Happy Veganuary!

I actually have a few friends participating this year. What’s Veganuary, you ask? It’s a movement to get people to try eating vegan for the month of January. It’s a great way to ease into this lifestyle. Brian May, guitarist for Queen, did this last year, and he loved it so much, he never stopped. He joins an ever increasing list of famous vegans!

I have published a couple of blog posts about going vegan. One includes resources for more information about the vegan lifestyle, and the other is more about my journey specifically. I also wrote an article for the Richmond Road Runners Club Miles and Minutes magazine about plant based running. 

So, what’s a trial vegan to do? How do you make it easy? For one, don’t feel guilty for using meat substitutes. I think it’s a great way to adapt to plant based without changing your routine too much. Beyond Meat and Gardein especially do a nice job with these types of products, and they are widely available in commercial grocery stores.

Speaking of grocery stores, I’ve done a whole series of tours of national chains, outlining what each one has to offer. Here’s the lineup:

• Aldi
• Lidl
• Publix
• Kroger
• Trader Joe’s
• Costco
• Wegmans
• Whole Foods
• Food Lion
• Walmart
• Target
• Fresh Market

For another way to make trying vegan foods easy, search out vegan restaurants in your area to explore creative meal options. The Happy Cow app can help you easily find places to go!

And lastly, if you are intimidated by foods like tofu, try a dish made with this at an Asian restaurant. These chefs know how to cook it well, and then you will know how good it can be! Vegan food does not have to be intimidating or complex, and can be accessible even on a low budget.

Still don’t know what to buy? Check out my articles about recommended vegan pantry staples and vegan freezer staples!

And here is an example of some of the vegan purchases I made on my last trip to Trader Joe’s. Not pictured? The Vegan Meatless Meat Lovers pizza, featuring plant based sausage, pepperoni, and cheese. It’s really good! For a quick meal, I ended up sauteing about half of each of the chopped veggie packs, adding a few diced baby potatoes and halved grape tomatoes plus a can of drained, rinsed great northern beans to the mix. I served it over rice with a scoop of TJ’s vegan tzatziki dip. It was so good!

I’ve also got a few vegan recipes on my blog. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Vegan Chili
• Vegan Chili Verde
• Vegan BBQ Jackfruit
• Vegan Vegetable Soup with Farro
• Buffalo Chickpea Salad
• Chickpea “Chicken” Salad
• Yellow Rice
• Vegan Spanish Rice
• Vegan Greek Style Green Beans
• Vegan Potato Soup
• Easy Guacamole
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

I hope you will check out some of my past posts and will find them helpful!

Truly, going vegan has helped me feel so much better overall. My skin looks better. I seem to recover faster from marathons (and ultras!). And I’m now off all medications to manage asthma, and I haven’t had full blown bronchitis since going vegan. But even more than for my health, I feel so much more compassion for all life, and I really feel good about doing my part to help the environment. I think to really be an environmentalist, you should be vegan. The industrial animal agriculture industry plays a major role in the destruction of our planet. The status quo is simply not sustainable. And I absolutely love that eating vegan helps me get creative in the kitchen! 

If going vegan is a goal for you this year, I hope you do try it. And remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect vegan, so do what you can if you want to move toward this lifestyle. I’m here to help!

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Are you trying Veganuary? Are you already vegan? I’d love to hear about it!

As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.