New Year, Meatless You?

Is ditching animal products on your New Year's Resolution list?  You aren't alone!  Lots of people choose to start on (or trial run) a vegan/plant-based lifestyle for the new year.  

You might be considering the environment, your health, animal ethics, or just wanting to limit your animal product intake- there's support and advice for you.

In the interest of not attempting to reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd share some resources to help you meet your meatless goals in the coming month and/or year.

Veganuary

Rather than make a year long resolution, many people decide to participate in "Veganuary" and just go vegan or vegetarian for the month of January.  This is a great way for those looking to lean in to the lifestyle to start new habits that can carry out through the rest of the year.  

The Veganuary website has lots of resources, support, and information to get through January and beyond.

Meatless Mondays

Not ready to commit to a whole month vegan?  Try one day a week!  Many people end up giving up before trying because they say they "can't" go vegan.  You CAN eliminate animal products one day a week, though, right?  That's a reduction in animal suffering and your carbon footprint.  Also, once you get used to going meatless one day a week, you will build habits and tastes that can carry through the week and become your standard.  

Again, the official Meatless Monday website provides endless resources, support, and information.

Ready to Go Vegan?

Let's do it!  Give up animal products cold tofurkey!  
There are countless resources and they are all going to have their own spin.  Your decision to live a plant-based life is likely very personal and unique, but there is a community of people who share some or most of your reasons and are more than happy to support you!

Some tips as you seek out that support:

• Find your people, and don't settle for those who aren't your people.  In my 6+ years as a vegan, I've found the most supportive and compassionate people, and some of the cruelist and unhelpful people.  If you find yourself in a pit of snakes, remember that this isn't ALL vegans.  If you are looking to make big changes for your health and cut out all oil and processed foods, and you find a community of people who celebrates every new seasonal Oreo flavor, you will likely become discouraged.  If you are giving up animal products for ethical reasons, and every post in a group is about body shaming meat eaters for making poor choices and shutting down any "unhealthy" vegan food as poison, you're going to have a bad time.  Seek out like-minded plant eaters.  
  Some titles that may help:  Plant-Based refers to diet, not a completely vegan lifestyle.  Vegan refers to people who live a complete lifestyle that seeks to eliminate all animal exploitation to the best of our abilities.  Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) is a dietary label that is like it sounds, focused on whole foods, generally health-based, and often low or no oil.  Raw vegans only consume raw fruits, vegatables, nuts, and grains (often sprouted).  
• Check out Meetup.com  This is how I found my first vegan community and we had a great group of people who met regularly to visit vegan-friendly restaurants and host pot lucks.  Check out Facebook too, if that's your bag, for local groups and events aimed at vegans.
• You don't have to be friends with every vegan.  Just list any other lifestyle/belief/etc, you are not necessarily going to get along with or become BFF's with every new vegan you meet.  It's good to make connections, especially if you feel you aren't in a largely vegan area, but you don't have to force it.  It's easy to meet someone who you just don't jive with and then make some really negative generalizations about vegans based on those people.  I've fallen for this with a group that was a massive vegan group that I kept feeling like, "This is a big vegan group, I should feel so at home," but the culture of the group and the admins just didn't support the same things/methods I did.  I found myself getting to the point that I wanted to stop referring to myself as a vegan because I didn't want to be associated with the ideals of the people in that group.  After I left that group, I was reminded of who I am and why, and that I'm not going to let the actions of others take that from me.  My favorite Facebook groups are What Vegan Children Eat (for parents) and What Fat Vegans Eat (where you don't get shamed for using oil/sugar/etc).
• Follow Vegans on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  If you search for a vegan recipe on Pinterest, and are directed to someone's "vegan recipes" board, follow it.  Find vegan activists spreading the messages that speak to you.  I love the fowl-mouthed Vegan Bros, and the gentle words of The Joyful Vegan.  I follow lots of vegan food bloggers too, and I see colorful and delicous foods every time I log on to my social media accounts.  It's a constant reminder of the plentiful life I have, rather than worrying anythign I abstain from.

Questions?

If you are just starting out, or trying to keep at a big change, feel free to reach out to me via comment or through my contact form and I'll try to offer whatever support you are looking for.  If you want to veganize a favorite recipe, I have a somewhat inactive Facebook group called How Can I Make This Vegan? for workshopping recipes and adapting old favorites.

​I hope this helps and that the new year finds you happy, healthy, and compassionate.