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You know that chick at your gym who’s always motivated to work out?

Or perhaps your friend who every single weekend finds the motivation to meal prep for his week to come?

It happens so naturally and effortless for them. Or so it seems!

One of the many things I’ve become aware of in my past decade as a personal trainer is the Motivation Myth.

The myth is that: You’re motivated or you’re not!

The reality is that: Motivation is a habit and a skill that you either nurture and cultivate daily or you don’t!

Today I’m sharing Part 1:

How To Stay Motivated To Eat Healthy Plant Based Meals.

Of course these motivation strategies are applicable to any goal however my focus is on doing all I can to help create and support a world of happy, healthy vegans who gleefully demolish healthy plant based meals at every opportunity.

I have 10 tips for How To Stay Motivated To Eat Healthy Plant Based Meals however the idea is you pick only the ones that resonate with you and adjust them as needed to be applicable to your goal and your lifestyle. Today we’ll cover the first 5.

One: Focus on little hinges that swing big doors.

I’m sure you’ve noticed in the past how seemingly inconsequential little habits can actually have a hugely impactful compounding or flow on effect.

These might be the Keystone Habits that other healthy habits naturally spring up around or they might be less obvious little adjustments that certainly provide a high return for their minimal investment of time and energy.

I count meal prep as a personal Keystone Habit that makes it much easier for me to eat healthy plant based meals each day. However I’d be lying if I said it was a little hinge! It actually takes a bit of effort. Doing a weekly shop for fresh food is more of a little hinge. Especially if you organise a weekly supermarket or organize fruit and veg box delivery.

A few other impactful little hinges to help you stay motivated to eat healthy plant based meals?

1. Find that Go2 vegan burger, marinated tofu / tempeh or falafel (to buy or make) that you love and is super versatile to turn into a quick Buddha bowl or wrap.In show 512 I share: How To Turn 3 Vegan Supermarket Staples Into 9 Plant Strong Meals.
2. Get into the habit of making extra dinner to take as leftovers for lunch the next day. This only works if you don’t devour that extra dinner! This does not mean you’re eating the exact same thing. Perhaps your tempeh mince pasta for dinner becomes tempeh mince and cos leaf tacos with coconut yoghurt the next day? Or maybe a chill bean mix stuffed potato for dinner becomes a chilli bean and hummus wrap?
3. Get your water sorted. Maybe this is the reusable bottle you carry with you. For me it was a water filterer that made my home water taste great. A good supple of water certainly has a flow on effect with me. I feel good drinking more of it and less tempted to over consume both coffee and unnecessary little snacks.

Two: Lower the bar to raise your chance of success.

Here we’re looking for a few easy wins. You’re conspiring for your success and building some motivating and momentum building reference points for success. If you’ve been trying to make the perfect burger, pesto or egg free omelette and it’s feeling a bit over ambitious settle for a bought version until you feel up to embracing your inner culinary goddess again.

I like the idea of gigantic bunches of organic leafy goodness to concoct my weekly smoothies. However washing and prepping leaves gets tedious fast. The majority of the time I’ll buy frozen organic spinach and berries to fast track my prep time.

For the new vegan / plant based eater it’s especially important to lower that bar in order to stay motivated long term.

1. Rather struggling to stick to 100% whole food plant based meals all the time let the processed vegan foods be helpful transitional Gradually edge out the processed stuff as you feel ready until you arrive at an amount that feels right for you. By processed: I mean those fake meats, store bought vegan cheeses, ice cream etc. Anything can be vegan however it’s not all healthy!
2. Although there are vitamins and minerals to be aware of following vegan lifestyle I recommend NOT stressing out about hitting them in every single meal from day one!Your body is resilient and for the super-vast-majority of people including less animal products and more veg, beans, nuts and seeds in your routine is going to be a HUGE win. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of everything mainstream media and animal agriculture likes to propagate that we’re missing out on leading a plant based lifestyle. Their incentive is their profitability NOT your health. I’m not saying don’t consider B12, iron, calcium, zinc and omega 3’s etc however I’m absolutely saying it’s ok to gradually refine your eating approach as you’re ready. When you are ready it’s something I’ve blogged about extensively here:
   339: Healthy Vegetarian Eating (step by step). (Yes, this was when I was vego however most of my recommendations in this mega-post are vegan and vego was a part of my journey as I know it’s a part of many peoples journey.)
   517: Easy Vegan Iron Sources: A Flesh Free Zone!
   516: Easy Vegan Calcium Sources: Leave Cows Milk For The Calves!
3. If a full weeks meal prep sounds like a full time job start with what you can (maybe meal prep for Mon – Wed) and find some easy options for the other days. To make a cafe bought salad more cost effective and substantial I’ll often buy a medium serve (barely enough for one day for me) and then 1/2 it to split it over 2 days and bulk it up with any of the following grabbed from the supermarket and kept at work: pre-washed mixed green leaves or kale-slaw + a mini can of 4 bean mix or some marinated tofu + a sprinkle of hemp or pumpkin seeds.

Three: Set an action based goal.

The alternative is a results based goal (like lose 10 kilo’s) and sadly you’re not always in control of your results – at least not in the timeframe you might be seeking. Results based goals can get disheartening. Especially if you feel like you’ve made so many amazing changes and you’re not yet being rewarded for ALL THE EFFORT!

What if instead you focused on taking the right actions that will eventually lead to the result? 

These are a few of the actions that will be hugely impactful on making healthy plant based eating a natural part of your lifestyle. I recommend picking the one that jumps out at you and trying it for 30 days.

