Live Chat: Top Tips for How to Go Vegan for Veganuary – Sharon Palmer, The Plant Powered Dietitian

In this Live Chat, Sharon Palmer, the Plant-Powered Dietitian shares her own personal plant-based journey, as well as her best tips for how to go vegan for Veganuary.

The new year is an exciting time and a great opportunity to make positive changes. We’re refreshed from the excitement of the holidays. And the prospect of a fresh start in January also invites us to reflect upon our goals. How can we build health and happiness moving forward? One way to take advantage of this momentum is to celebrate Veganuary, which is a popular movement that encourages people to try going vegan for one month in January. Taking a month-long vegan challenge is a fun way to test out how a plant-based lifestyle works for you. And, participating in Veganuary can benefit your health, the environment, and animal welfare. Whether it’s a steppingstone to committing to a more plant-based lifestyle beyond January, or just a short-term experiment to kickstart the new year, participating in Veganuary can set you up for success by giving you insight into how to plan a vegan diet, as well as how to enjoy healthy, delicious vegan meals. 

Usually in my Live Chats I’m the host asking the questions. Today’s episode is a little different; dietetic intern Adele Secrest is asking the questions and I’m giving my personal insights on my own plant-based journey and unique, professional plant-based nutrition expertise. You’ll learn why I went plant-based, my perspectives on why right now is the best time to go plant-based, and my practical advice on how to eat vegan and stick with it if you’re so inclined. Check out my Live Chat below, as well as a transcript from my interview, my favorite plant-based resources, what you’ll learn from this interview, and my best Veganuary recipe. 

Check out the Live Chat on Eating Plant-Based for Veganuary here. 

What You’ll Learn in This Live Chat:

• Sharon’s personal plant-based journey
• Sharon’s expert nutrition advice on how to eat a balanced, healthy plant-based diet
• Sharon’s top tips on how to go vegan
• The benefits of vegan and plant-based diets
• How to address some of the stumbling blocks for eating plant-based
• How Veganuary can be the impetus for moving to a more plant-based diet, even if you don’t want to go completely vegan forever. 

Sharon Palmer’s Plant-Based Resources

How To Go Plant-Based for Veganuary with Sharon Palmer, The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Q: How do you view Veganuary and how can people get started in it?

Sharon: I think it’s a great opportunity, because research has shown that up to 50% of people are interested in eating more plant-based diets, depending on what survey you’re looking at. More and more people are cutting back on their meat intake. Veganuary is this opportunity for people who are curious about this lifestyle to give it a try. And even if you only want to do it for one month, you can reduce your environmental footprint significantly. You can have health benefits, and it can also introduce you to a lifestyle without making a long term commitment.

To share a little bit about my story, I started eating vegan as a month long challenge but it wasn’t during January. It was during the summer. But I had been eating a vegetarian diet for a number of years. I was raised in a semi-vegetarian home. And in research for my first book, “The Plant-Powered Diet,” I decided I really needed to understand what it was like to be vegan, even if I didn’t want to stick with it permanently. I decided I’m going to do a one month challenge, because how can I be a nutrition expert and not experience that? 

So that challenge really convinced me that it wasn’t really that hard. It felt great. I just felt so good about my place in the world, because I knew that my diet not only had lower environmental footprints, but it was also providing me with health benefits. I felt really good about myself because of the feeling that with your diet you’re doing the best you can. You’re improving animal welfare because you’re not contributing to the suffering of animals. You’re reducing your footprint on the planet. I felt really good about that.

Q: So what was going through your head leading up to deciding to take on that challenge? I know you said you were working on a book. Was there anything specific at the forefront of your mind going into the challenge?

Sharon: Well, I have to say at the beginning, because I was eating a vegetarian diet before, at the beginning it was more like a journalistic nutrition expert sort of a challenge, because I felt as a dietitian expert that I really needed to understand this from personal experience. I mean, I feel like we can’t really help the public and our clients until we experience things ourselves. So to experience the diet really meant I knew what the challenges were going to be like for people, and I knew exactly what people were going to have to go through at the grocery store. It came from wanting to understand the viewpoint. 

And then I found that I really love the lifestyle. So I just went full bore, and I had been playing around with the idea of trying veganism for a long time. I have been a vegan now, going on 11 years. And I was a vegetarian before that.

