Top Ten Tips For Switching To A Whole Food, Plant-Based Vegan Diet

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MEET THE KROCKS: We are a married couple who started on a life-changing whole food, plant-based weight loss journey in June 2018. To date, we have lost over 290 pounds combined and we aren’t done yet! Read Our Story

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It’s almost January and I know a lot of people are out there looking for a new diet to follow. We’ve been there SO many times before and in June of 2018, we finally got started on a path that led us to where we are today – 300 pounds lighter and a whole lot happier!

Since we have lived through it, we thought we’d put together some of our best tips for making the switch to a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet.

Before we get started – you should know that this isn’t a “diet” for us. It was a total lifestyle change. We aren’t planning on going “back” to eating the way we were before. This is it for us!

Check out a summary of the tips below and watch the video for a more in-depth look.

If you are new to us, check out these links to learn more about our journey:

How We Got Started On Our Whole Food, Plant-Based Weight Loss Journey
How We Lost 270 Pounds (The “Secret” To Our Weight Loss)
One Year Weigh-In: WFPB Weight Loss Update + Non-Scale Victories
Q&A: Ten Personal Questions With The Krocks
Q&A: Our 290 Pound Weight Loss Journey
What We Eat In A Day For Weight Loss

NOTE: We are not nutrition experts. We do not give out medical advice.
Contact your doctor if you have any concerns involving this diet. (Read More)

#1 – Do Your RESEARCH

There are so many different plant-based doctors with varying plans for following a WFPB diet. Read about the basics of this way of eating and check out some of the books (linked below) for more information before you just jump right in. We are not experts – we are just sharing our experience – so it is good to read information provided by these doctors. This information, combined with checking out materials from people like us, will give you a well-rounded understanding of how a WFPB diet works.

#2 – Document everything

Take photos often and get bloodwork done before you start. Seeing the progress throughout your adventure will keep you going. It is always good to have a baseline for where you started so you can really track the tangible progress you are making.

#3 – Make RULES

We like structure, so we had to pick a plan and stay consistent with it from the very beginning. We started out following the “6 Week Plan” from Eat To Live, which provided us with a lot of structure. Have conversations with your loved ones about how you will handle certain situations like travel or eating out at restaurants. Whether or not they are following the same diet as you, it is good for them to know your intentions and “rules” for yourself.

The more you plan and prepare yourself for different situations, the better off you will be!

#4 – Get organized

Make yourself a grocery list and keep a meal calendar on your refrigerator. Don’t leave it up to chance that you will make a good decision last minute – prepare for your meals in advance so you know exactly what you’ll be eating all week.

#5 – Pick a few staple recipes you like and batch cook them

When your food is already cooked for the week, it is a LOT easier to stay on track! Our favorite thing to batch cook is chili or one of our veggie soups. I recommend making at least one new recipe per week when you first get started and keep trying until you find the core recipes you LOVE.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes to batch cook:

Brian’s Super Tasty Vegan Chili
Super Smoky Hummus
Weird Green Soup
Weird Orange Soup
Vegan Stuffed Peppers
J & B’s Super Power Veggie Tofu Bowl Thingy
More Recipes

#6 – Get rid of everything in pantry

A major overhaul of your pantry, fridge, freezer, etc. will greatly improve your odds for success when trying to follow a WFPB diet. If you share a kitchen with others who don’t follow this diet, we understand this isn’t really possible. In those cases, we recommend creating YOUR own space in the existing fridge and pantry that is separate from your family’s stuff.

#7 – Don’t be “all or nothing”

If you mess up a meal, day, week, etc., get back on track with the next one. Don’t throw away all of your progress just because of one mess up.

Brian said it best in our video: “The goal of this is to get healthy in the long run, not the short run.”

#8 – Find a way to hold yourself accountable

When we first started this adventure, telling people around me about it really helped me stay accountable. For example, it was easy to stay “ON” at work because my co-workers knew what I was planning to do and if I didn’t do that, I would feel like a failure in front of them.

You can also do something like a daily vlog or Facebook post of what you ate each day. Brian actually used to write his current weight on a whiteboard at this office. You don’t have to go that far – but you get the point!

#9 – Find a community

There probably won’t be a lot of people in your everyday life who follow this lifestyle. Luckily, there are SO many great online communities out there. Join a few WFPB Facebook groups so you can ask questions and help others as well!

Here are some of our favorite resources:

The Jaroudi Family on YouTube
Martin The Great Potato Mage
Whole Starch Low Fat Facebook Group
Brand New Vegan Community
Mary’s Mini For McDougall Followers
Find a PlantPure Communities Pod in your area

#10 – Have fun with it!

This isn’t a war. It’s an adventure. You should be having fun and feeling good about accomplishing things. Don’t get hung up on success & failure… just keep trying.

Check out the video here and comment below with any tips you have!

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