4 Ways You Can Eat LESS animal products

Plant-based diets are becoming exceedingly common. Whether it’s for religious reasons, animal rights or to protect the environment, more and more people are choosing to go vegan or vegetarian and choosing to eat less animal products.

Animals, Cow, Livestock, Beef, Farm, Agriculture eat less animal products — P.S. cows are super cute.

1. Switching it up

This first tip is pretty self-explanatory. Switch up your animal products for veggie options.

Start using almond milk or oat milk in your morning coffee. Barrista Oat milk froths up just as well as milk! This one is my go-to, by Earth’s Own! And order a veggie burger next time you’re eating out. Modern plant-based meat tastes almost identical to real meat once BBQ & seasoned well!

Burger, Veggie, Vegetarian, Vegan, Vegetarian Food eat less animal products — Veggie burgers are phenomenal.

You don’t have to switch up your entire fridge right away. If your goal is to stop eating any animal products, this is a great way to slowly work your way up to that. If your goal is to reduce your intake then you can try this for a couple of foods you wouldn’t mind replacing. Whether you want to become a complete vegan or eat less meat products, exchanging some animal products with plant-based versions can be extremely helpful. Anyone who has ever tried a Vegan key lime cheesecake can tell you that they do not miss the commercial version with dairy. Typically made from frozen cashew milk, this vegan dessert is heavenly!

2.Occasional Vegetarian/Vegan

Smoothies, Fruits, Colorful, Vitamins, Healthy, Fruit eat less animal products — Replace the milk in your smoothies with nut, coconut, or rice milk! Brown rice milk is delicious in banana smoothies.

Ok, you’ve tried and found that suddenly cutting out animal products is hard and in some cases impossible. Start by choosing certain days, on which you will eat like a vegetarian/vegan. Be vegetarian on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. This is a great way to ease into a more plant-based lifestyle! By having a certain number of animal produce days free, you will improve your body, mind, soul, and the world around you!

You can gradually add more meatless days to your calendar and before you know it you will have achieved your goal. It is also great for people who do not want to become full-on vegans/vegetarians but would still like to limit their meat and dairy intake.

3. Educate yourself on the topic

Girl, Woman, Read, Book, Sit, Nature, River, Learn -eat less animal products — You do not have to be an expert, but being knowledgeable is always better than being uninformed.

I will save you some time. There is an overwhelming body of evidence to support the wonders of going completely vegan and also enough peer-reviewed studies that think it’s not a healthy option… So, do not go with the “studies” go with YOUR body. How do you feel? Does your blood work look good?

Thinking differently about the meat on our plates and the milk in our glasses can drastically change our habits, try to eat less animal products. A great documentary you can watch is Before The Flood. It deals with environmental issues and explains them so that they are clear and understandable in an entertaining way. Being informed can help change your perspective and eventually help you make more sustainable decisions in terms of food, clothing, and everything else.

You do not have to become a vegan but knowing more about your food and its environmental footprint can be extremely helpful in the long-run. There are tons of great documentaries and books about sustainable lifestyles waiting for you to discover them!

4. Be realistic

Joy, Freedom, Release, Happy, Happiness, Girl, Summer — Stay happy!

Making huge adjustments to your diet is hard no matter how passionate you are, but you can eat less animal products slowly. Do not force yourself to do things that will ultimately make you unhappy.

Checking with your health care professional before changing a large chunk of your diet can be very beneficial. An example of this is the lack of vitamin B12 in many vegan diets. Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products and is essential for proper red blood cell formation, neurological function, and DNA synthesis. You may have to take supplements to continue living a healthy life.

Do your best to help save the environment but make sure to not neglect your own needs. Eating more plant-based should be enjoyable, not torturous!

Limiting your meat and dairy intake is a great way to help the environment. Together we can try our best to heal the earth and make better and more opinionated choices regarding our diets and eat less animal products. Stay healthy and happy! As long as you’re doing the best you can, you’re doing great!

How do you eat more plant-based? Don’t hesitate to share your tips with us! Let’s help each other live more sustainable lives. Not ready yet? That’s ok – reading this blog was already a STEP 1. Once you get your diet on the sustainable fast track, tackle your closet!