But at that time veganism was not as socially prominent. It was still a little bit on the margins. There was kickback that I received, especially from the nutrition world. But now there’s just so much more acceptance with more and more research coming out on this lifestyle. It’s really easier today than it ever was to start a plant-based challenge.

But there were a lot of things that I really wanted to experience, and I had been wanting to try veganism. But I was just a little bit afraid, and I think a lot of people are. There’s a little bit of fear about the social acceptance, about how hard it’s going to be and how you’re going to feel. And I found that I was able to meet those challenges. AndI really enjoy this lifestyle. I would never go back.

Q: How has the viewpoint of veganism shifted in the general public and with nutrition professionals? How would you explain that cultural shift?

Sharon: The viewpoint absolutely has shifted. 10 or 15 years ago it was really not as accepted as it is now. The research on veganism has really just piled up in the last 2 decades. It’s really started coming forward. But historically, in the nutritional world, veganism was always looked at as scary and not safe, because you might miss out on nutrients you need. It was looked at almost like a fad diet. You’ll still see some of that, but it’s changing because of the research that is showing benefits. 

So today it’s just so interesting because I was invited to speak for a whole week long in Hilton Head at a health resort over the fall on plant-based eating, and these are people from all over the United States coming into this health resort. And I met so many people from around the world. Their physicians had basically told them, “I want you to go on a plant-based diet because of major health issues.”  So this is really changing, it didn’t used to happen so literally. They came to meet with me for a whole week because their physicians told them to do that. So it is encouraging.

Q: In a wider context, what resources do we have to go vegan now that make it easier than it used to be? Or is there anything that’s still confusing?

Sharon: That’s a great question, and there are so many more resources now, and I think most people have noticed this. I remember when I wrote “The Plant-Powered Diet”, my first book on plant-based eating, you would have tofu, soy milk and almond milk. And you had some small amount of plant-based cheese, maybe some shreds. And now you see it all in the supermarket. You have a whole section of alternative dairy products. You have so many different meat alternatives. So it’s much easier because of all these products. And that also brings up social acceptance, because every day people are seeing these products and stores. Now it’s not so unusual to grab a carton of soy milk or some almond yogurt or some meat alternatives, because everybody’s eating them.

It is much more mainstream. There are more resources. People have read the reports on benefits. We were talking about Veganuary. The website has tons of resources about challenges, and now you have other organizations that provide resources. PCRM (The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine) is a great resource for handouts, challenges, articles. I love the Vegetarian Resource Group as well. And my own blog at SharonPalmer.com has tons of resources, like a free toolkit for trying a vegan diet. So there are a lot of great resources out there.

I do want to make sure people go to good sources for information. If you do want to try a vegan diet, make sure you’re looking for scientifically sourced resources by a nutrition expert, someone like a registered dietitian or a well respected organization like PCRM. There is a lot of quacky stuff out there. I see some vegan nutrition information that I would not trust. 

Make sure you’re looking for good, reputable sources if you are going to try vegan diets. It’s important to eat a balanced diet. One of the worst things people can do, and I see this all the time, is try a vegan challenge, but they don’t do it in a healthful way. And then they feel bad, and then they give it up and say, “Veganism was not for me.” Because they didn’t do it well, and that’s just such a wasted opportunity. 

So really one of the suggestions I have, if you want to really try a vegan challenge, take one week before you actually do the challenge to get yourself organized and do some reading. Don’t just start tomorrow without being prepared. You have to get your kitchen stocked with the right foods. And you have to have an idea of what you’re going to be eating every day, and you have to meet your nutrient needs to feel healthy and well.

So take a week to get yourself organized before you actually start. Because then you want to do it well, so that you actually get the benefits of it.

Q: So what else would you say to somebody who’s interested in going vegan and wants to make it last? What else can they do besides planning? How can somebody go vegan and stay vegan?

Sharon: So my first tip was to get organized, and then my second tip is to set up your pantry for success, which is part of that planning idea. Really start understanding what foods you’re going to be eating. For example, the plant proteins are really the biggest area, because you’re basically eliminating animal proteins and eating plant proteins. So familiarize yourself with what those proteins are going to be like. You’re going to be eating pulses every day.  This includes beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas. You’re also going be eating tofu, tempeh, nuts and peanut butter. Those are your protein sources. And then you’re going to be eating more whole grains which also contribute protein, and then lots of vegetables and fruits. So just make sure you stock your pantry up so that you’ve got those foods available.

