How to turn Veganuary into long lasting habits

Unfortunately, not everyone actually manages to stop eating meat. There is a lot of misinformation online that makes out that it is very difficult to become a vegetarian. We aren’t saying you might not find it difficult to change your diet after a lifetime of eating one way. Rather, we want to make it straight forward to become a vegetarian – and help you past any obstacles you might face along the way.

Vegan or Vegetarian?

The important thing to decide is whether you’re going to stick with a vegan diet – as you’ve been trying over the month – or whether you’re going to have a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians don’t eat meat or fish, but do eat some products that come from animals – generally dairy and eggs. Vegans don’t eat any product that comes from an animal, including honey and dairy, for example. And of course these are just the dietary choices. Many extend their dietary choice to a lifestyle as both veganism and vegetarianism are often based on a moral principles. Some people view becoming vegetarian as a step towards being vegan. Others view vegetarianism as the aim. Increasingly we are seeing many people calling themselves flexitarian, which is a move towards meat reduction.

Whatever you choose, labels are not important. The action is.

Expand your palette

One of the easiest ways to carry on Veganuary is to make sure it’s the start of a new way of eating. Using this change as a way to eat things you’ve never heard of, let alone eaten before, is a great way to make eating exciting again. Vegan and vegetarian food often draws more heavily on cuisine from all over the world than meat-based cookery does. Due to the greater proportion of plant-based people living in Asia, for example, there is a whole tradition of meat-free cooking that you might have never experienced before. Trying out new things can help ensure you stick to your new plant-based lifestyle and get a variety of nutrition.

Improve on your favourites

This is not to say, however, that you should abandon the things you used to love completely! There are almost always ways that you can improve on the old recipes you used to eat – from using tofu in your Thai Green Curry to lentils in your bolognese. With our massive list of recipes, you should easily be able to find a way to turn your favourite meals vegetarian or vegan.

Meal prep ahead

If you aren’t quite convinced – or you’re finding it harder to give up on your old diet, planning and prepping ahead can help you keep up the habits you’ve been getting used to over Veganuary. If you’ve pre-prepared a number of meals that you know you love, you can more easily carry on the habits of Veganuary. Batch cooking and freezing once a week is a very popular way of always having a lovely meal to hand.

Get Inspired

Being a vegan or vegetarian long term will require some inspiration. If you eat the same things week in, week out for long enough you will get bored – no matter how delicious they are. We have an enormous range of recipes to inspire you – but you should also look further afield. Check out vegan and vegetarian accounts on social media, or web pages. Look for what other people are doing, and see what inspires you. Maybe attend one of our COOK! classes and learn completely new dishes.

Change your lifestyle

One way to ensure that your new Veganuary habits stick is to change your lifestyle overall. A vegan or vegetarian diet isn’t just about what you eat, it can also be about how you live. Explore more environmentally friendly options in your day to day life – take public transport, look up how you can recycle more and how you can reduce your impact on the planet. Making your diet change part of your overall lifestyle – perhaps trying to exercise more or generally living more healthily can help it become a permanent change.

VEG-OUT – Vegetarian Society

Eating out in pubs and restauants used to be a much scarier experience for vegetarians and vegans. One option, usually mushroom based, was often your only hope. These days, however, almost everywhere will have a range of meat-free options to choose from. The Vegetarian Society has an exciting restaurant checker arriving soon to make it easier for veggies and vegans to know which restaurants meals are both delicious and fit their dietary requirements.

Look for helpful clues

Sometimes it can be tough to know for certain whether a product you’re buying is definitely vegetarian or vegan – particularly with pre-packaged foods. The Vegetarian Society runs a trademark scheme to accredit products that are certified as suitable for different diets. We have a Vegetarian, a Vegan and a Plant-Based certification mark, all of which have strict criteria to ensure that products sold with the marks are all appropriate for the people who need to be able to trust them. When you see a Vegetarian Society mark on a product, you know for certain that it has been throughly checked.

Take a class

COOK! with the Vegetarian Society is a vegetarian and vegan cookery school, based at our head offices in Manchester. We offer a range of fresh and exciting cooking classes to suit all dietary requirements and tastes. From African flavours, to Korean classics to our very popular supper and curry clubs, attending a class can help ensure you never lack for ideas of what to eat next after Veganuary ends.

Join the Vegetarian Society

Finally, why not consider joining us at the Vegetarian Society? For more than 175 years, we’ve provided important guidance and advocacy for people who don’t eat meat or other animal products. Our members include vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and meat eaters who want guidance on how to reduce or stop eating it.

With the support of our members and donors, we are able to advocate for the rights of vegetarians and vegans and make the world a better place for animals and people, and the planet. We also campaign to improve the treatment of animals in farming, while still encouraging people in the to stop eating them.