10 main mistakes you make, when you decide to eat more veggies.
You think that you have to go all in, do it perfectly and become vegan overnight.
Small but consistent steps over crazy jumps once in a while. And let that sink for a moment. Yes. Every step is good, but you will be better off adding 10% more greens to each meal you eat, than if you do every January 10 days as a vegan, but keep eating crap for the rest of the year. Do you want to eat more plants? Start in the easiest way for you, and try to make it sustainable and effortless. Make sure that each meal you cook is made 50% out of veggies (or fruits in case you are eating sth sweet). Think of it visually and just each time you eat, make half of your plate be filled with veggies. It is a simple rule, which keeps guiding me every day and keeps me on the right track. Don’t wait until tomorrow, don’t look for magical cooking tricks or tips. Just put more veggies on each plate you prepare yourself.
You don’t even know why you want to eat more veggies.
Have you asked yourself this question? WHY? Is it plant based hype or fashion, you have a crush on this super hot vegan, you watched a very scary documentary, you think it is a ‘right’ thing to do or you wanna lose weight? It must start somewhere, come on, what is your first thought? Ok, but that’s just the beginning. What’s the next why, and then the next why? Just take a piece of paper, sit down and try to find as many reasons as you can which speak to you deep inside, when it comes to shifting towards a more plant based diet. Talk to yourself and find out your why! Why ;) ? There will be so many tricky moments on your plant based adventure, cause a lifestyle change is not an easy thing. You need to have your motivations and values clear to keep more persistent and not to lose the track when life ups & downs get on your way.
You are scared of what others will say.
And I totally get you. ‘Ordering a dish with tofu? What are you, a vegan? Since when?’. Comments and judgments from the people around you may be confusing and intimidating, especially if you haven’t even fully figured out yourself, how exactly your plant based version of yourself will be like. Whenever they happen try to just openly say about why you choose to eat something different than your friends. Don’t focus on what you will be eating, but shift the conversation more towards why you choose to do it. But to be honest, if you feel like the reaction may be super negative, are you actually hanging out with the right people? You know, friends should be supportive creatures to whom we can open up, not someone we are afraid of. But that’s another story ;)
You end up hungry.
It is a very common misconception, that ‘oh, plant based food is not for real people’, that ‘these greens will never make me full’, that ‘maybe I can try but for my boyfriend this will never be enough’, and so on… I have heard that many times. I have been hungry after meals full of plants many times too. But this is an easy one to solve. You probably don’t know much about nutritional value of your food, so your meals may not be satiating enough. Change it! Always make sure that among the plants that you eat there is not only lots of greens and veggies and fruits, but very importantly some good sources of protein, healthy carbs and do not forget about good oils either! Well balanced meals are the key factor to stay full longer after eating them. Apply this advise and you will see how differently you can feel after plant based meals!
You don’t give your belly time to adjust, and you may get bloated.
Are we talking farts? Well… Maybe. But we have to! In simple words. Eating a lot of plant based produce means putting in your belly a lot of fiber. Every single plant is a different type of fiber. If your stomach is not used to dealing with big amounts of fiber and with some specific types of it, it may have problems. Usually the most problematic are legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains, which all are also one of the healthiest things to eat! So instead of saying ‘beans are not for me, cause they make me bloated!’ try incorporating very small amounts of them into your meals, instead of eating a whole bowl of beans for dinner. Small, tiny steps over big jumps. Remember! Your stomach must train itself in this new digestion! It’s like a muscle. You don’t start running from going for a marathon, do you? Start eating more veggies step by step, introducing all different types of products. Train your stomach. Observe yourself! Our bodies are very different and some don’t like specific things and that’s ok! Luckily nature created for us A LOT of plants to eat, so I am sure you will find something for yourself! Remember also about two other simple tricks to help you with digestion - drink a lot of water to help with the fiber digestion and chew well (very important!) whatever you are eating. And thank me later.
You fall in the traps of superfoods, fake meats and vegan cheeses.
Eating a healthy plant based diet (100% or not, doesn’t matter) doesn’t mean you have to or should start eating all the meat alternative products, fake cheeses. It doesn’t mean that you are suddenly in the need of adding some magic powders to all what you eat. It is much simpler than that What you should predominantly base your way of eating on are whole foods! What does that mean? Food that is least processed. That comes in its most natural version. Tomatoes over ketchup. Peas over pea protein based burgers. Edamame beans over soy sausages. Wheat grain over processed donut. Beetroot over beetroot powder smoothie base.You get the idea? Highly processed foods, no matter if vegan, vegetarian or not at all, are dangerous for our health and usually include a long production process where loads of unnecessary resources are used in. They exist and still create a great alternative to animal based produce, yes. They still can be saving time in busy moments and they can be a meet-me-halfway solution between carnivore taste buds and plant based values. Just remember not to use them as a base of everything you eat, there is no reason for that. Nature created for us sooo much amazing produce!!! Always give them a priority.
