How To Stay Vegan After Veganuary
More people than ever are going vegan or vegetarian for January, as part of the Veganuary movement, but when the end of the month comes around it can be easy to fall back into old habits.
I know from experience that it can be difficult to make the transition from doing the month-long challenge to making a vegetarian or vegan diet a permanent thing in your life, especially when you’re surrounded by people who aren’t doing the same thing.
When I did Veganuary a few years ago, by the time the 31st of January rolled around, I had reached the bottom of my pile of meat-free recipes and was fed up with having to pre-plan every meal out with friends, just in case there wasn’t anything I could eat.
Part of me wanted to go back to eating how I had before doing Veganuary, but the rest of me still felt passionate about all of the reasons I’d decided to do the challenge in the first place. I slipped up a few times, but over the years I have gradually adapted to my new diet and it isn’t something I have to plan anymore.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to cut down your meat and dairy consumption, good-intentions may not be enough to keep you motivated through the transition, until plant-based eating becomes second nature. Initially, going vegan involves a lot of label checking and meal planning, but over time this will all but disappear as you get used to the new diet.
Here are some tips I’ve picked up over the years which might make it easier to carry on being vegan after you’ve completed Veganuary;
Find your foods – We all have our favourite junk foods and our go-to takeaways. Just because you’ve gone veggie, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your favourites. Raid the supermarkets and try new vegan alternatives until you have new replacements for your staple comfort foods.
Bulk prepare meals – if you have a freezer full of hearty plant-based meals that you can heat up in minutes, finding something vegan to have for dinner will feel like much less of a chore. Set aside one day a week to browse plant-based recipes online and cook up a few you fancy.
Visit restaurants with dedicated vegan menus – Plenty of chain restaurants now have dedicated vegan and vegetarian menus which means you don’t have to wade through all of the meat-based meals to find something you can eat. If you find that you’re craving meat or dairy meals, this can help you avoid temptation – plus, these places often have a lot of veggie choices, so you definitely won’t be stuck with a token nut roast!
Find vegan recipes to fill in for your staple meals – if you used to cook a specific curry all the time as a meat eater and are really missing the comfort food now you’ve gone vegan, have a look online to find a meat-free version of the recipe. Most classic meals can be adapted to make them vegan, and will help stop you feeling like you’re missing out.
Don't be harsh on yourself if you slip up - everyone has different ways of following a vegan or vegetarian diet, so you have to find something which works best for you. If rules around food are triggering for you, then try to go into February with a general aim to reduce your meat and dairy consumption instead of sticking to one rule.
Make sure your diet doesn't solely consist of fruit and veg – it’s really important to make sure you are still getting all of the protein, vitamins and minerals you need. If you don’t, it may have an impact on your health. There are a bunch of guides online which will give you examples of things you can eat, and you can always go to your doctor or a nutritionist for more advice if you need it.
If you don’t have many people in your life who are also vegan or vegetarian, it can be more difficult to make the switch. Joining relevant Facebook groups or following vegan accounts on social media can be really helpful in making you feel supported and part of a wider community.
Try to think of going vegan or vegetarian as a new journey, with plenty of gems to discover (like the new Vegan galaxy bar!) and it will hopefully start to feel less daunting and more exciting.
Written by Jasmin Perry