New Year’s Resolutions

Veg*nize the new year

Whether you’ve been a veg*n for years or just think it might be time to cut down on your meat consumption, the start of a new year is a great time to make changes to your eating habits, so here are some new year’s resolutions you might want to consider.

Also see New Year’s recipes.
 

Become a vegetarian
If you are considering becoming a vegetarian for any reason, be it ethical, environmental, or health, the more informed you are, the better able you’ll be to make a decision. My article explains how to become a vegetarian, and why anyone would want to in the first place.

Think about your nutrition
A vegetarian diet can be very healthy, but it is not inherently so. Just cutting meat out of your meals does not automatically assure you all the benefits of the vegetarian diet – in order to be healthy, you need to eat healthy food, vegetarian or not.

Make your own staples
Vegetarian and vegan staples like non-dairy milk, nut butters, and shortening can all be made quickly and easily in your own kitchen. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also avoid all of those preservatives and weird ingredients found in many supermarket products.

Choose better oils
For decades, common nutritional wisdom proclaimed that fat and oil were bad, bad, bad. In recent years, nutritionists and doctors have determined that not all fat is bad; in fact, some of it is not only good for you, but essential.

Choose a better sweetener
You might think that sugar is perfectly fine for vegetarians – though not necessarily for teeth and waistlines. In fact, the most common types of  sugar are often filtered through bone char.

Cook your own beans
It really, truly is not difficult to soak and cook beans, and it only requires about 15 minutes of "hands on" time. Plus you can control exactly how much salt is added and how many preservatives aren’t.

Eat organic
Whether you are a vegetarian for ethical, health, or environmental reasons, organic products complement your beliefs and goals.

Eat local
The farther your food has to travel, the more fossil fuels get consumed and the more pollution gets added to the environment. Whenever possible, choose local foods over imported ones. One of the best ways to do this is by shopping at a farmer’s market or cooperative.

Get in shape
Yoga provides an excellent workout for mind, body, and soul.

 
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