I really enjoy interactions with my Twitter followers as I not only learn things myself constantly but also get great questions that help me educate and help others along the way, too, about a Vegan Athlete Diet. Bonus!
This post is based on a question from someone recently. It fits right into my efforts to help educate people about Practical Plant-Based Performance:
How do I get my spouse to eat less meat?!
Some of my tips or answers to this might seem obvious but hopefully seeing them as a list will help a few of you out there in a similar situation.
1. Your spouse needs to want to make this change themselves. (Duh, I know, but you can help SUPPORT not SHOVE, so their willingness has to be there.)
2. Focus on how starting some plant-based nutrition changes will benefit your spouse, not all the reasons they should not do other things that are currently habits. (How many of us like to be preached to about what NOT to do?)
3. Start with some consistent, small yet steady steps to build new habits in a less threatening way. Here are some possibilities:
- One meal a week as plant-based
- A few snacks a week completely plant-based
- Smaller animal-derived portions for favorite meals
- etc.
4. While keeping most other nutrition and exercise parameters similar, encourage your spouse to monitor overall mood, energy levels, body weight, exercise recovery and other nutrition-driven results. Concrete results help people keep consistent.
5. Encourage your spouse to engage with other like-minded individuals making similar changes AND with those that are a few steps ahead of you. It’s helpful to have someone walking next to you AND a few paces ahead to inspire you further.
6. Start with recipes that seem simple enough yet interesting enough to begin with. Help lower the barriers to success by steering clear of complicated and/or blah-sounding recipes for your spouse.
7. Make it enjoyable! You & your spouse are investing time & energy for health but use creativity to make it fun as well. Host a weekly or monthly pot-luck where everyone brings their favorite plant-based dish or dessert. Share the journey with others, learn from others and celebrate mini-successes with others.
I hope this serves a few of you! If you’re able to incorporate some of these that help OR find others of your own, feel free to add your comment to this Vegan Athlete Diet post.
by Sean O’Meara