Veganuary Tips: How to Get Through January (and What to Do Feb 1)

Veganuary is a challenge to eat vegan for the month of January. The best tips are simple: prep before January 1, pick a handful of easy meals you already like, stock vegan versions of your snacks, plan for social situations, and expect cravings in the first two weeks. Treat the month as an experiment rather than a test, and on February 1 decide what you want to keep instead of snapping back to how you ate before.

What Veganuary is

Veganuary started in 2014 as a campaign launched in York, England, and is run by a UK nonprofit, a registered charity in England and Wales. The idea is to try eating vegan for the 31 days of January, with free support such as recipes, meal plans and daily emails for people who sign up on its website.

It has grown a lot. Veganuary's earliest sign-ups numbered in the low thousands. In its own 2026 campaign review, the organization estimated that around 30 million people worldwide tried vegan in January, a figure based on commissioned surveys in its main countries scaled up to population data, rather than counted sign-ups. Survey-based estimates like this are rough, but the direction is clear: it has become a mainstream January habit in the US and elsewhere.

You don't have to sign up anywhere to do it. Many people just use January as a natural reset point.

Before January 1: set yourself up

The first few days go much more smoothly if you prepare in the last week of December.

Pick five or six go-to meals. Not ambitious recipes, just easy meals you would happily eat again. Pasta with marinara and white beans, a chili with black beans, a stir-fry with crispy tofu, a burrito bowl, peanut noodles, lentil soup. Many of your current favorites probably need only one swap.

Stock the kitchen. Canned beans and chickpeas, lentils, tofu, rice, pasta, tortillas, frozen vegetables, a plant milk you like, peanut butter, a few sauces, and some frozen plant-based burgers or nuggets for nights when you don't want to cook.

Find your snacks. Hunger plus no easy snack is how many people end up eating something they didn't plan to. Many common snacks, such as some chips, crackers, pretzels, popcorn, nuts and dark chocolate, are already vegan, but check labels for milk powder and whey.

Plan your restaurant orders. Decide in advance what you'll order at the places you go most, so you aren't reading a menu while hungry.

Week 1: novelty and logistics

The first week is usually the easiest emotionally because everything feels new. The challenge is practical: remembering to check labels, figuring out breakfast, and finding out which of your usual foods contain dairy or eggs.

Keep meals simple this week. You don't need to master vegan cooking. Lean on your go-to meals, frozen backups, and easy breakfasts like oatmeal with peanut butter and fruit, toast with avocado, or a tofu scramble. Eat enough. A common mistake is eating smaller meals because the plate looks different, then getting very hungry by evening.

Week 2: the craving wall

For many people, the second week is when the novelty wears off and cravings get louder. The burger you'd usually have on Friday, the cheese you'd put on everything, the chicken sandwich you'd grab at lunch. This is normal, and it doesn't mean you are doing it wrong.

Most cravings are tied to habit and routine more than hunger. They tend to show up at the same times and places, and they usually peak and fade within 10 to 20 minutes. The Spared app is built for that moment: you open it instead of the fridge, ride out the craving, and it counts each one you get through, alongside your days and the animals spared. Watching the count go up is a surprisingly good motivator in week two.

It also helps to fix the most common causes: being underfed, eating bland food, and lacking an easy backup. Add fat and salt, brown things properly, and keep a "craving meal" ready, such as a plant-based burger or crispy tofu with a sauce you love. Our guide on how to stop craving meat goes deeper.

Week 3: finding your rhythm

By week three, many people notice they have stopped thinking about every meal. The label-checking becomes automatic, the go-to meals feel normal, and you start to find favorites. This is a good week to try something new: a recipe you've been curious about, a vegan restaurant in your area, a different meat substitute, or a new way to cook tofu.

It is also a good time to make sure you have the basics covered. If you are planning to continue past January, set up a reliable source of vitamin B12. Our guide on whether vegans need B12 explains why and how.

Week 4: thinking about February

In the last week, start noticing what has been easy and what has been hard. Which meals would you happily keep eating? Which foods do you miss a lot, and which do you barely think about anymore? How has it felt to cook, shop and eat out this way? That information is what you need for February.

If you slip up

Most people eat something non-vegan at some point during January, often by accident. A sauce with dairy, a bread with egg, a moment at a party. It doesn't erase the rest of the month, and it doesn't mean you should give up. Notice what led to it, adjust your plan, and carry on with your next meal. A month with a couple of slip-ups is still a month of eating very differently from before.

What to do on February 1

This is where Veganuary either becomes a lasting change or a one-month experiment, and either outcome is fine. The worst option is the sudden snap-back, where you go straight to eating exactly as you did in December because the challenge is "over."

Instead, choose on purpose. A few options:

• Keep going vegan. If January felt good, you have already done the hardest part.
• Go vegetarian. If you missed eggs or dairy but not meat, bring those back and keep meat out.
• Keep the parts that worked. Many people stay vegan at home, or keep plant-based breakfasts and lunches, and stay flexible elsewhere.
• Cut meat by type. Keep beef and pork off the menu, for example, and reintroduce other foods slowly.
• Set a weekly target. Pick a number of plant-based days or meals per week and stick with it.

If you aren't sure, our guide on how to go vegetarian without quitting cold turkey can help you choose a pace. What you learned in January, like the meals you love and the cravings you can now handle, doesn't disappear on February 1.

Common questions

When did Veganuary start?

Veganuary was launched in 2014 in York, England, and is run by a UK nonprofit that is registered as a charity in England and Wales. It has since expanded into a global campaign with resources for people in the US and many other countries.

Do you have to sign up to do Veganuary?

No. Signing up on the Veganuary website gets you free support like recipes and daily emails, but you can do the challenge on your own. Many people simply use January as a starting point for eating more plant-based food.

What is the hardest week of Veganuary?

For many people it is the second week, when the novelty fades and cravings for familiar foods get stronger. Having easy backup meals, eating enough, and knowing that most cravings pass within 10 to 20 minutes makes that stretch much easier.

What should I eat after Veganuary ends?

Whatever fits what you learned in January. Some people stay vegan, some go vegetarian, and others keep plant-based meals at home or set a weekly target. The goal is to choose deliberately rather than go straight back to eating exactly as you did before.