9 Ways to Eat Healthier Without Becoming Vegan

Introduction

I know this might shock you, but here it goes. Veganism and healthy eating aren’t synonymous. Yes, overweight vegans exist, and no, giving someone a kale shirt isn’t convincing them to eat their vegetables.

Lucky for you, here are nine ways you can eat healthier as a non-vegan, and if you follow a tip or two, maybe you’ll fit into more clothes five years from now besides your favorite hat.

1. Add another color to your recipe.
2. Buy a healthy cookbook.
3. Get an accountability buddy.
4. Don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.
5. Have a garden.
6. Buy more food at the farmers’ market.
7. Cook more.
8. Keep your healthy food at eye level and junk food out of sight.
9. Admit your eating flaws.

1. Add another color to your recipe.

Go ahead, and figure out ways to be a smart aleck about making your recipes more colorful. Adding yellow sprinkles to chocolate ice cream doesn’t make it healthier, and eating French fries and ketchup doesn’t count toward your daily vegetable intake.

When people talk about consuming a colorful diet or eating a rainbow, that means you’re increasing the variety of produce you eat. The logic is there are different nutrients in fruits and vegetables, and some of their nutrients come from the produce’s natural color(s). Have you heard of the saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away? From now on, consider another phrase. An apple and an orange keep the doctor away.

If you need some inspiration, check out my vegan Pinterest board.

2. Buy a healthy cookbook.

If you need some help, get a cookbook via eBook or print. Here are some of my cookbooks, which are all.

• The Whole Foods Diet focuses on eating a whole-food, plant-based diet. It is stricter than going vegan because, in addition to eating all plants, this diet lacks processed foods, like many vegan substitutes and alternatives.
• 1,000 Vegan Recipes is one of Robin Robertson’s vegan cookbooks. You can find more of her recipes in VegNews or on her website.
• Vegan Comfort Classics by Lauren Toyota has many delicious veganized dishes. For more information, check out her vegan blog called hot for food.
• Thug Kitchen (renamed Bad Manners) is another vegan cookbook with lots of vegan comfort food recipes. If you are looking for something to listen to, check out their podcast.
• The last book is Vegan: The Cookbook by Jean-Christian Jury. He is famous for his contributions to making Berlin, Germany, one of the most vegan-friendly cities worldwide with his former restaurant, La Mano Verde.

If you don’t feel like buying a cookbook via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Google, here are other resources to find some great vegan recipes for free.

• There are a lot of vegan blogs out there. Check out my vegan-blog list on Pinterest!
• One Green Planet and its mobile app, Food Monster, have a lot of vegan recipes and food articles.
• Get a subscription to some sort of vegan magazine or publication.
• PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has a great selection of vegan recipes.
• Discover some vegan dishes on Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, and Olive.
• Watch some food-related Youtube videos. Here is a list of vegan-friendly YouTube channels.

3. Get an accountability buddy.

If you know someone trying to eat healthier, make a pack to keep each other accountable for improving your diets and lifestyles. Discuss how you're doing once a week, daily, or whatever time interval you prefer.

Here are some excellent discussion questions for you.

1. How are you seriously doing? (Fine doesn’t count.)
2. How has your sleep been?
3. Are you exercising regularly?
4. What recipes are you making?
5. Do you want to go on a nature walk sometime?
6. Are there any good gyms in the area?
7. Can you teach me how to meditate?
8. Have you seen the doctor lately?
9. How can I make this recipe allergy-friendly?
10. You look dehydrated. How much water are you drinking daily?

If it’s impossible to get an accountability buddy on your own, try a program like WW (Weight Watchers), or join a fitness group on Meetup.

4. Don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.

The hungrier you are when you buy your groceries, the more likely you’ll buy food you don’t need. Instead, eat a snack or meal before shopping, and stick to whatever list method is the most productive for you.

I’ve heard a lot from non-vegans that they want to be vegan, but they don’t become vegan because produce is way too expensive. In my years of experience as a vegan, that logic is the complete opposite of reality. The least expensive items I buy are fruits and vegetables. A lot of the produce is $1-2 per item, and some are less than $1. The most expensive things on my grocery bill are processed foods, like plant-based milk, chips, nutrition bars, and more.

If you want help buying healthier food on a budget, learn a thing or two from Plant-Based on a Budget and Cheap Lazy Vegan.

5. Have a garden.

The easiest and most awarding way to eat more produce is to have a garden. I was a farm girl, and I still like growing some of my food.

For some helpful gardening tips, check out my gardening blog posts.

6. Buy more food at the farmers’ market.

Your local farmers ' market is another excellent place to get healthy food. The food is fresher than what you can usually find in the store. Plus, you’re supporting your community by buying food from local farmers.

In college, I liked going to the nearby farmers’ market when I wasn’t busy with other activities or classes. My favorite place to buy fresh food is at the Amish auctions near where my dad grew up. They sell a lot of produce and flowers in bulk at fairly reasonable prices. If you ever want to visit Amish communities or go to their auctions, remember not to take pictures there because it’s a no-photo zone.

7. Cook more.

Even though cooking can be time-consuming, you’re more likely to save money and eat healthier with prepared dishes than with eating freezer lunches or takeout all of the time.

In the vegan community, some of the best people to turn to for vegan recipes and advice are vegan celebrities because there are plenty of them, like Natalie Portman.

8. Keep your healthy food at eye level and junk food out of sight.

It’s perfectly fine to have junk food at home and eat it, as long as it’s not for every meal. The trick to eating less junk food is hiding it in the back of the cupboard, pantry, refrigerator, or freezer. Then, have some delicious, healthy goodies in the front of where you store food.

Some healthy snacks include vegetable sticks with hummus, berries, grapes, and apples with nut butter.

9. Admit your eating flaws.

The first step towards healthier eating is admitting your eating flaws because you can only get rid of these bad habits/tendencies by saying you have them.

For example, my name is Megan McFadden. I eat fairly healthy, or at least healthy enough for some of my co-workers to say, “You eat junk food?!?” in sync after I mentioned that I sometimes eat junk food.

My biggest eating flaw is that I’m horrible at eating meals at the right time, especially supper. My body wants to eat supper around 5pm, but I eat a lot at 8pm or 9pm. The worst part about this is this delayed eating also negatively interferes with my sleep schedule.

Conclusion

While writing this blog post, I had an epiphany. I’m a major hypocrite. I don’t have any accountability buddies. I hardly use my cookbooks, and I shop all the time right before suppertime. Yet, aren’t we all hypocrites in someway?

If you liked this post, here are the differences between plant-based, vegetarian, and vegan. Follow me on your preferred social, and let me know what you think of any of these tips in the comments. Ciao! 😸