Going Vegan Starter Tips
19 Feb 2022
Here is our list of tips for getting started on a vegan diet, for Veganuary or otherwise.
11 Tips for Going Vegan
1. Start Strong
Start as you mean to go on, that means getting a supplement! A lot of products are fortified and you are not going to run into trouble with B12 in a month. But start doing everything as if this change in lifestyle is for life, because you may very well want to make it so. If you don't take this already, consider vitamin D as well, especially in the winter. Vitamin D3 is the best, but do make sure it is a vegan supplement.
2. Eat More!
Eat more! If you are eating whole foods, plant based, you probably need to eat more food to get the same calories as you are cutting out a lot of processed animal products and fats at the moment.
3. Track your Food
Track your food in an app like Cronometer that tracks calories, macro and micronutrients. It will show you when you can eat more (yay for seconds and dessert) and also the breakdown of what you are eating, which will give you confidence that you are getting everything you need from plants. We got a REAL kick out of learning how much protein bread and broccoli contain! You don’t have to do this the whole month just for a bit to gain confidence.
4. Milk… Shake!
As much as the bulk of what we eat is whole foods, we rely on store bought plant milks and yoghurts. These are all fortified and a top tip is to give the plant milks a good shake each time before you use them to allow all the added vitamins to not all end up in the bottom of the carton.
5. Travel Prepared
Have some bars on hand while you are on the go and still figuring things out. Having to figure out what is vegan while you're hungry can be hard and is definitely no fun. With a bar in hand this won't happen. We like the Eat Natural Vegan and the Deliciously Ella ones. Ella’s may actually be too delicious and tempting.
6. Pizza Night!
We make one night a week our pizza night, or whatever easy option you like. For those in Wandsworth, we recommend most highly and have every week the Dan and Angel Vegan Pizza (and they make regular pizzas for the rest of the family too).
7. Recipe Books
Buy some vegan recipe books, like Speedy Bosch or Rachel Ama's Vegan Eats! Focus on all the new things you can try rather than what you can’t have. Pro tip: coconut milk in hot chocolate is like a liquid Bounty Bar!
8. Coconuts
Speaking of coconuts, go easy on coconut cream, yoghurts, and other processed foods based on coconut: coconuts are almost the only plant food high in saturated fats. It’s delicious, we have it from time to time, but we do use soy, hazelnut, and oat milks to mix it up.
9. Tin's Easier
Stick with tinned pulses and beans. If you are not already in the habit of prepping the dried stuff, just make things easier on yourself while you get new habits and recipes into circulation. You can switch things up later. And save the chickpea water for the best chocolate mouse!
10. Short Cuts!
There is nothing wrong with lazy garlic, dried or crushed garlic and spices or herbs. Days are long and life is short. These short cuts can save on time and waste.
11. "Where do you get your protein?"
Arm yourself with facts: most people asking this question don’t know how much protein they need. You only need about 50g of protein a day (see the NHS). Specifically, most adults need around 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight per day (see the British Nutrition Foundation).Most people that ask this question also don’t know that 100g of lean chicken breast only contains 31g of protein. That is LESS than a third of the chicken! There is:
- 15g of protein in a cup of chickpeas, which is about 200g (the same amount of protein in about 85g of salmon, but the chickpeas will only cost you about 40p).
- 7-8g of protein in 2 slices of wholemeal bread
- 10g of protein in 50g of cashew nuts
- 5g of protein in the cup of brown rice you may be having with your dinner anyway.
- 5g of protein in 150g serving of soy yoghurt.