Whether you want to go vegan or just reduce animal-derived consumption, Veganuary is a really good place to start. Do Veganuary Right With These 8 Tips!
The beginning of a new year is characterized by resolutions, goal setting, habit tracking, and lifestyle changes. And what better lifestyle change than exploring the realms of veganism? Whether you want to go fully vegan or just reduce your animal-derived consumption, Veganuary is a really good place to start. Their mission goes deeper than the food aspect and approaches veganism from a non-judgemental point of view (no vegan police yay!).
Throughout the years, they have created a mega-platform that attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year. And with good reason! They inspire and support people to try vegan, drive corporate change, and create a global mass movement championing compassionate food choices with the aim of ending animal farming, protecting the planet, and improving human health.
So, if becoming vegan or becoming as vegan as possible is on your mission this year, here are my 8 best realistic tips for doing Veganuary right, and hopefully help you establish a life-long habit.
Do Veganuary Right With These 8 Tips
Understand your why
Veganism is first and foremost for the animals; health and environmentalism are aspects that can come with veganism, but it’s important to know that it’s not always the case. At the beginning of your journey, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s why platforms like Veganuary are ideal, as when you sign up you’ll receive free educational resources in your inbox, such as an e-cookbook, nutritional tips, daily encouragement and support, shopping advice, and restaurant recommendations. They’re basically setting you up with everything that you need in order to succeed.
Know that it’s not a diet
One of the biggest myths of veganism is that it’s a diet. It’s important to understand veganism is an activism movement and a lifestyle change; the food aspect (plant-based diet) is just a small fraction of it. My recommendation for beginners is to focus on one aspect at a time; first food and supplements, then skincare/beauty/haircare products, clothing items, household items, cleaning products, etc. Basically, first, everything that goes on the inside of your body and then everything that happens outside your body.
Don’t strive for perfection
Words that I live by, YOU CANNOT BE 100% VEGAN IN A NON-VEGAN WORLD. Anyone that says otherwise is lying to you or/and to themselves. Unfortunately, not everyone understands this and take the form of “the vegan police”; which you’ll encounter on social media often and are quick to point out mistakes in a judgemental way. Know that those people do not represent veganism at all and that there are much kinder people who are willing to teach and guide you through it all.
Use Veganuary as a trial and error phase, a stepping stone to the bigger picture and block out all of the background noise; I guarantee that you’ll have a much more enjoyable time.
Note: One of the biggest debates right now is about medication. In a perfect world, all medication would be vegan, but that is not the case and we have to be realistic. Please know that absolutely no one can make you feel inferior or say that you’re “not vegan enough” for taking medication. If a medication is vital to you, take it!
Identify your favorite foods
My absolute biggest and most important tip is to veganize your favorite foods! Figuring out vegan versions of your favorite dishes is a great way to get you excited about eating plant-based, and will make the transition much more manageable. It’s certainly easier now than it was back then to adapt meals so that they’re animal-derived free; whether it’s pizza, pasta, soups, BBQs, desserts, and even cultural foods!
Check out my Veganized Puerto Rican series here.
Organize & Plan Ahead
The more organized you are the easier it’ll be to stick to Veganuary short-term, and hopefully long-term. Work out what you’re going to eat, shop in advance, and batch cook to make your week more effortless. If you’re invited to a party, ask for the menu ahead of time so you can prepare and bring vegan versions of the food that will be there. And when you want to go out, research restaurant menus beforehand so you’ll know what your options are. It is important to not feel like you’re restricting yourself or like you’re missing out on anything during this process.
Check and stock your pantry
Starting veganism, food-wise, doesn’t mean you have to start from zero. You might already have vegan-friendly options in your fridge and pantry; like nuts, beans, lentils, fruit, frozen/canned veggies, rice, and pasta. And if you’re missing something, take yourself out on a grocery shopping spree. Allow yourself to try products that are completely new to you like tofu or the mock-meat versions of your favorite meats; vegan ice cream is also bomb!
Learn to read labels
This one is really important as well. On the outside, some products may look vegan-friendly when they really aren’t. Through the years the vegan industry has grown so much, but so have the people who want to make bank from it. You’ll encounter everything from “plant-based” meats that have eggs in them, to frozen broccoli that somehow has milk powder in it, and products with big “DAIRY FREE” labels but still contain casein. A lot of wine and beer may fool you too, as they can be filtered using animal products; so when in doubt, ask Barnivore.
Reading labels can be tedious and overwhelming. But fortunately, there are some useful apps out there to help you check, such as Is It Vegan?
Take advantage of technology
As I mentioned above, the vegan industry and community have grown exponentially throughout the last couple of years. Mostly thanks to technology and social media, so why not take advantage of it? There are many apps out there to ease the transition. Check out HappyCow, and many more in the App Store and Google Play for vegan-friendly restaurants near you. There are also tons of vegan content creators that are putting in the work to publish free recipes and educational content for you in the form of blogs.
Pinterest is certainly the place to go to discover a brand-new world of tasty recipes. Youtube is also an incredible resource as you’ll often find step-by-step videos to make just about any recipe, restaurant recommendations, and travel guides. And most importantly, there are medical doctors and scientists who through the years have been doing the work to make the research that backs up veganism as a legitimate lifestyle accessible.
Note: The internet is a great educational tool, but it’s also a world full of misinformation. It’s important to be getting your information from credible sources and professionals in the field. Don’t take nutritional advice from a random influencer, take it from a registered dietitian with a specialization in plant-based nutrition. The same goes for medical, fitness, and psychological advice.
And that’s a wrap!
Let me know if you’re doing Veganuary in the upcoming year, and how you’re planning to approach it in the comments below. Make sure to check out my recipes for incredible food inspo, and if you make one tag me on social media so I can see your creation!
If you found this post helpful, and get something from it, tag me on Instagram @veggiejeva. As always, I love when you share feedback in the comments below, it helps me improve and grow; leave me a comment below.
If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and Pin the following picture, if you like.
All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva! Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!
