The week between Christmas and New Years is always a very introspective one for me. The craziest part of the holiday season has finally ended, but life doesn’t really go back to normal until the first few days of January. Schools are on winter break. Offices are closed. There’s a general lull in activity. People are still recovering from drinking their body weight in eggnog and manically wrapping their Christmas gifts at the eleventh hour. This is the single time of year when I give myself a break for wanting to do absolutely nothing but catch up on sleep and recharge my batteries. Are you with me?
While we wait in anticipation for the New Year, we have (almost) a full week to look back on the past twelve months, celebrate our successes, and acknowledge where we may have slipped up on last year’s resolutions. From here, we can set new goals for 2015. Though I’m a firm believer you shouldn’t wait until January 1st to make a positive change in your life, a new year is a really good excuse to hit the reset button. If you didn’t eat as healthily as you wanted to this year or got some unpleasant news from your doctor within the last few months, you may find yourself thinking about switching to a vegan meal plan. To that, we say go for it! You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
To give you a gentle nudge in the right direction, here are 6 reasons to go vegan in the New Year:
1. Drop excess weight
Want to lose weight without even trying? I know, this sounds like the beginning of a cheesy late-night infomercial. But seriously – studies have shown that folks who eat a vegan diet have a lower body mass index (BMI) than omnivores and vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy products. To put this in perspective, adult vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than adult meat-eaters.
2. Lower your risk for heart disease
Heart disease (which causes heart attacks) is the leading cause of death for both American men and women. Roughly 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year, which comes out to about one in every four deaths. Fortunately, making changes to your lifestyle (including switching to a vegan meal plan) can reduce your risk for heart disease by as much as 80 percent.
3. Lower your risk for (or reverse) diabetes
Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Luckily, there is hope to turn it all around. A recent report shows that one simple prescription could help reverse diabetes, allowing the 115 million Americans with diabetes or pre-diabetes to radically reduce their medications or stop taking medication all together. Nope, it’s not a miracle pill. It’s a vegan diet.
4. Vegan food is delicious
You may think you’re sacrificing a lot by switching to a vegan meal plan, but there’s actually a lot of food left on the table. Have you checked out Well Vegan’s recipes yet? They’re loaded with flavorful fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, seeds and plant proteins that will fill you up without slowing you down. Give one of them a try – we promise you’ll love it.
5. Save the planet
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.” Now imagine how big of an impact you’ll make by choosing to eliminate meat, dairy, and animal byproducts from your diet all together.
6. Well Vegan makes it easy and fun
When you decide to switch to a vegan meal plan, you should do it on your own terms. Well Vegan now offers two options, giving you full control over your diet and lifestyle change. You can either sign up for our weekly meal plans or download our complete starter guide for a healthy and successful transition to a plant-based diet.
There are loads of other reasons to switch to a vegan diet in 2015. We can’t possibly cover them all here!
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