Hi Reader,

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Like many vegans, you may find yourself in the not so unique position of sharing a living space with others who may not necessarily be following your path.

Trying to navigate this evolving relationship can sometimes be a bit…challenging.
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I’m going to give you some practical advice about how you can move forward and have a harmonious existence with your non-vegan household.
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• Make your position clear. Explain why you are going vegan and why it’s important to you and your values. Taking the time to have a conversation about your “why” reinforces and validates the importance of your decision to yourself and others. If you don’t make your position clear, how are others supposed to respect your stance?
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• Encourage dialogue. You want to be able to have healthy open communication about things important to you. Your decision to live this new lifestyle isn’t any different. Just because someone is close to you doesn’t mean they share the same values you’ve now taken in your lifestyle change.

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There will be questions, pushback, concern, and all of the above because this lifestyle change may be completely foreign to your nearest and dearest. They're used to seeing you in a particular way and now that’s been altered so it may take time for them to adjust and get used to.

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Educate yourself on veganism and share your knowledge. Discuss the benefits you are trying to achieve from this change, and even if your family/friends don’t make those changes for themselves, ask them to respect your choices.

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• Introduce easy options. Cooking together is a great way to introduce new foods into the household. People tend to be more receptive to trying something new when they have a hand in the preparation. Even if it is a familiar item and you just do a different preparation, it’s a chance to expand your repertoire with more options.

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Provide vegan options all the time and allow the family/household to explore at their leisure. I bet before you know it they’ll be asking you all the time to make a particular dish they’ve come to enjoy.
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• You may be cooking 4 different meals a night. Let’s keep it real, everybody will not be on board, and everyone in your home may be following a different diet. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not uncommon to have a vegan, a vegetarian, a gluten free omnivore, someone on keto, etc, sharing a space. Just as much as you want others to respect your choices and your values, you need to respect theirs.

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But remember this, not everyone may be able to eat keto or pescitarian, but pretty much anyone can eat something vegan. Offer to make something extra to share that everyone can enjoy. Over time you may be able to incorporate more and more recipes into the daily rotation

• Don’t preach, please don’t be THAT Vegan! Ok, I’m glad you are on board, you are proud, you are informed and not backing down… but eh…let’s stay calm, and take a breath…

Don’t forget, it wasn’t that long ago that you thought and felt exactly the same way as your housemates do. You made a decision to make changes in your life, you can’t make decisions for other people.

It has to be on their time and their terms. Now there is nothing wrong with voicing your appreciation for your lifestyle or touting the positive changes you may be experiencing, but there’s a fine line between being enthusiastic and strong-arming. Going into the fridge and tossing all the cow’s milk someone enjoys in place of almond milk without their consent… may not be the best move.

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• Feed them something absolutely delicious! What will that do? It may not change anyone’s mind right away about the adverse effects factory farming has on the environment, but what it will do is to let them know that there are delicious and viable options out there that they can fully enjoy and they don't need meat to enjoy the foods they recognize and love.

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Question for you:

I’m interested to know, have you implemented any of these strategies and what were the results? Are there any other tips you would like to share or your experience living with non-vegans? I would love to hear.

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I hope these tips and recommendations have been helpful to you.

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Until next time,
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Thanks again,

Hugs and chocolate kisses! Kadae

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