How I’m Approaching Veganuary And My Key Takeaways

In the light of Veganuary 2021 I thought I’d share a few thoughts on how I’m approaching Veganuary.

I’ve been a vegetarian for over 10 years and going cold turkey (or rather cold nut roast) and jump into a full vegan diet is – I can tell you – it’s not easy. I spent the last year in a limbo: vegan whenever I can but often couldn’t manage and resorted to cheese, eggs even. I managed to try and also develop a few vegan recipes.

If someone puts a plate of delicious looking vegan food on my table for every meal – yeah I’d like that, yes please! But life is not that simple.
But life with a family of 3 different diets and just generally managing time, supermarket shopping and cooking – not simple! My husband eats what I cook, never complains about food but. every now and then he puts a request in for a meaty dish. Bobcat has a limited diet which is related to his autism and my daughter is simply terribly picky. I’ve been through to hell and back trying to change things for the better in their diets. 

For others, there may be other obstacles like food allergies (many people, in fact), current mental health issues that just don’t let them have a grip over a new challenge in their life and let’s face it: 2020 was a really crap year, so people are generally fed up and can’t face an extra challenge just for fun.

Anyways, I have a few key takeaways for you I wanted to share as we slowly approach the middle of the month. I did give it a go again,  I hope many more people did too and they are too, keep marching till the end of January.

How I’m Approaching Veganuary

• Even if you stumble, make mistakes, give up for a few days, can’t resist a craving… don’t make a big deal of it. Stand up and keep going
• You might not stick to it or it takes longer to transition
• Your effort matters. Reducing is better than not trying at all
• You gain so much knowledge: about your diet and what is in your food, how your food is being produced and where does it come from. It’s truly eye opening but it doesn’t happen overnight
• Keep your focus on why are you doing it. Whatever made you take the plunge – just remind yourself of it from time to time. Is it your passion about animal rights? Fighting climate change? Your health?
• Share your journey and talk about your experience so others can learn from it

Would you add any wisdom to this? Let me know in the comments.