Top Tips For Surviving Veganuary
It’s the 3rd week of Veganuary and hopefully, by this point, any of you taking part in the month-long challenge have come to realise that your new plantbased lifestyle isn’t as hard as you thought it would be. However, if you’re starting to miss your favourite feta salad or Sunday night ice cream fix - we feel your pain! So, to help you push through to the end of January, we’ve rounded up our top tips for surviving the challenge animal-product free…
Replicate Your Favourite Foods
Can’t resist a good burger or a full Mexican feast? Don’t miss out, just create a vegan version instead! Luckily, the growing popularity of veganism means it is now easier than ever to find meat and dairy-free alternatives to your favourite foods. Try out different vegan meat alternatives, cheeses, yogurts and chocolates and learn how to switch out ingredients to make a dish vegan-friendly. Whether that’s replacing eggs for flaxseeds in baking recipes, scrambling tofu instead of eggs or just adding nutritional yeast to your dinner for that much-loved cheesy taste.
Plan Ahead
As with many things in life, fail to prepare and prepare to fail! Make sure you don’t get stuck in that (slightly terrifying) position of having zero food options available. Finding yourself starving with no opportunity to eat is a terrible combination that is sure to leave you extremely hangry or face-planting into a plate of cheese. If you know you’re unlikely to have many vegan options during the day, bring along a packed lunch and always remember to keep some vegan-friendly snacks in your bag for when hunger strikes.
Try New Places To Eat
We love spending our weekends checking out new brunch places in our local area, and Veganuary is the perfect excuse for this. Research the best vegan-friendly cafes in your local town or city and go off in search of an oat milk flat white and a plantbased pancake stack – after all, that’s what Sunday’s are all about!
Get Your Friends Involved
Getting other people involved is the best motivation and will help you feel less alone when you’re finding things tough. Get your friends, partner or family on board so that you have a support network that understands the struggle. Or just plan a vegan dinner party and cook up a feast for all your friends. It’s a great excuse for a party, and will make your new lifestyle feel fun rather than a restricting.
Ensure You’re Getting Your Nutrients
Sure, it’s exciting when you find out Oreos, Party Rings, and Pringles are accidentally vegan, but make sure to prioritise your health, as living solely on packaged foods is probably going to start taking its toll! Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, try taking an Advanced Multi-Vitamin and add foods fortified with B-12 (a vitamin not found in a vegan diet) into your day. No one is going to feel very motivated to continue eating in a way that makes them feel tired, sluggish or cranky.
Educate Yourself
Educating yourself on the reasons behind making the change to a vegan lifestyle can help to give your challenge purpose. Watching documentaries such as Food Choices, Cowspiracy, Forks Over Knives and Before the Flood will arm you with powerful reasoning for why you’re doing this, making it more important than those tempting poached eggs.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
If you make a mistake – it’s okay! Don’t throw in the towel if you read an ingredients list wrong, or simply couldn’t resist. These things happen and you can’t expect to be perfect, especially if eating a plantbased diet is very new to you. Move on and keep going; you’ve got this!