7 Tips for Transitioning to a Plant-based Lifestyle
Even after learning how great a plant-based diet can be for your health, animals and the environment, it can be daunting to make such a big change in your life. However, you aren’t on this journey alone and some of these tips will help make the transition a bit easier. Change isn’t always easy but I assure you, your body and the planet will thank you for it! Here are a few tips that I have discovered during my own journey to help you on your way...
1 - Take it slow if you need to
This one is super important if you plan on really giving becoming plant-based a go. Going all-in straight away is great, but if you don’t have the tools and resources to help you out, it can be very easy to give up when it gets too hard and just go back to your status quo. What I found really helped when I made the switch from a vegetarian diet that relied heavily on dairy, to a plant-based one, was taking a couple of months to source recipes and try them out. When I found ones I liked, I practiced them a few more times so they then became familiar to me and I had lots of new ingredients stocked in the cupboard. Once I had that base it really was quite easy to commit to being plant-based and it became more about lifestyle than a ‘diet’. Check out my recommended page for some great books and online resources for recipes.
2 - Tell everyone or tell no one
Making the change to becoming plant-based doesn’t need to be everybody's business if you don’t want it to be. However, if you need the world to hold you accountable then go ahead and shout it from the roof tops, I commend you! But if like me you prefer to run under the radar then there is no need to bring it up unless someone asks or it will impact a family gathering or some similar situation. As you become more confident with your choice it will become easier I promise, my friends and family now go out of their way to make delicious plant-based food for me, which is just amazing. I have found that about 95% of the time when I think there is going to be an issue over what I’m going to eat, there was actually no problem and it was just me projecting my anxiety. The thing with plant-based food is that it is pretty damn tasty and speaks for itself if you let it!
3 - Be assured that any upset stomachs, bloating and cravings will pass
As you start to consume more plant-based food, you may experience some discomfort in your digestive system as well as some intense cravings. Please don’t let this put you off! The microbiome of a meat eater compared to a plant-based eater is very different and your body will need some time to adjust. The good news is, is that it really doesn’t take very long. After a single day your gut flora will rapidly start to change into something a lot healthier but the transition can be a bit uncomfortable. If you can stick with it, you will be rewarded with extra energy and clarity that comes from eating more nourishing, fibre filled, plant food. Rich Roll’s podcast with Robynne Chutkan on ‘Living Dirty & Eating Clean’ is fascinating and explains the changes happening in your microbiome in a relatable and interesting way.
4 - Be confident in your choice
There are people out there that will criticise your choice to become plant-based and not understand why you are making the change. Do your research and have confidence in your decision to change. In choosing to eat more plants you are gaining health, having less impact on the environment and saving the lives of animals (nearly 200 over the course of a year!). This information isn’t new and is supported by many organisations like the World Health Organisation and the American Dietetic Association. Change has been slow to come from policy makers but is starting to happen in the market place, for example Google has shifted their free cafeterias to be more plant-based, and health insurance companies all over the world are starting to offer discounts to vegetarians and vegans. Being plant-based/vegan/vegetarian is challenging to the current social paradigm (there is also a lot of money on the line) and because of this there is bound to be a bit of blowback. It is however, a really fast-growing movement that has so many positives and you should feel proud to be a part of it.
5 - Be kind to yourself
I think mindset is very important here - try not to focus on all the things you can’t ever have again and instead think about all the wonderful plant based foods you can have. I find it helps to think about it not as what you can’t have but what you are choosing not to have for many very valid reasons. My husband and I talk about how he used to just have a steak on his plate most of the time and now makes an amazing stew with three types of beans, tomatoes, capsicums, mushrooms, spring onions, kale, fresh coriander and herbs and spices and relishes in all the flavours and textures in his meal. It is also an amazing time to become plant-based as there are so many substitute products out there now, that you really don’t need to go without anything. Some of the food isn’t exactly healthy but can be really great when you are craving a pie, ice cream, or cheese, and can make transitioning just that little bit easier. But as I said above the cravings will pass! And if you slip up, it really isn’t that big a deal, pay attention to how your body feels after consuming that food and make a plan to handle similar situations in the future. I must add too, that many vegan desert recipes are really easy to make and are just divine. For example, the Homemade Snickers from The Happy Pear is super simple and just so delicious - standby for a recipe breakdown soon!
6 - It doesn’t have to be expensive
There is a bit of a misconception out there that being plant-based involves a lot of expensive, strange ingredients and supplements. Don’t get me wrong you can spend a fortune on organic superfoods and powders, but you don’t really need too. A lot of very nourishing foods are really cheap and can form the base of your diet. As a family we live on a base of fruit, oats, beans, wholemeal bread and pasta. The bag of oats I buy for my breakfast costs about $2 and lasts for a week. The three tins of beans that form the base of a dinner meal, which feeds us for two nights, costs around $7.00. I’m sure that’s cheaper than most packs of meat out there! Seasonal fruit and veggies are a great place to start too as they are often on special. And remember the humble apple, banana and potato are packed with hundreds of nourishing nutrients and should be considered super foods too. Whole grains are also another great option and are often really cheap (varieties of rice, wholemeal pasta, soba noodles, couscous etc.) and can bulk up a meal. Whole food carbohydrates aren’t something to be scared of, they are full of micro nutrients, fibre and even protein (more about this on the blog soon!).
7 - Adjust your portion sizes
This is another really important one so you can make sure you are feeling full and satiated. If you start transitioning with a lot of mock meats and substitute cheeses etc. then you probably won’t need to adjust your portion sizes too much as the calorie count per meal will be around about the same as an animal based meal. When you move to a more plant-based whole food diet then you will probably need to increase your portion sizes as the foods are naturally lower in calories. For example, I have a whole cup of dry porridge cooked up in the mornings and my dinner meal is the same size as my husbands with 2-3 large scoops of veggie bean stew and 250gms of pasta split between us. Pay attention to how you feel after meals and adjust accordingly - just because you are plant-based doesn’t mean you have to go hungry! It may also take a bit of time to get used to eating more volume, but what sometime trips people up is they just aren’t eating enough. I personally love not having to worry about calories and really enjoy just eating until I’m full and satisfied.
We are all on this planet together and being kind to ourselves and each other is what counts. Becoming plant-based can feel challenging and very different at first but reaps so many rewards. Once you take the leap it will become your wonderful, thriving, nourishing, new, normal.
Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or health professional. I have completed a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and have done in-depth research about plant-based living. The information I trust is mostly sourced from medical professionals that are leading the way in this plant-based revolution. Check out my recommended page for more info.