1. Designing your winning morning routine. Perhaps a #plantstrong smoothie or overnight oats. 5-10 minutes meditation. Listening to a podcast you love while getting some exercise. A gorgeous coffee.A few of the things I’ve noticed in making morning routines stick: Aim for 3-5 non-negotiable and set a realistic time period for each (for the non-meditator 5 minutes is a great place to start). Include something you look forward to (the podcast makes my walk more enjoyable and I LOVE that cafe bought coffee!). Know that you can constantly refine your routine so there’s no need to procrastinate over perfect just make a start!
2. Aim to eat fibrous veg in at least 2 meals a day. 
3. Aim to makeover one old meaty or overly processed meal a week.This might not sound so “action based” however at the end of a month you’ll have four Go 2 healthy plant based meals and to be honest I joyfully devour my current 2 fav lunches 6-7 days a week and my 2 fav dinners 5-6 days a week. So even if you’re down for double the variety I need you’ll still have half your week sorted!

Four: Find a way to enjoy immediate gratification.

Generally healthy eating has the connotations of being all about the delayed gratification in depriving yourself of all the treats now to enjoy that result you’re seeking in the future. I think this is entirely unhelpful!

In one of my all time fav episodes E592: Atomic Habits and Why True Behaviour Change Is Really Identity Change with James Clear, James shares the 4 Laws of Behaviour Change:

1. Make it obvious.
2. Make it attractive.
3. Make it easy. 
4. Make it satisfying. 

So if we take the example of eating healthy plant based meals:

• The obvious part is that house full of fresh food that you ensured in tip one: Focus on little hinges that swing big doors.
• To make this habit more attractive perhaps you could link it to your values and identity beliefs.
• To make it easy you can find your Go2 supermarket fav meal starters like I share in show 512. Or you can embrace weekly meal food prep.
• The game changer is that immediate gratification / make each satisfying IMMEDIATELY component. For many new habits this is tough. It might just be a matter of tracking and rewarding the habit. For your healthy plant based meals it’s just about upping the deliciousness!

Perhaps that’s by finding the sauce, vegan cheese or pesto that makes all the difference. Maybe it’s by spending that little bit extra to always buy your most fav veg and fruit. Possibly it’s by giving your veg a little more respect in how you prep and cook it. Think of the effort you likely used to put into marinating, seasoning, BBQ’ing and roasting meat. Veg responds at least as well.

Five: Travel back 12 months and use either the Pain or the Progress as fuel.

First let’s use progress as fuel! If you’re like me you likely find it much easier to focus on what you’re yet to achieve than what you’ve already accomplished. To step away from plant based deliciousness for a moment. I have a tendency to feel hugely dissatisfied with the progress of this podcast. It takes a huge amount of time. I LOVE it and yet the results really don’t reflect the time, money and energy it takes.

If I travel back in my mind (and iTunes!) 12 months I see that I’d just done my first ever interview for The Healthification Podcast. Way back in episode 533: I chatted with wise and compassionate Keith Burgeson from PETA’s Vegan Mentor Program. iTunes link:

Since then I’ve had the privilege to chat with many legit hero’s of mine. People I have so much respect for such as social psychologist Dr Melanie Joy (552), vegan athlete Fiona Oakes (568), author James Clear (592), professor Gary Francione (608), and vegan bodybuilder Jon Venus (610).

Plus so many more. A year ago I genuinely would not have believed I’d have such opportunities. Or that I’d manage the tech to get these chats out into the world! I certainly had no idea how much I’d LOVE the process. That’s potent fuel to keep powering on.

However what about pain as fuel? If you’ve procrastinated on something important to you for 12 months it can be pretty powerful traveling back and letting the realisation that you’re letting YOU down propel you forward. The situation likely hasn’t stayed stagnant in 12 months. If it hasn’t progressed it’s gotten worse.

If you travel back in your mind 12 months what was holding you back then? Time? Money? Information? Fear? These are all obstacles that can be overcome. In fact, if you’d chosen to you could have dealt with them 12 months ago. So now is the time.

The first step is to: Confirm with yourself, is there value in doing this?

From here my procrastination annihilating trifecta of questions may help:

1. Will delaying make it any easier to do?Unlikely right, you’re just going to waste energy thinking about what you should be doing.
2. Will you feel better once it’s done? How would you feel if you’d prioritised that thing 12 months ago?
3. Do you need help to just make a start? Which leads me to… tip Six: Involve community however that’s for next Part 2!

In E620: How To Stay Motivated To Eat Healthy Plant Based Meals. (Part 2)

For now let’s get actionable!

Out of these first 5 tips To Stay Motivated To Eat Healthy Plant Based Meals which resonates most with you as something you could work into your routine?

To recap:

One: Focus on little hinges that swing big doors.

Two: Lower the bar to raise your chance of success.

Three: Set an action based goal.

Four: Find a way to enjoy immediate gratification.

Five: Travel back 12 months and use either the Pain or the Progress as fuel.

That’s it for today in Healthification.

Excitingly, I’ll be back later this week with E519: Ex Ranchers Wife and Rowdy Girl Sanctuary Founder Renee King-Sonnen.

Thank you so very must for trusting me with your time and attention today. It means a lot.

The Healthification podcast is proudly bought to you by my FREE ‘Easy Vegan’ plan. It took me 25 years to transition from a meat eater to a happy, healthy Vegan! You can do it in just 3 days with my simplified ‘easy vegan’ plan!  Get the fit, strong, and healthy plant based body you deserve… while avoiding ALL the mistakes I made along the way!

Till next time, remember Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-carb queen, non genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated vegan chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

If you liked “How To Stay Motivated To Eat Healthy Plant Based Meals” you’ll also like Vegan Lifestyle Fears And Benefits

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