! IN OUR RESEARCH STUDIES, WE break the diet change into two easy steps, and I have never seen anyone unable to do this:
Step 1: Take a week to check out the possibilities. Our goal is to identify vegan foods that you really like (many of which are already familiar, as you’ll see) and to check out the great new ways to substitute meats and cheeses. A surprising array of delicious foods awaits you, and now is the time to pick out your favorites.
On a sheet of paper, make headings for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Your job for the next seven days is to fill in your paper with foods that are free of animal products that you would like to bring into your routine. For now, don’t eliminate anything from your diet. Just think about vegan foods that you already enjoy or would like to try. Jot them down, and try them this week. If you haven’t had oatmeal since you were a kid and have been meaning to try it again, now’s the time. Top it with cinnamon and raisins or sliced strawberries, or whatever will make it tasty. If you like it, keep it on your list. If not, cross it off and try a different breakfast item. How about trying almond milk with your morning cereal or coffee? If you eat sausage in the morning but have never tasted veggie sausage, how about picking some up at the store to see what you think? Write these ideas down. If you like them, keep them. If not, try a different brand or cross them off your list.
Consider adding a soup to your lunch routine: minestrone, butternut squash, lentil, tomato, vegetarian vegetable, or other flavor. For convenience, canned varieties are at every natural food store and many regular grocery stores. Check the labels, and skip any that are made with milk or other animal products. Or how about a salad of baby spinach, mixed greens, chopped tomatoes, olives, and shredded carrots, topped with balsamic vinaigrette? Premade salads are fine. Add a hummus sandwich, a veggie stir-fry, a veggie hot dog, or whatever calls to you.
Make your green vegetables extra delicious with a spritz of Bragg Liquid Aminos, seasoned rice vinegar, or lemon juice. 
Think about the foods you already like that happen to be vegan, and put them on your list.
For inspiration, have a look at the recipes in this book. And try new products at the grocery store and new restaurant options—Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Ethiopian, Indian, or whatever you like. The goal is to come up with vegan meal ideas that you’ll want to stick with. As you will see, there are lots of great choices.
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks
Step 2: After testing out foods for a week, you’re getting a sense of which ones you like. Now, for the next three weeks, make your meals all vegan all the time, using the foods that you have already picked out. During this time, do not have any animal products at all. It’s only three weeks; focusing on just choosing the foods that you like one meal at a time will make it feel easy. And let me share a few tips to make your twenty-one-day “test drive” extra easy:
1. Feel free to use “transition foods.” There are excellent substitutes for burgers, hot dogs, sausage, and ground beef for use in chili or spaghetti sauce, among others, and there are many substitutes for milk and other dairy products.
2. Be strict. Just as smokers find it easier to quit completely than to tease themselves with an occasional cigarette, people getting away from meat and dairy products find it easier to skip these products entirely. Even the occasional bit of fried chicken or cheese will lure your taste buds back to unhealthful foods. So keep your “test drive” 100 percent vegan.
3. Focus on the short term. Don’t worry about what you will do a year from now. Just focus on a three-week experiment.
Look for support from loved ones. Any change of routine is easier with a little moral support. Ask your friends and family to join you in a short-term diet experiment. Or if they choose not to, you can ask them to support you in what you are doing and not to tease you or tempt you with unhealthful foods. Eventually, they’ll see the value of what you are doing and may well decide to join you.
By the end of twenty-one days, you will notice two things: First, you are healthier. You’re losing unwanted pounds, your energy is better, and your digestion is improving. If you have diabetes, you may notice that your blood sugar is getting better day by day. The same is true for cholesterol and blood pressure. Second, you’ll find that your tastes are changing. You’re losing your desire for unhealthful foods and are really coming to love your new foods.
After your three-week “test drive,” you are free to do whatever you want. But chances are you’ll want to stick with it. Your health benefits will continue to grow, and your exploration of new foods will be more and more rewarding. Soon it will all be second nature. And you are now taking real health power into your hands.
Quick Substitutes
You really don’t need a literal replacement for meat. Pasta dishes, cheese-free pizza, curries, and stir-fries all go great without even thinking about meat. That goes for dairy products and eggs, too. You can just skip them. But if you want something to replace meat, dairy products, and eggs, here are some ideas:
Replacing Meat
Beans work great in chili, tacos, spaghetti sauces, and curries. Like meat, they are protein-rich, but they are free of animal fat and cholesterol.
Tempeh, made from fermented soybeans and sold in natural food stores and Asian markets, works as a substitute for breakfast meats (see the Breakfast Grillers recipe, here) or in stir-fries.
Veggie burgers or veggie dogs are available at most grocery stores. They are quick, convenient, and popular with kids. Portobello mushrooms also make great substitutes for burgers.
Vegan sausage is nearly indistinguishable from the porcine variety and is much better for you. Veggie bacon is a more liberal interpretation of the original, but try a few brands and see what you think.
Replacing Dairy Products
Nondairy products are now widely available. They come in a huge variety of flavors, so try a few to see which ones you like.
Milk has met its match with soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, oat milk, hemp milk, and many other varieties. Some are fortified with calcium and vitamin B12.
Nondairy yogurts are made from almonds, cashews, soybeans, and other ingredients.
Frozen desserts started with sorbet and have exploded into a huge range of ice cream substitutes, including several from major ice cream brands.
Vegan cheeses and sour cream are available at natural food stores. They are fatty and should be thought of as occasional treats.
Nutritional yeast lends a cheesy flavor to pizza, spaghetti sauce, vegetables, and casseroles.
Avocado chunks replace feta when you’re topping a salad.
Replacing Eggs
A single egg has as much cholesterol as an 8-ounce steak, along with plenty of fat and animal protein. Luckily, replacing eggs is easy.
Instead of scrambled eggs, try scrambled tofu (see the Easy Tofu Scramble recipe, here). Tofu has a texture almost identical to egg white, and scrambled tofu quickly becomes a favorite for a lot of people.
For binding loaves or burgers, try mashed potato, cooked oatmeal, fine bread crumbs, or tomato paste. For baking recipes that call for an egg or two, just leave them out, adding a little extra water for moisture. If a recipe calls for more than two eggs, use one of the following in place of each egg:
an egg-sized piece of mashed banana, applesauce, puréed soft tofu, or canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon flaxseeds with ¼ cup water, puréed in a blender
1 tablespoon soy flour mixed with 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
commercial egg replacers, available at natural food stores
Keep your eyes open for new possibilities. You’ll find endless new flavors at international restaurants, grocery stores, and natural food stores. You can also find great ideas at the website of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (pcrm.org) and the many websites now devoted to vegan foods.
In the next chapter, we’ll see how to tailor your menu to address specific health targets.