You don’t drink enough water.
No, not tea, coffee and beer and juices. WATER. Water is your best friend!!! It keeps you hydrated. It Helps with your digestion especially if you are eating a lot of fiber! It is good for the health of your skin and probably quite a few other organs, if not all! But I am not a doctor, so won’t pretend I know it all here :D What I know from my experience though is that if we don’t drink enough water we get dehydrated (and eating a lot of fiber that happens faster). And very often our body reads the dehydration signs as signs of hunger! So if you are surprised that you get hungry and you have just eaten, check to things. One - drink a nice big glass of water and see then. Two - check if the meal you had was well balanced and included all the important macronutrients (protein & good carbs!) or it was just a big bowl of greens? And remember to read the point nr 4 again.
You cook plant based meals in a similar way to how you cook previously, and it just doesn’t work the same way.
You take a steak, fry it for five minutes and expect a yummy meal. You take a carrot, fry it for two minutes, and you will have one of the worst meals of your life :D Veggies work differently. Their main composition of water and fiber makes out of them just a very different ingredient to cook with! You need to learn how vegetables work, you need to re-learn how to cook a bit. Ok, how to do that? Read recipes, observe different ways veggies are made, eat plant based meals out, get inspired and cook! Fail, but keep cooking. There is no super easy shortcut here. But don’t worry, I also have your back. This is one of the reasons I created Cooking Superpowers! To support you on the journey to fill your life with more veggies than ever, in the most sustainable way. And I think a diet cannot be called sustainable if it’s not delicious. So yes, check out What I offer section of this website and choose the way how I can help you cook plants in the most delicious way.
You complain your food is lacking flavour, cause probably it is! You don’t use spices and techniques and magical ingredients.
That’s a little bit extension of the previous point. You see, veggies have to be treated differently to other ingredients. You need to learn different techniques and rules which will help you understand how veggies work and how to cook and combine them to use their natural flavours in the best way! Seems scary? I have good news for you. There are also easier ways how to improve flavour of your dishes, without diving too deep into cooking skills. There are some magic tricks & ingredients which will change your cooking for better.
Use different sources of salt, not just salt. My favourite are: miso paste, soy sauce, pickles, capres.
Use nutritional yeasts!!! In all the recipes you want a deeper, a bit cheesy flavour. Plus they are a great source of protein.
Use fresh herbs! Parsley, coriander, dill, basil are your best friends, they will give a yummy fresh kick to whatever you cook, if you add some at the very end.
Befriend with smoked paprika. Its deep, smokey flavour used with tofu, tempeh, beans, any veggies will bring you the meaty flavour you might be missing.
Learn how to use spices in general! Ginger, dry onion & garlic, garam masala, cumin, sweet & spicy paprika, nutmeg, cardamon, cinamon, allspice - these are the spices are use almost daily. Experiment with them, see what gives you which flavour. And don’t forget about spice mixes. I knoooow, all the good chefs look at them in a very superior way, buuuut if we talk time efficiency and simplicity, the mixes are so useful! I love personally to use chicken spice mix on my veggies (has no chicken in it, makes my food taste more deep and meaty) and curry spice mix for yes you’ve guessed, all the curries. Check what your convenience store has to offer in that section and try it out! Make eating veggies easy, when you can.
You don’t believe in yourself enough and at the same time you are way too strict on yourself.
Whatever negative about this new adventure of eating more veggies you were gonna say… Stop for a moment. And acknowledge that even if it may seem like ‘just eating more veggies’ what you are trying to do, is an act of courage. It is complicated! It’s not the easiest and most accessible way of eating in the world we live in. It still has so much stigma and stereotypes about it. It is not intuitive, it 'is not how you were brought up. But standing up for what you believe is a right thing to do and actually trying to do it, every single day trying and trying again, is a freaking amazing thing to do!!! So don’t think about how you will fail (even though many days you will). Think about eating better and feeling better and doing better for the world. It’s big things, big things never come easily. So be nicer to yourself, this is what superheroes do. They lift other people up and fly with them high, but most importantly, they also take care of themselves.