Adopting a plant-based diet in 3 easy steps

By / Food / June 30th, 2020 / 12
Healthy varied balanced plant-based diet

In this day and age, sticking to a plant-based diet is easier than ever. With more and more restaurants now offering meat alternatives and vegan options, you don’t have to miss out on anything. However, there are some barriers that can be difficult when you’re first starting your journey to living a plant-based lifestyle. Here are 3 helpful tips to help ease into your new diet. Remember, going plant-based even one day a week is enough to help the planet!

Step 1: Phasing out meat

Your first step to a new lifestyle is “meatless Mondays” or something along these lines. As you get used to this, you can increase it to multiple meat-free days per week and eventually phase meat out altogether. While this step may seem like it’ll be impossible for die-hard meat lovers, the slow process of phasing it out actually makes it a lot easier. Do your research in advance to find some tasty meat-free recipes (you can find some ideas here) and you’re set!

Step 2: Find egg and cheese substitutes

Personally, giving up eggs and cheese has been the hardest for me. I’ve been vegetarian for a little over two years but have struggled in giving up these animal products. What’s really helped me ease them out of my diet are substitutes. I know most of us assume vegan cheese just won’t be good (and to be fair, some of it isn’t), but some brands are genuinely very tasty. My personal favourites are Chao, Miyokos, Gusta and Follow Your Heart.

For eggs, I recreate them with tofu. Crumble up a block of it with some vegetables of your choice and nutritional yeast for a cheesy taste. It’s great to put in wraps or eat as is.

Step 3: Opting for plant-based milk

If you really love milk, fear not! There are tons of options out there for you as well. Oat milk and coconut milk are personal favourites, but there’s just about every kind of dairy substitute you can think of out there. Start by subbing out the milk in your Starbuck’s coffee for a dairy-free alternative and go from there! It’ll take some getting used to, so go in with an open mind. I’m sure you’ll be as surprised as I was at how many delicious alternatives there are out there.

Like everything, transitioning to a plant-based diet takes time. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you as any step towards a plant-based diet is certainly beneficial to the animals and the planet, no matter how big or how small. Find some dietary staples that suit your needs and before you know it, it’ll feel like second nature!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexa Nadeau is an English student at McGill University. Most of the time you can find her writing, whether it’s for academic or freelance purposes. If not, then she’s most definitely continuing her food tour of Montreal’s best restaurants.

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