Also get some really easy recipe ideas that you can just make as a go-to. For example, one of my very favorite breakfasts is a porridge of steel cut oats with whatever fruit is in season with some nuts and soy milk.

A power bowl is another thing that I love to recommend, because a power bowl is like a planned meal in a bowl, so you don’t have to think about what you’re eating. You’ve got your whole grain as the foundation. Then you add some plant protein. Maybe that’s tofu, tempeh or chickpeas. Then you add tons of veggies and a flavorful sauce. So there’s no planning. That’s just an easy meal that you could have for any lunch or dinner. So create some really easy meals that you know you’ll have ready to go.

Then also do a little reading about how to plan your diet well, so that you’re meeting your nutrient needs.

And one other thing I like to recommend is to check out your community. Look and see what stores have the best plant-based offerings. A lot of your natural food stores tend to have more. Find a farmer’s market in your community, depending on your season. I live in California. Here, the farmer’s market is year round. You’ll have so much fun eating all those seasonal fruits and veggies. Also look for restaurants in your community. Find some really good restaurants that have some vegan options. Then you get to treat yourself a little.

Q: Where do you recommend people go to look for healthy recipes?

Sharon: I have tons on my site at SharonPalmer.com. I post recipes every week. You can sign up for my newsletter on my homepage at SharonPalmer.com, and you’ll get recipes delivered straight to your inbox. You can also just go and search. There’s a category search button there, so I’ve got recipes for easy meals. I’ve got recipes for breakfast, lunch, salads, desserts, everything. But there are lots of great blogs out there that are plant-based and lots of great books. I have cookbooks too. “California Vegan” is my latest cookbook that has a lot of recipes, too. These days there are so many great recipes. 

I don’t want people to think that being in challenges is really hard, it doesn’t have to be. I don’t want you to feel like you have to cook all these special meals every day. Because for some people that’s a barrier, they think, “Oh, I don’t have time. I work full time.” It doesn’t have to be any more time consuming than your current way of eating. It’s just a little bit of organization: finding some easy meals you can meal prep on Sunday or whatever day you’re not working.

It can be super easy things like: a sandwich with peanut butter and jelly, or baked tofu, with lettuce and tomatoes, a grain bowl, tacos with black beans. It can be easy. It doesn’t have to be overly complicated.

I know it does take time. But anytime you’re committing to your health it is going to take a little bit more time than just going to eat fast food. Although I like to challenge people because I have a lot of 30 minute meals. I like to say, “By the time you order fast food and wait for it to get to your house, you could have finished cooking a plant-based meal. And you would save a lot of money, and have less packaging going to the landfill.”

Q: What would you say to somebody who is interested in going vegan for the animals or for the environment, but is worried they won’t be healthy on a vegan diet?

Sharon: Well, first of all, research shows that people who eat vegan diets tend to have lower risks of all the chronic diseases, and this has been pretty well borne out in research. The landmark “Adventist Health Studies” from Loma Linda University, where I went to school, were the first to identify these benefits of plant-based diets. They found that generally the more plant-based the diet was, the higher the level of benefits for conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, inflammation, diabetes, obesity. So, even if you were vegetarian, you did better than the omnivores. But the vegans did the best overall. Now, other studies have confirmed those results.

Of course the main thing is eating a balanced vegan diet. These days you can eat vegan junk food just like any other diet. French fries and coca cola are vegan junk foods. So it’s all about the healthful plant-based diet filled with whole plant foods as much as possible.

It can be done. You just have to do a little planning. And you can get health benefits. Even children have benefits from eating vegan diets.

Q: What other messages do you have to the general public? What sorts of things do you think people are just generally confused about with veganism or strategies for going vegan?

Sharon: One of the things I touched on is the social aspect, and I think that’s really important for people. It can be a little isolating. You can feel different, and I actually have a couple of blogs on my site at SharonPalmer.com with advice on the social aspects of going plant-based.

For example, a lot of people I know who are going vegan don’t want to cause trouble. You don’t want to go to a meal and have people go out of their way to make something special for you, and that feeling of being different can be really hard for people.

