Trying Out the Vegan Thing
Top Tips and Blog Recommendations for trying out Plant Powered Foods.
Going Vegan for Veganuary or just trying out eating vegan/plant-based foods for a while?
Then you are definitely going to want to tune in to some of my top tips that I’m sharing with you here today. If you’ve seen my content on social media then you probably know that I’m quote passionate about plant powered foods. I spend a lot of time experimenting with plant based foods and just learning about different ways to enjoy prepare vegan food. This is a month where a lot of people reset and try to set the tone for the year health wise, 2020 is projected to be the biggest year for the #Veganuary challenge. Its really exciting that so many people are trying out eating more plants. But the reality is that you can start experimenting with plant-based foods anytime and for whatever length that works for you, so don’t despair if you missed the #Veganuary train. I wanted to share some tips and learnings that might help set you off in the right direction with trying out plant powered foods, more on this below.
Whole Food Plant-Based
With the vegan food category increasing and more vegan food options filling up the supermarket aisles, I would caution against just picking the most convenient option as a lot of vegan food that’s out there can actually be quite unhealthy (processed, high-calorie, sugar, salt, additives).
I would recommend to look for whole food options i.e. foods that are minimally processed like whole grains, fruits, seeds, nuts and vegetables. Whole foods are going to be better for your health and power you up with energy and all the macro and micro nutrients that you need to thrive.
In short, avoid processed foods and try to consume more whole foods, these are going to be exponentially better for your health since they are refined as little as possible.
Preparation
You need to be prepared if you’re going to be successful at eating vegan/plant-based foods for a while, it’ll also increase your chances of sticking to it whether you are doing it for a week, month or longer.
Research food alternatives, write down what you usually eat/like to eat and find vegan/plant-based versions, find tasty recipes and create a shopping list ahead of time that will take you through the week.
Preparation is really going to be key as you are walking into unfamiliar territory, try prepare for meals ahead of time, brekkie, lunch, dinner and most importantly snacks. My snack-game is very strong:) most days you can find a plant-based protein shake/smoothie, unsalted almonds, raw bars and some fruits in my bag.
Food Swaps
These days you can find some pretty good staple food swaps for most things, the key principle that I try to follow is to choose products that are sugar/sodium/additive free as much as I can.
I’ve replaced milk with unsweetened almond milk, eggs with chickpea flour (for omelettes), sugar for date syrup, meats with vegetable steaks or falafels, whey protein with pea or hemp protein, greek yogurt with coconut yogurt.
The more wholesome and tasty replacements that you can find the less deprived you will feel and you can start getting into some of the plant-based alternatives. When you are looking for food alternatives I would say try to avoid food products that contain more than 5-7 ingredients or that contains ingredients that you don’t recognise (E numbers) or an unnecessary high amount of sugar/salt/saturated fats. Stay woke people, its empowering to take charge of what you put into your body, awareness is a good place to start, read the labels.
Meal Prep
Meal prepping is a great way to stay ahead of yourself especially when you are trying out a new way of eating. Make a large batch of a few recipes and meal prep for 2-3 days ahead. When I’m really on my meal prep game I tend to cook twice a week, usually Sundays and Wednesdays and that keeps me going through the week, I usually have Sundays as the day that I eat out.
Prepare your recipes/shopping lists, food containers and just have fun in the kitchen. If you get bored eating the same food, make smaller portions of a few different dishes and combine them as you wish throughout the week (also called a buffet style meal prep).
Eating Out
If you’ve never tried eating only plant-based foods for a period of time then chances are that you might not know where to find these foods when you eat out. I think eating out can be a great way to discover and enjoy vegan/plant-based foods, but its important to know where to go ahead of time.
Find a few places close to your work and home that you can go and grab lunch/dinner from. There are so many vegan restaurants popping up and also non-vegans restaurants with vegan options are increasing. If you have a few places bookmarked you wont get caught out when you feel like eating out and you might even impress your colleagues/family/friends with some cool new spots to eat at.
Some of the global cuisines that tend to be vegan/plant-based friendly are Eritrean/Ethiopian, South-Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Korean and Vietnamese to give you a place to start.
Inspiration/Blog Recommendations
Eating whole food plant-based has certainly been a learning curve for me over a long period of time. I’m at a point where I enjoy cooking and eating at home much more than eating out, I find it really easy to “veganize” most foods and a fun challenge to make healthier and more wholesome versions of foods that I love. A key part of learning for me has happened through certain blogs that I follow until this day. If you are looking for some inspiration for some easy, wholesome, nurturing and delicious recipes then check out my recommendations below:
Minimalist baker - Easy, no fuss minimalist recipes. I love how instructional this blog is and how they break down the process in a very educational way, I credit a lot of my early vegan cooking skills to this blog. They also do 1 min videos of their recipes which gives you a feel for the recipe and difficulty level.
Sweet Potato Soul - Is a another great blog with tons of innovative plant-based recipes with meal prep inspiration and 5 minute easy vegan recipes.
My New Roots - This is one of my favourite blogs run by Sarah who is a holistic nutritionist, so besides getting some really creative plant-based recipes you also learn a lot about nutrition and the ingredients in the recipes.
Shine With Plants - This blog is great for someone that wants more information on the plant-based diet and how to transition, Fabiola shares most of her recipes on her Instagram, she shares the cutest videos of her family, that are all thriving on a plant-based diet.
Oh She Glows - I love this blog and the innovative and easy recipes that Angela makes.
Conclusion
Plant-based foods are great for our health, if you want to add some more plant-based foods to your diet then start by being prepared. Focus on whole foods, avoid empty calorie processed foods. Focus on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains that will energize you. Keep it simple by finding vegan food swaps for some of your staple foods that you love and invest time in meal prepping as well as bookmarking some new vegan restaurants and cuisines that you might want to try. Shifting your diet towards eating more plant-based is going to be a learning curve, take your time and have fun with it, once recipe at a time.
I hope that these tips will be helpful to you if you are thinking of trying out vegan foods for a while, most of all just have fun with it and try it out. If you want to get to know more about how I started eating plant-based then please click here to read my plant-based story.
XO
Ruthie