The great thing about having few hard and fast rules about plant-based diets is just that: they can easily be adjusted to fit your lifestyle. Plant-based eating doesn't require overhauling your current eating patterns. "You don't need to buy specialty foods," says Blatner. She suggests focusing on what you can have versus the foods you're cutting back on. "You can basically keep eating what you love, just swap in plant proteins!"
Along those lines, "small, attainable changes made over time are much more sustainable than a complete diet overhaul," adds Murphy. "Start replacing animal-based foods in your diet with plant-based products over time rather than going completely vegan overnight." She suggests starting with easy swaps like using soy or oat milk instead of dairy milk, and then adding more replacements later.
You may already have some go-to meals that don't require any adjustments at all. "Take a look at your diet and see if any of your favourite foods are already vegan or vegetarian and build from there," Murphy says. "For example, like peanut butter and jelly? Great! You already have one vegan option."