Going vegan is one of the best choices you can make for your life. You’ll feel healthier, you will be helping animals and the planet, and you’ll get to experience all sorts of new foods you might not have otherwise tried. There are some important things you should know before taking that big step though.

Your body is used to certain foods, even if those foods aren’t good for you. Once you change to a vegan diet you will start to notice some changes physically. You will sweat more, you might feel lethargic, have to make more trips to the bathroom and potentially experience some headaches. The feelings of detoxing can be pretty similar to the flu. Don’t let this stop you though! This is just your body’s way of getting rid of all the harmful animal protein that has been stored in your body. Your liver, kidneys, digestive system and lymph system all need to be in cleaning mode. With as horrible as you might feel at this stage, you will feel significantly better once the process is over.

Your emotions are linked to food. The smell of bacon might make you think of waking up at your grandmother’s house during summer vacation. Eating some ice cream can be the immediate goto after a stressful day at work. A movie night in always included some pizza. Just because you have decided to go vegan doesn’t mean you hate those things, just that you want to make better choices for yourself and the planet. No longer having those exact things can make you feel sad and even deprived. This is normal. During these times it is important to look for healthy, vegan friendly replacements. Keeping some yummy snacks around the house can help insure that you aren’t too tempted to fall back into your old eating habits.