Our Top Tips for Going Vegetarian as A Student

Your student years are the perfect time to try out new things. With vegetarian week fast approaching, we thought we’d help by giving some top tips for going vegetarian this year.

You might want to try out a few new recipes but you’re unsure where to start, or you want to try and gradually change your dietary habits by swapping out a meaty meal for a veggie meal once a week. There are no right or wrong answers to this but if you are here to try, we can help you.

Sign up for Vegetarian Week

Vegetarian week is from the 16th to the 22nd of May in 2022, and you can easily sign up for tips for going vegetarian, even if you just plan to swap out one meal for a veggie one, or you want to try the entire week.

The choice is yours, but anything little still makes a big difference. Just have a go and you’ll see how easy it is and how delicious vegetarian food can be if you give it a try.

By signing up for veggie week, you’ll be given access to tasty carbon-calculated recipes, discover all the info behind how vegetarian food helps protect our wildlife and environment, offers and discounts for fantastic veggie products, and helpful daily tips for going vegetarian that will help you create the most delicious dishes at home.

What are the benefits of becoming a vegetarian?

Before we get to our tips for going vegetarian let’s first look at the benefits of becoming a vegetarian.

During your student years, you are exposed to different lifestyles, cultures, and potential budget limitations living as a student, a vegetarian diet becomes much more appealing to many.

Lower your cholesterol

A build-up of bad cholesterol will not do your health any good at all over the long term. Cholesterol comes from animal goods, meaning vegetarian diets are cholesterol-free.

Lower your risk of diabetes

Eating a vegetarian diet lowers your blood sugar levels compared with meat-eaters. A healthy vegetarian diet is full of nutrients and contains fewer fatty acids, lowering your risk of diabetes.

Lower your risk of stroke and heart disease

Eating meat is a contributing factor to long-term health issues, such as stroke and heart disease.

High fibre diet

Eating plenty of fruit and veg helps your digestion and your body metabolism, as they also contain high fibre content.

Save money

One of the best tips for going vegetarian as a student is to think about your bank balance. You can save a lot of money by switching out meat from your diet. Buying beans, lentils, nuts, and vegetables can be done in bulk for the week ahead and cost you very little in comparison with a shop that includes meat.

Top tips for going vegetarian

1. Don’t rush into things

It can be difficult to completely switch your habits from one day to the next, whatever it is you’re trying to change.

One of the best ways you can become a vegetarian for the long term is to gradually change your habits over time. You can do this by starting with one day a week where you eat no meat, and gradually change your tastebuds and meal prep along the way until you are completely vegetarian (if this is what you want to do).

2. Simple swaps for veggie alternatives

One of the best ways to start is to look at the types of food you already eat and look at meatless alternatives. This isn’t for every vegetarian, but it can be daunting to consider what you can or should be eating when first switching to vegetarianism.

By trying meatless burgers, Linda McCartney sausages, or one of the countless other meat and dairy-free alternatives to every product you can imagine, you are making a good start in making a positive change to your lifestyle.

3. Prepare for bumps along the way

Don’t be too hard on yourself if things don’t go according to plan right away though.

There is no need to label yourself as a vegetarian or anything else for that matter. If you eat a meaty meal one day when you’d planned a veggie, it’s not the end of the world if you are still planning on shifting your eating habits long-term.

4. Try out easy recipes

To begin with, the best way to get into the habit of eating vegetarian is to follow veggie recipes.

There are loads around the internet and it’s the best way to stock your cupboard with the right types of ingredients and to try out new things. Once you’ve got a few you like you can start to rotate them every week and slowly move away from strict recipes and create your own tasty veggie dishes!

5. Cook as a household

One of the best ways to change your habits is to have the support of others.

Speak to your flatmates and if others are interested in trying vegetarianism, or you live with veggies who are happy to offer advice, why not cook together as a household? Cooking together in your student apartment is a great way to have fun, bond and become lifelong friends, and stick with a positive change for the long term.

Become a veggie in 2022

Living independently as a student gives you the best chance to find new ways to live, shape your character and try out new things.

You might have wondered about becoming a vegetarian in the past, but you were not sure how to go about it, that’s completely fine. With our tips for going vegetarian, you can make a big difference to our environment, cut your spending budget, and get to know your flatmates a bit better in your student apartment.

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you do still eat a meal with meat, and maybe prepare to gradually shift how you eat rather than put the pressure on you to change dramatically from one day to the next.