Label-free Jan
I am actually very pleasantly surprised with how relatively calm the people I follow online are right now about food, detoxes, resets, ”new year, new you” content etc. A lot of people seem to be talking about the new year with an air of caution and a much more relaxed approach, and I am here for it.
With that said, I have noticed quite a few ads popping up for Veganuary - an annual challenge run by a UK non-profit organisation that promotes and educates about veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. While I think that Veganuary is awesome, I consume about an 80 - 20 plant-based vs. everything else based diet, and at first glance doing Veganuary seems right up my alley, I have decided that I will not be partaking in Veganuary this year and here’s why.
Around 2018, I started trying more plant-based recipes and exploring some of the plant-based products popping up in the UK. I started following several vegan and vegetarian bloggers, and was loving all the creative ways of cooking with whole foods and plants. When I started getting more interested in plant-based cuisine, I wasn’t actually driven by health, environmental or animal welfare reasons, I was just genuinely enjoying what I was learning and eating.
In 2019 I watched a couple of documentaries about the environment which shed a lot of light around industrial agriculture and the impact of animal product consumption on the environment. I knew that things were bad, but I didn’t realise just how bad. I quickly discovered that by reducing my meat consumption, I could help to reduce the damage that animal agriculture does to the environment. This was enough for me to start drastically decreasing my meat consumption and stepping up my plant-based cooking tendencies.
I also read an incredible book called Fibre Fueled which is all about the benefits of a plant-based diet on your health. What I loved about it, was the emphasis on eating as many diverse plant options as possible. I loved the idea of adding versus taking away. The book definitely leans in the direction of recommending adopting a fully plant-based diet vs. just eating lots of fruits and vegetables, but there wasn’t shaming around eating animal products. Again, it was all about, “how many different plants can I add to my diet today”?
I then watched Seaspiracy and Cowspiracy basically back-to-back and was blown away. Shortly after, my partner and I agreed that starting April 1, 2021, we’d try going Vegan for a month. It was the longest I’d ever gone without eating meat, fish or dairy, but we didn’t stick to it. I felt a bit ashamed about the fact that we didn’t stick to it, but the idea of sticking to it felt very overwhelming to me, and I decided to honour that voice inside me that was resisting adopting the label of Vegan or even Plant-based. I also decided that beating myself up wasn’t going to do me any good.
What I learned from trying to go vegan was…
There are certain foods that bring me joy and I am not ready to give them up permanently.
I don’t personally like labels for myself when it comes to food. At this point, a dietary label doesn’t support the intuitive, positive relationship I want to create and maintain with food.
Maintaining a healthy relationship with food and a more intuitive approach to me means allowing myself the flexibility to eat meat, fish and dairy occasionally if I want to.
Focusing on what can I add, vs. what can I take away feels liberating to me.
Calling food good vs. bad can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, and I am working on neutralizing the language I use about food.
I don’t have to be “perfect” when it comes to food, but I have an opportunity to make choices that can impact how I feel.
The questions I ask myself about food *without judgement* are:
How does this food make me feel when I eat it? Do I feel…Hungrier? Lethargic? Energised?
Am I thirsty or am I hungry?
Am I hungry or bored/stressed/tired? What do I actually need right now?
How can I make sure I’m eating foods that make me feel full?
I do not have a background in nutrition whatsoever, but I am passionate about health and I am passionate about my mind and body feeling good.
A dietary label isn’t something I’m ready to adopt at this point because for me personally, it feels claustrophobic when I think about it. However, adding as many nutritious foods that I love to my diet as possible (which mainly means plants) DOES feel right to me right now, and so that’s what I’m going to continue to do.
My relationship with food is very much a work in progress, but I can feel that this conscious decision not to label myself feels aligned with who I am right now and who I want to be. This may change overtime, but right now I’m honouring the feelings that I’m having about my diet and food in order to continue the healthiest relationship with food possible.
If you’re struggling with overwhelming health-related New Year messaging in the media, I encourage you to be kind to yourself and to focus on what’s truly best for you.
