Vegan food – Here are 5 steps for an easy transition
Turning vegan isn’t mind-boggling as many expect it to be. These tips can ease the transition while you adapt to the new diet.
The workday has just started, but you are already overthinking about what vegan food to order for lunch. You cannot resort to the usual comfort food, like last night’s Spaghetti Carbonara, and it needs to be pocket-friendly and delicious too. Sounds familiar? As a newbie, turning vegan could be an overwhelming change for most of us- clueless about replacing our food habits with vegan alternatives. Sure, we have googled about anything and everything “vegan”, to educate ourselves, watched countless documentaries on Netflix, and we are more than ready to be a vegan. Not so easy.
For most of us, food is more than fuel to the body. Food is a quintessential part of our culture and society: be it a family meal during festivals, socializing with your friends, or your grandma cooking her signature dishes at home. We are used to a certain food habit that has strong ties with our memories and comforts. Now, to tackle those typical habits, you need to be on top of your game!
1. Understand your food habits
This could be that opportunity to knowing yourself better, so ask important questions. Apart from your main meals in a day, how many times do you binge in between? Do you follow a healthy diet or eat fast-food? Do you stress-eat? What are your comfort foods? Our brains are accustomed to us indulging on certain kinds of food. Overcoming those temptations and creating new food habits should be our end goal.
2. Create a vegan meal plan
For most of us, Millenials and Gen-Zs, who aren’t health-conscious, following a meal plan itself would be a new habit. But as a part of a vegan community, we can vouch for the fact that this is the most effective way to follow the vegan diet until it becomes a part of you. You already know your food habits, so reward yourselves with the vegan alternatives! Having a solid meal plan, with no loopholes, where you don’t have hunger pangs during the day while figuring out the vegan meal, is the most important step in this journey. Try different plant-based ingredients and preparations to make things exciting. You’d be surprised to know how creative vegan food could get!
3. Keep food journal on your vegan food journey
Have a pocket journal with you all the times and make a note of the food you eat in a day. Too much effort, right? Try it for 2 weeks and prove this thought wrong! Writing brief notes of your vegan diet, and revisiting them at the end of the day, not only sheds light on your progress but also makes it easier for you to stick to the diet. Undoubtedly, this ensures you have the discipline to follow a vegan diet, as you must already know, changing your diet completely to vegan requires serious dedication and discipline.
4. Join vegan communities
Even if you are not a social person, join vegan communities and discussion where you can find people with similar interests and value systems as yours. Believe it or not, engaging in conversations about this journey motivates you to grow further. It’s an endearing experience to find inspirational stories that make you more attached to your decision. In short, the more you talk about it positively, the easier the transition
5. Don’t be too hard on yourself
These changes take time, especially if it’s about deep-rooted habits that you find comfort in. You might read stories of influencers and celebrities who have turned vegan in no time. But honestly, our needs are different, so it’s okay to take it slow and overcome one challenge at a time. At the end of the day, you know how important this decision is to you. So enjoy the progress and be proud of becoming a vegan!
