Possibly you’ve heard of the month-long challenge of ‘Veganuary’ where people try reducing their meat and dairy intake and adopt a Vegan diet. Possibly, you’ve even tried it yourself before, or maybe this year you’ve set yourself goals to eat more plant-based foods. Yet this doesn’t have to be just a month-long phenomenon: If you want to stick to your New Year’s resolution or are perhaps wondering if you should give plant-based a try then here are some tips you can use along the way.
Firstly, a good way to ease yourself into this dietary transition is to find a few favourites. Often, it’s difficult to enjoy some vegan foods if your palette has not adapted, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t any options out there for you. Go to your local grocery store and check out the Veganuary ranges and try swapping out some of your favourite meals for their vegan alternative. It’s actually a lot simpler than you’d think! However, some of your favourites might actually already be vegan. A lot of Indian cuisine doesn’t include meat and dairy or only requires swapping out a few ingredients, which can be helpful for those getting adapted to a vegan diet. Italian food is also quite similar, with most pasta and pizza dough dishes being plant-based, it’s up to you to add vegan toppings to help cater to your diet. Just because your diet changes, it doesn’t mean your entire lifestyle has to.
Another useful tip is to experiment with your food choices. A plant-based diet shouldn’t be focused on restriction, but actually on experimentation, and discovering new possibilities with the ingredients available. Perhaps try cooking with a new vegan recipe that you haven’t tried before, and see if you like it. At first, the ingredients may seem strange or even daunting if you haven’t used them, such as tofu or jackfruit, but cookbooks can be incredibly useful in suggesting ways to utilise these unique ingredients to achieve new palatable flavours. Try leaving your comfort zone and experimenting with tastes you haven’t tried before to see what you like! But remember, even if you don’t enjoy some things, there are still plenty of other options around, just learn what you like through trial and error.
Choosing to go plant-based can itself be a daunting step, but you don’t have to do this on your own. If you want to keep this diet up you could ask a friend or family member to join you and reduce their meat and dairy intake too. This way, you can create routines and shared meal plans which increase your likelihood of continuing your plant-based lifestyle. If you have a reason for trying Veganuary or this plant-based diet, having people around you remind you why you picked it may also significantly help you stay focused and committed. Whether it is for health reasons, environmental concerns or even just for fun, trying a plant-based diet can have incredibly positive effects, which are definitely worth keeping up. So if you want, try incorporating your diet into your lifestyle by cooking plant-based meals for your family and friends.
The best way to stick to any new habit is to try and find the fun in it. Remember that going vegan is a choice that you make every single day, but this doesn’t have to be daunting. The number of cafes and restaurants that are turning entirely plant-based is increasing every day. Just in the last 5 years alone, menus have expanded exponentially to incorporate many new appetizing plant-based options. This means that wherever you go, you’re able to experiment with different tastes and prove that being vegan doesn’t mean being restricted. Try to find what you like specifically with veganism, and watch it be replicated in lots of vegan stores. If you care about the environmental impact of your diet, find enjoyment in searching for vegan-friendly products for haircare, beauty, or clothing to help support your lifestyle choices. Or if you’re more concerned about animal welfare, there are multiple vegan-friendly cafes which donate greatly to support these issues, or many influencers online who advocate for these topics. Adopting a plant-based or vegan diet arguably opens you up to more opportunities to be directly involved in supporting issues that are important to you.
If you’re looking to continue a plant-based diet after Veganuary, or even curious to try veganism if you didn’t get the chance, then try out some of these tips and get involved in what could be a new insightful choice for you.