Legumes
Dry or canned lentils, chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, white beans. A useful protein backbone for meals and often an affordable way to make them filling.
Un mapa sencillo para los próximos siete días
El cambio no ocurre de la noche a la mañana. Comienza con una semana de decisiones conscientes. Cada día añade un nuevo hábito a lo que ya sabes.
- 01Día 1
Haz un inventario de tu despensa
Identifica los alimentos básicos vegetales que ya tienes en tu cocina: granos, legumbres, verduras, especias. La mayor parte de lo que necesitas ya está ahí.
- 02Día 2
Domina un intercambio
Elige el producto de origen animal que más consumes. Encuentra una alternativa vegetal —frijoles por carne molida, avena por leche— y comprométete a usarla durante la semana.
- 03Día 3
Cocina un platillo tradicional
Redescubre un platillo tradicional a base de plantas de tu cultura. Hay más de los que te imaginas.
- 04Día 4
Planifica tus compras
Crea una lista basada en alimentos integrales: arroz, lentejas, avena, productos de temporada. La mayoría de estos son los artículos más baratos de la tienda.
- 05Día 5
Come fuera con confianza
Los menús de los restaurantes no son obstáculos. Aprende qué preguntas hacer y descubre los platillos vegetales que se ocultan a simple vista.
- 06Día 6
Habla con alguien
Comparte lo que estás haciendo con un amigo o familiar. Los movimientos crecen a la velocidad de la conversación.
- 07Día 7
Reflexiona y continúa
Observa lo que cambió: en tu cuerpo, en tus cuentas, en tu sentido de autonomía. Elige qué mantener para la segunda semana.
Pantry
A starter shelf you can build in one shop.
You don't need specialty stores or imported ingredients. Almost every cuisine on earth has a plant-based backbone — here are the four categories that, between them, cover most weeknight cooking.
Grains and starches
Rice (any kind), oats, whole-grain pasta or noodles, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Buy what you actually cook with already — there's no need to switch staples.
Fresh produce on rotation
Onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots and whatever leafy green is cheapest this week. A handful of in-season fruit. You're not building a Pinterest board — you're stocking a kitchen.
Flavour and fat
Good olive oil or your regional cooking oil, salt, black pepper, the spices your culture already uses, lemons or vinegar, soy sauce or its local equivalent, a jar of tahini or peanut butter, nutritional yeast if you want a cheesy edge.
The usual stumbles
Three things that trip up almost everyone in week one.
Anyone who's done this remembers these three. Knowing about them in advance turns them from a wall into a speed bump.
Undereating without realising it.
Many vegetables and cooked pulses are less calorie-dense than meat and cheese. Include enough starches, protein-rich foods and fats to meet your needs. Persistent tiredness or feeling cold deserves medical advice.
Repeating the same three meals.
Variety can make the change more enjoyable. Try a new dish from Ethiopian, Indian, Mexican, Lebanese or Vietnamese cooking — all offer plant-based options to explore.
The social moment.
A birthday, a wedding, a dinner at a parent's house. These don't need to be perfect. Eat what's there, eat beforehand, eat afterwards — the goal is a long arc, not an unbroken streak.
How your body responds
What to actually expect in your body.
Eating more fibre can change bowel habits and cause gas or bloating. Increase fibre gradually and drink enough fluids to help it work well. Adjustment varies; persistent or painful symptoms deserve advice.
Over time, a well-planned plant-based diet may improve cholesterol and blood sugar control. Blood-pressure effects vary. Energy, sleep and skin changes are individual, and benefits depend on the foods you choose. Keep prescribed treatment and review any changes with your clinician.
By region
A starter shopping list, wherever you are.
Plant-based eating is not a Western concept — it is rooted in every food tradition on earth. These regional lists are built around what already exists in local markets, not around imported specialty products. You do not need a health food shop to eat plants well.
East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda)
Your foundation is already plant-based: ugali or injera, lentils (misir), split peas, black-eyed peas, irio, sukuma wiki, matoke, avocado, sweet potatoes, and coconut milk for coastal cooking. Add groundnut oil or ghee-replacement, dried red chilli, and the spice pastes your region already uses. Fermented porridges like uji are nutritional staples requiring nothing more than millet or sorghum and time.
South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)
The subcontinent has the world's longest and most sophisticated plant-based cooking traditions. Dal (every variety), chana, rajma, aloo, brinjal, saag, rice, roti, idli, dosa, sambar — you are already most of the way there. The work is mostly removing dairy from dishes where it can be replaced (coconut milk for cream, oat milk in tea), not finding new ingredients.
Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil)
Black beans, pinto beans, lentils, arroz, corn (masa, arepa, tortilla), chayote, plantain, yuca, potatoes in every variety, tomatoes, chilli, and a full herb vocabulary (cilantro, epazote, huacatay). The base of most traditional cooking in the region is already plant. Cheeses and meats are often additions to dishes that predate them.
Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco)
Chickpeas (hummus, tagine, pasta e ceci), lentils, white beans (fagioli, fasolia), tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, aubergine, courgette, flat-leaf parsley, za'atar, sumac, freekeh, bulgur wheat. The Mediterranean diet as originally described by Ancel Keys was mostly plant-based, with modest fish and very little meat. Most traditional home cooking in the region still is.
East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam)
Tofu, tempeh, edamame, miso, soy milk, rice, noodles, bok choy, daikon, lotus root, seaweed (nori, wakame, kombu), shiitake and oyster mushrooms, pickled vegetables of every kind. Buddhist vegetarian cooking across the region has a millennium-long tradition of plant-based eating — temples have been solving this problem since before the words 'protein' or 'nutrition' existed.
West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire)
Black-eyed peas (akara, moin moin), groundnuts (peanut soup, groundnut stew), yams, cassava, plantain, okra, leafy greens like ewedu, palm oil in moderation, tomatoes, scotch bonnet, and the fermented locust bean paste (dawadawa or iru) that gives depth to many dishes without any animal product. The core pantry for West African plant cooking is inexpensive and widely available within the region.
Eating out
Navigating restaurants without making it a scene.
Eating plant-based at restaurants is easier than most people expect once you know a few practical principles. You don't need to find a vegan restaurant — you need to know how to find plant-based options in any restaurant.
- Look at the sides and starters, not just the mains. Most restaurant kitchens can build a satisfying plate from side dishes: roasted vegetables, legume salads, flatbreads, rice dishes, and soups are almost always available.
- In cuisines with plant-based traditions (Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, Lebanese, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese), the challenge is smaller — much of the menu was plant-based before meat was added as a premium option.
- Ask clearly and specifically: 'No meat, no dairy, no eggs' is more useful than 'vegan'. In some contexts, 'vegetarian with no dairy' achieves the same result with less friction.
- If the menu has nothing obvious, a simple pasta with olive oil and vegetables, or a grain bowl, is in most kitchens' reach. Kitchens are more flexible than menus suggest.
- Eat before if you're not sure. Attending a formal dinner or a wedding where options will be limited is much less stressful if you have eaten beforehand. The goal is a long arc, not a perfect record at every meal.
Budget eating
Eating plants on a limited budget.
The cheapest diets on earth are plant-based. Rice, lentils, dried beans, oats, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, and seasonal vegetables are the most affordable foods in any market — considerably cheaper than meat per calorie and substantially cheaper per gram of protein than the popular imagination suggests. The expensive version of plant-based eating is the one with artisanal nut cheeses and cold-pressed everything. That version is optional.
The practical principles for budget plant eating are the same as they have always been: buy dry rather than canned where possible (dried lentils and beans cost a fraction of tinned, and cook from dry is not difficult once it's a habit), buy in season, cook in batches, and build meals around legumes and grains rather than expensive substitutes. A pot of dal or black bean stew made on Sunday will feed four or five adults for under the price of a single restaurant meal.
- Dried legumes are the highest-protein, lowest-cost food available. A kilogram of dried lentils costs roughly the same as one chicken breast and provides five to six times the protein and ten times the fibre.
- Frozen vegetables are as nutritious as fresh and substantially cheaper. Build your fresh vegetable spending around whatever is in season locally.
- Oats for breakfast and lentil-based lunches eliminate the two meal slots most likely to be expensive. Dinner can then absorb a little more of the budget if needed.
- Nutritional yeast, miso, soy sauce, and good dried spices add flavour at very low cost per serving and make simple dishes interesting enough to eat on rotation.
7
Days
one habit per day
12
Pantry staples
covers every meal
21
Plant meals
you'll cook this week
0
Calories counted
abundance, not restriction
- Beans & lentils
- Whole grains
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Nuts & seeds
- Olive oil
- Greens
- Stock & spices
| Swap | Instead of | Try |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Cow's milk on cereal | Soy or oat milk |
| Lunch | Cheese sandwich | Hummus + roasted veg wrap |
| Dinner | Chicken curry | Chickpea & spinach curry |
| Snack | Yogurt | Fruit + peanut butter |
| Dessert | Milk chocolate | Dairy-free dark chocolate (check label) |
Key takeaways
- Week 1: switch breakfast. Week 2: add plant-based lunches. Week 3: dinners.
- Cook one big batch on Sunday — freeze portions to simplify weeknight meals.
- Follow 3 vegan cooks online whose food you actually want to eat.
- Track only one thing: how you feel at the end of each week.
Take action — step by step
- 1Print or bookmark the 7-day plan.
- 2Do one supermarket shop using the list — compare local prices and adjust quantities to your needs.
- 3Batch-prep breakfasts and lunches on day one to cut weekday friction.
- 4Start B12 (2,000 µg once a week) on day one — it is cheap and permanent.
- 5On day 7, decide: continue, go part-time, or plan a longer transition.
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A free 7-day vegan starter guide with a shopping list and 21 meals:
Frequently asked questions
Oats, plant milk, bananas, peanut butter, bread, hummus, salad kits, lentils, pasta, tomato sauce, frozen veg, tofu, rice, black beans, plant yoghurt, dark chocolate. That's a full week for one person.
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