Transitioning to a raw vegan lifestyle can be an exciting experience but an overwhelming one for many. Like any lifestyle transition, it can pose a lot of challenges. I wouldn’t say there is an exact formula for the most effective lifestyle transition , but it does requires you to break old habits and take a bit of time to adopt new ones. The most common thing that happens to many when transitioning into a healthier lifestyle is they go balls to the walls in and after a couple days they fall off the wagon and give up. The worst thing you can do is beat yourself up for falling off the wagon. Remember this is not a diet this is a lifestyle transition. Studies show that it takes an average of three weeks to adopt a new habit. Below is a list of tips to help ease your way into a raw vegan lifestyle.
Start Slow and Have Fun
There are some people who are an all or nothing type of person (like me) and when they want a change they go all in. Now this approach may work for some, but the majority of people will find this approach very hard to keep and eventually fall of the wagon and back into their old eating habits. The best advice I can give is to start off slow and ease your way into this lifestyle transition. This will not only be helpful for your mind but it will also be helpful for your body to become accustomed to the increased amounts of fruits and vegetables you will be consuming regularly. Start your day off with a superfood smoothie and ditch the coffee. This will give your body the nutrients it needs to fuel you for the day ahead. Lunch can be a big salad full of your favourite vegetables. Before you know it, your taste buds will be screaming for copious amounts of kale and big banana nice cream bowl!
Plan Ahead
Like any lifestyle switch, a lot of planning and preparation is the key to success. Make sure you have an abundance of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds on hand as these are going to be the staples of your diet. Pick a day of the week ( I like Sundays) to cut up all your fruits and vegetables, soak your nuts and seeds and find recipes that you would like try. Prepping these in advance will ensure you stick to this lifestyle with ease. For those who don’t like to be in the kitchen, you are actually saving time as you won’t be cooking anything you are preparing.
Invest in Essential Kitchen Tools
Living on a raw vegan lifestyle requires using only a handful of kitchen tools. The top three kitchen equipment you will need to transition into a raw vegan diet are a high speed blender, food processor and a dehydrator. Believe me, these trusty tools will become your best friend in the kitchen and save you so much time and trouble when whipping up your favourite raw meals.
So if you think transitioning to a raw vegan lifestyle is hard, just stick to the basics: start slow, plan ahead, invest in the necessary kitchen equipment and most importantly HAVE FUN!
Tune in for part two where we teach you how to transition into a raw vegan diet using a dehydrator!
