Hi there, Megs here, or as of lately Meegan the Vegan. This name hasn’t caught on yet, not because it’s not catchy, but because I did in fact decided to go vegan this past summer. It’s just horribly ironic that it rhymes with my name, given the lack of understanding my parents have in regards to my change of diet.
Give it a try
There may be lots of reason you’re reading this, maybe you want to give veganism a try, maybe you’re vegan or vegetarian already, maybe it’s for a nutrition class, maybe you’re just curious or want to make fun of vegans… which’s totally okay. Whatever the case, everyone has their own conceptions and connotations that come to their mind when they hear “vegan”. I know I did. My friend in Colorado went vegan a while back and I made fun of her constantly. Who would’ve thought… a year later we would be chatting about environmental issues over homemade hummus.
Anyways… that’s enough about me. Let’s talk about a big, ambitious word called “transition”. College is probably the most transformative time in a person’s life. Not only in the sense, that you’re picking up and moving every few months and learning new material from different professors every fifteen weeks, but also in a more complex sense of forming a self-identity and lifestyle. Which’s why I argue that college is the perfect opportunity to also transform your diet into one that’s more wholesome as well as ethically and environmentally minded. While in the university environment you have such a safety net: from a huge variety of options through on-campus dining, to a community of others that can help you such as fellow-vegan peers, nutrition and health professors, and an on-campus health center. So give it a go and see yourself have more energy, lose a few pounds and get rid of that acne all while taking care of the planet.
How to take care of your body on a vegan diet:
- Get a b-12 supplement
- Make sure you’re getting alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid
- Protein and fiber!! Okay, first of all, you don’t need as much protein as you may think. We should actually be focusing more on fiber than on protein for healthy diets. If you want to learn more about this, watch What the Health, it’s a great documentary that can be found on Netflix. It’ll blow your mind and is honestly what pushed me towards veganism.
- When it comes to getting the nutrients you need on a vegan diet I am no expert and YouTube has become my best friend. Follow this link for a starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKwnMCEp3HM&t=403s
What I eat here at UP:
Breakfast:
- Smoothies from the Anchor! You pick a bottled smoothie and they will add banana, honey, and plant-based protein to it (when you order make sure you tell them to hold the yogurt or ask if they have a dairy-free option)
- Make your own smoothies! I have a stock of spinach leaves, orange juice, applesauce, chia seeds, banana, berries and other fruits to make my own smoothies for perfect on the go meals
- Acai bowls! On the weekdays I get them from Pilot House, they’re huge and will fill you up and energize you for the day! (I always ask them to hold to yogurt and sub it for extra fruit)
- Acai bowls, part two!! They have smaller ones in the Commons on weekends. Usually, they have dairy-free yogurt and a great selection of fruits. (The perfect pick-me-up for lazy or productive weekends.)
- Oatmeal! You can get instant oatmeal from Mack’s Market, make it in two minutes, add some more berries or seeds that they have sitting out and you have yourself a wholesome, perfect start to your day.
Pro Tip: Use the UP app. Go to the dining tab, select filters and then select vegan to view the vegan options available that day.
Lunch & Dinner
- Vegetarian burgers with no cheese… the ones at the Pilot House are really good. (Sometimes they have vegan mayo at both Pilot House and The Commons, you just have to ask)
- Salads!! In both the Commons and Pilot House there are so many ways to get creative and try new veggies, beans and seeds!
- Vegan pizza from the Commons! It only comes around every once in a while, usually on Mondays, and is so yummy.
- Pretty much everything else. UP has so many more vegan considerations than you originally see with the naked eye. Most of the time if you hold the cheese and switch to a plant-based protein, you’ve made something vegan. If you’re ever unsure just ask if it’s dairy-free. I would advise doing this even if something looks dairy free because butter can be so dang sneaky.
- Sandwiches from the Commons. I usually get hummus or vegan pesto with all the veggies.
Snacks (All can be found at Mack’s Market!)
- Avocado with some hot sauce and chili powder
- Chop up a banana and some berries! Enjoy it topped with honey, almond butter and chia seeds.
- Trail mix
- Humus (good source of protein) or cashew spread (good source of probiotics) with whole wheat bread, tortilla chips, or pita bread
- Mango or raspberry sorbet (pro tip: sorbet should always dairy-free, however, sherbert is usually made with skim milk)
- Dairy free Ben and Jerry’s
- Anything with dark chocolate
- Oreos!!
Additional food for thought:
Go easy on yourself if/when you slip up. When you’re hanging out with friends at 2:00 am and your friends order Domino’s and you eat a piece of pepperoni pizza it’s okay; you’re not going to get thrown in vegan jail! On the other hand, once people find out you’re vegan they’ll start to become the vegan police. You’ll hear, “you can’t eat that” and “are you allowed to eat that?” all the time. When it comes down to it, what you put in your body has nothing to do with other people.
Part of the transition to a plant-based diet is how to navigate the social implications that come with it. Here are two tips I can give:
1) Don’t let the haters bring you down! People will make fun of you and will question you but you just gotta remember that you’re making conscious and active choices that are beneficial to both you and the environment. If someone’s gotta hate on that it’s their problem, not yours.
2) Be confident! When it comes to talking about it or ordering food don’t be pushy but also don’t comprise your decisions and beliefs.
Being a flexitarian is dope too! If you want to go vegan or vegetarian but don’t want to fully commit or aren’t able to, just do what you can. Every little bit counts for both your personal health and for the environment. This’s also key when it comes to transitioning. You don’t have to cut out all dairy and meat all at once. Give yourself a little wiggle room because your self-comfort’s key to confidently changing your diet.