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Are you trying Veganuary this year? Here are 9 Veganuary tips to help you stay on track with eating vegan if it’s something you are planning on doing.
Why Do Veganuary?
There are lots of reasons people decide to go Vegan. It could be for animal cruelty reasons, for the positive environmental impact or even because they want to eat an overall healthier diet.
January is always seen as a time of new beginnings which is why many people see it as a great time to go Vegan, even if it’s just for one month.
As Vegananuary has become so popular it also means there are lots of posts on social media that should help keep you motivated and inspire you with various recipes.
1. Veganuary Tips: Meal Plan A Week At A Time
Switching to a new way of eating is never easy, but one thing I find really helps with any type of new diet is meal planning.
As well as ensuring you have plenty of ingredients ready to go for fully vegan meals, meal planning can also help reduce the cost of your food bill and reduce food waste.
Spending some time meal planning once a week can help to reduce the mental load of constantly thinking ‘what shall we have for dinner tonight?’ and for us, I find it helps us to resist getting a takeaway on busy nights too.
Planning your meals around your workload can be helpful too – for example, there’s no harm in picking up a Vegan ready meal or frozen vegan burgers for a day you might be home later than usual. Slow cooker soups and stews are great for feeling-hungry families if they all arrive home at different times.
Cheat ingredients such as pre-cooked rice and pasta sauce can also make things easier on busy days.
2. Find Lots of Inspiration
If you’re not feeling inspired by the food you’re cooking you might find it tricky to stick with Veganuary.
When I’m struggling with what to eat for dinner, I usually turn to Instagram or TikTok to help inspire me to try new recipes. You could also take some Vegan cookbooks out of your local library if you don’t want to commit to purchasing any.
And of course, there are loads of amazing Vegan food bloggers out there too.
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3. Veganuary Tips: Buy All The Vegan Snacks
Before starting Veganuary, stock up on lots of Vegan snacks. As well as the obvious things like fruit and vegetables to make crudities etc, it’s also worth doing some research into things like crips and other savoury snacks which often aren’t Vegan due to the use of milk powder.
However, you might be surprised to find many meat-based flavours, such as Walkers Prawn Cocktail and McCoys Ultimate Steak are actually Vegan friendly.
It can also be a bit of a minefield when it comes to sweet treats as well. Many sweets, such as Haribo, contain meat products such as gelatine.
PETA has a great list of Accidental Vegan Snacks.
4. Make A List of Vegan Foods
Make a huge list of Vegan foods, including some of the ones mentioned above and keep a copy on your fridge and on your phone. This should help when you’re out and about and need a snack in a hurry but aren’t sure what’s Vegan and what isn’t.
And again, some foods might surprise you. For example, Beef and Tomato flavour Pot Noodle is Vegan. So is biscoff spread.
Conversely, there may also be food that you assumed were vegan and are not, such as Worcestershire sauce which contains fish.
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5. Transition Slowly
Not ready to go full Vegan yet? That’s okay.
While Veganuary is typically all about getting people to try Veganism, you could use it to begin transitioning into a Vegan lifestyle more slowly. Learning a whole new way of eating can take time and you might find taking it slowly means you’re more likely to keep it up in the future.
6. Join Groups and Communities For Support
Things are always easier when we have love and support from those around us. But, if there isn’t anyone in your immediate circle that’s into Veganism or that wants to give it a try, you might find yourself feeling like you’ve got no one to talk to about it.
Online communities can be a great way to chat with people that have the same interests and ideals as you and there are plenty of Vegan groups on Facebook.
7. Veganuary Tips: Be Prepared For Unhelpful Comments
There are lots of reasons people go Vegan, whether it’s just for Vegananuray or as a permanent lifestyle choice. It could be because you no longer want to eat animal products, including things like dairy and eggs. You might be concerned about the impact that meat production has on the environment. It could be to help increase fruit and veg in your diet and lower the amount of processed food you eat.
Whatever your reasoning, be prepared for unhelpful comments from those who just don’t get it. Because there will be comments. Most of them, lets be frank, will be idiotic.
‘Oooh, but how will you get enough iron’ and so on.
Ignore these the best you can or get yourself prepared with a scathing comeback.
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8. Remember: “You might have slip-ups and that’s okay”
Going Vegan isn’t easy and there is a chance you’ll accidentally eat something that isn’t Vegan without meaning too. While it’s easy to feel awful about it, remember, you’re still learning and everybody makes mistakes at one time or another.