I know you don’t want to make a scene, you don’t want to ask anything special, but your host generally is going to want to know if you’re invited to something, and you are on a vegan diet.

The worst thing that can happen to them is if you show up, and then you’re sitting there with an empty plate. So don’t feel bad. Just nicely say what your dietary preferences are and then volunteer to bring something so that you take the stress off them.

That’s my strategy whenever I go out. I just say, “Oh, by the way, I eat a plant-based diet. But I would like to bring an entree.” Generally, it’s the vegetables and the side dishes that you can find vegan options. I’ve been doing this for years, and people love what I bring, and it introduces my diet to other people. They realize “Oh, this is beautiful. It tastes so good.” 

I was at a big party before COVID and I brought one of my vegan lasagnas, which is packed with super colorful vegetables. It’s really delicious. It’s the Mediterranean baked lasagna on my blog. And I put it right next to a big meat lasagna. And guess who’s lasagna went first? It was the vegan one, and nobody even knew. I didn’t say a word. I just put it there. Mine went before the other one, and nobody even noticed. They just all were talking about how delicious it was.

There are ways that you’ll learn to navigate the social side of veganism. It’s also really great to find your tribe, your community, even if you have somebody to go on the challenge with. Nutrition, eating and food are a huge part of our lives, and we want to enjoy that.

A decade ago I would be the only vegan at an event. Now it’s so common living in California. I’m rarely the only vegan at an event now. At the bare minimum there will be several vegetarians or semi-vegetarians who prefer not to eat animal food. So I’m never the only one anymore. It just shows you this trajectory. The latest surveys have shown more and more people are eating a plant-based diet. So this has been a trend, and it’s continuing to be a trend.

Q: How can you make a vegan diet budget friendly?

Sharon: People think it’s going to be expensive. I think it’s because they feel like they have to go buy all these very expensive ingredients, like alternative meat. But the least expensive protein source on the planet is beans. It’s the cheapest plant protein, or protein source in general. Tofu is also inexpensive. So if you’re eating things like beans and tofu, you’re gonna save money. 

And I know vegetables can be expensive. But if you use seasonal vegetables and use frozen vegetables, you can make that less expensive. Whole grains are a good bargain too. If you’re eating more simple plant foods, you’re going to save money.

Here are some of my favorite quick and easy plant-based recipes to help you succeed in Veganuary:

About Sharon 

Known as The Plant-Powered Dietitian, Sharon has established an award-winning career in the field of plant-based nutrition and  sustainability. As a widely recognized registered dietitian in the global community, Sharon is an accomplished writer, editor, blogger,  author, speaker, professor, advisor, and media expert. In particular, she has gained recognition for her expertise in plant-based nutrition  and sustainability. Sharon has authored over 1000 articles in a variety of publications, including Better Homes and Gardens, Oprah  Magazine, and LA Times. Her book The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning  Today (The Experiment, July 2012) was a critical success, which was followed by her second book Plant-Powered for Life: Eat Your  Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps & 125 Delicious Recipes in July 2014. Her latest book, California Vegan: Inspiration  and Recipes from the People and Places of the Golden State, was published on March 15, 2021. And her fourth book, The Plant-Powered Plan to Beat Diabetes, is available for pre-order now. 

Sharon also has contributed to several book chapters on nutrition and sustainability. She serves as the nutrition editor for Today’s Dietitian, adjunct faculty in the MS of Sustainable Food Systems Program at Prescott College, nutrition consultant for several organizations such as AICR and Oldways, and co-founder of Food and Planet. Sharon presents frequently at conferences, and is a weekly contributing nutrition expert in the media, including print, online, radio, podcasts, television, social media, videos, and film. Sharon enjoys organizing farm and sustainability tours across the world, including her collaboration on her Italian Alps Sustainability Food Tour. Sharon recently completed her Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems from Green Mountain College in Vermont. 

And she still has time to blog every day for her popular online community (400 K members strong and growing) at SharonPalmer.com, The Plant-Powered Dietitian. Living in the sustainability mecca of Ojai, California with her husband and two dogs, Sharon enjoys tending to her own organic garden, visiting the local farmers market, volunteering in local environmental organizations, and cooking for friends and family.  

For more plant-powered inspiration, check out some of my other Plant Live Chats and Plant Chat Interviews: