Lessons learned after more than 12 years of experimenting, expanding, and finally enjoying this way of eating.
If you’re thinking about eating more plant-based this January — or going fully vegan — this is for you.
Not the “perfect” version. Not the glossy influencer version.
The real beginner experience.
I’ve been eating vegan and plant-based for over 12 years now — which means I’ve tried it all: the mindset shifts, the food paths that work, the ones that don’t, the failures, the wins, and everything in between.
Plant-based eating can be deeply nourishing, satisfying, and joyful — but only if you approach it in a way that fits real life.
Here are the biggest mistakes I made when going plant-based — and what I wish I knew sooner so you don’t have to learn them the hard way.
1. Restriction vs. abundance mindset
When I first went vegan, I kept asking:
“What can’t I eat?”
I thought vegan meant lists of forbidden foods, endless exclusions, and constant chasing of substitutes. That mindset made plant-based eating feel heavy, restrictive, and honestly intimidating.
What changed everything was asking a different question:
“What can I eat?” And that list was always longer.
Beans. Lentils. Grains. Tubers.
Vegetables. Fruits. Nuts. Seeds. Herbs. Spices.
Most of the foods you already love — your staples, basics, everyday ingredients — are already vegan or plant-based.
This shift from restriction to abundance and addition is not just semantics.
It changes how you feel about food — mentally and emotionally — and helps you stick with it.
Plant-based eating is not automatically dieting, even though it can support weight loss and health benefits. It becomes sustainable only when it feels enjoyable, not punishing
2. Obsessing over protein
Protein is important — it helps keep you full and stabilizes your energy throughout the day.
But one mistake I made early on was obsessing over protein as a number.
I thought I needed 40–50 grams of protein at every meal. So I’d over-engineer dishes, repeat the same protein foods over and over, and try creative ingredient hacks that weren’t that appetizing.
If you’re not a professional athlete or actively building muscle, you don’t need perfection here.
Now I simply make sure every meal has one or two protein elements, such as:
Beans and lentils (kidney beans, chickpeas, peas, edamame)
Tofu or tempeh (because I genuinely love them)
Quinoa, lentil pasta, chickpea-flour wraps
Toasted nuts and seeds as toppings
Yes, I sometimes use protein powder — but not obsessively. Whole foods first.
Balanced meals beat protein fixation.
3. Not knowing how to make food taste good
This was a big one.
Because I was very health-motivated early on, I assumed cooking plant-based automatically meant healthy — and therefore satisfying.
But being healthy and being satisfying are not the same thing.
What most meals need — vegan or not — is taste and texture balance.
A satisfying meal usually has:
Something salty
Something fatty
Something acidic
A touch of sweetness or spice
And in terms of texture:
Creamy + crunchy is one of the most satisfying combinations out there.
For me, that looks like:
Olive oil, sesame or pumpkin seed oil for fats
Lemon juice or vinegar for acidity
Salt, soy sauce, olives, sauerkraut, kimchi, sun-dried tomatoes for saltiness
Dates, fruit purées, or a bit of sweetness where it fits
Once I started cooking with balance — not just “healthy” — plant-based food stopped feeling incomplete. It became satisfying.
4. Being intimidated by fiber & bloating
This one deserves its own section because it’s so common.
When I began eating more plant-based food consistently — especially legumes for protein — I experienced more gas and bloating.
At first, I thought something was wrong.
I thought: Why is a way of eating that’s supposed to be healthy causing discomfort?
Here’s the honest truth: it wasn’t that plant-based eating was inherently hard on my body — it was that my microbiome wasn’t used to this much fiber yet.
Most adults in Europe don’t eat enough fiber to begin with. On average, European adults get only about 18–24 g per day for men and 16–20 g per day for women, which is below the recommended 25–35 g per day for adults. EUFIC
When you go from a lower-fiber diet to one richer in legumes, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, your gut needs time to adapt. That gas and bloating isn’t a sign that something is “wrong” — it’s your microbiome learning to break down more fiber.
What helped me make the transition smoother
If I cook beans or lentils from dry, I soak them before cooking.
Soaking helps remove some of the complex sugars (oligosaccharides) that can ferment in the gut and cause gas, making them easier to digest when you’re starting out.When I use canned beans, I rinse them well and discard the liquid.
That liquid often contains residual starches and compounds that can contribute to gas.
Over time, as your gut adapts, these symptoms usually lessen — and you’ll end up with better overall digestion and satiety.
Fiber isn’t the enemy — you just don’t need to jump into very high amounts overnight.
Final thoughts
Going plant-based doesn’t have to feel restrictive, complicated, or uncomfortable.
Most of the challenges beginners face — mindset struggles, taste balance, protein worries, or digestive unfamiliarity — are normal parts of the learning curve.
When you:
shift your mindset to abundance,
build meals that are balanced and satisfying,
stop chasing numbers, and
give your body time to adjust,
plant-based eating becomes something you enjoy, not something you endure.
And that’s the version that actually lasts. You got this!
