How to Eat Healthier and Change your Diet in 4 easy steps

Introduction

Our diet says a lot about how we live, and with it, we learnt how to Eat Healthier. For most of us, food is more than just fuel — it’s culture, comfort, and choice. We’re lucky enough to have supermarkets, farmers’ markets, and stores full of options. But with that freedom comes responsibility.

Over the years, we’ve become much more aware of what we eat and how it affects both our bodies and the planet. What started as small adjustments slowly turned into a complete lifestyle change.

We didn’t switch overnight. It took years of travel, experimentation, and curiosity to understand what felt best for us. Today, we follow a mostly plant-based diet — not strictly vegan, but mindful and intentional. It’s the balance that works for us, especially as frequent travelers.

Changing our diet also completely changed the way we travel. Since switching to a plant-based lifestyle, we’ve felt healthier, lighter, and rarely get sick on the road — something that used to happen quite often before. In many countries, eating meat or dairy can be risky due to hygiene or storage conditions, so going plant-based naturally became a safer and more sustainable way to travel.

Here’s how we made the shift — step by step — from red meat lovers to living (mostly) plant-based.

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How to Eat Healthier and Change Your Diet

Step 1: Letting Go of Red Meat

Our story starts in China, where we lived for three years in a city of ten million people right in the heart of the country. Those years completely changed the way we looked at food.

Chinese cuisine is vast — truly endless. Every day brought something new to taste: steaming street food at 2 a.m. after one too many beers, home-cooked dumplings with friends, or giant restaurant tables turning slowly under platters of dishes we couldn’t even name.

But there was one thing we noticed early on — it was hard to find good red meat. Supermarkets had limited choices, and the quality was never great. Even the leaner cuts were heavy and fatty. So, without even realizing it, we started eating less of it.

By the time we moved back to France, where you can find high-quality meat everywhere, something had changed. We didn’t really crave it anymore. It wasn’t that we suddenly hated it — it just didn’t feel good. The texture, the heaviness, even the digestion — it all felt off.

After three years of eating mostly without it, our bodies had adapted. That’s when we realized how much red meat actually weighed us down. From there, it felt natural to move on to the next step.

Step 2: Becoming Vegan

Our real turning point happened at the beginning of 2020, just before everything in the world changed. We were in Brazil, visiting close friends who are both vegan, and stayed with them for two weeks.

On our first day, they asked, “Should we cook something special for you — with meat or fish?” We said no. We didn’t want to bother them and were curious to see what a fully vegan diet would feel like. So for the next two weeks, we ate exactly what they ate — and it was amazing.

They’re both incredible cooks, and we discovered flavors we’d never tried before: creamy coconut curries, smoky vegetables, hearty lentil stews, and colorful smoothie bowls. Everything was so full of taste and energy that we honestly didn’t miss meat for a second.

When we left Brazil to continue our three-month trip across South America, we decided to keep going with a vegan diet. For three full months, we didn’t eat any animal products — not a single one, except for one special occasion in Uruguay.

We were staying in a small guesthouse where the owner prepared a homemade dish with freshly caught fish. We couldn’t say no, and it felt right — a genuine cultural exchange rather than a break in discipline.

The rest of the time, we stayed fully vegan. And you know what? We didn’t get sick once. Normally, after weeks of traveling, one of us would catch something. But this time, nothing. No stomach pain, no food poisoning, no heavy digestion. Just energy and lightness.

That’s when we knew we were onto something good.

Step 3: From Vegan to Plant-Based

After a few months of being fully vegan, we realized that while it was great for our health and energy, it wasn’t always practical — especially while traveling. That’s when we naturally shifted toward a plant-based diet instead.

The main difference? A vegan diet completely excludes all animal products, while a plant-based diet focuses mostly on plants but allows some flexibility when needed. It’s not about perfection — it’s about balance.

When we were hiking through the Alps, for example, food options were limited. We couldn’t always find plant-based meals in small mountain huts, so we sometimes ate cheese or butter. We could’ve carried all our own cooking gear, but that would’ve meant extra weight — and after days on the trail, practicality wins.

Another time, we were on a road trip with my parents. Every evening, we stopped at a small restaurant, and not all of them offered vegan dishes. So, we made exceptions — usually with fish or eggs — and didn’t feel bad about it.

Living in France also plays a part. Cheese is everywhere, and we still enjoy it occasionally — especially goat cheese, which feels lighter and easier to digest for us.

So, we stopped labeling ourselves as “vegan” and started calling it what it really is for us: a plant-based lifestyle. We eat mostly plants, we stay conscious about our choices, but we also give ourselves permission to adapt when needed.

This change made everything easier — eating out, traveling, hiking — and our relationship with food became much more relaxed and joyful.

Step 4: From Plant-Based to Vegetarian

Over time, our diet naturally evolved once more — from plant-based to what we’d now call mostly vegetarian. It wasn’t a planned change; it just happened gradually as we traveled and adapted to different situations.

The main reason? Breakfast. During our trip to Morocco, for example, it was nearly impossible to find plant-based options in small local guesthouses. Most breakfasts included bread, eggs, and cheese. After a few mornings of eating plain bread, we started adding eggs back to our meals. It wasn’t about giving up — it was about staying practical and still enjoying the experience.

The same goes for fish. Living in France and traveling across Europe, finding fully plant-based meals at restaurants isn’t always easy, especially outside big cities. Sometimes, the only option on the menu includes fish — and we’d rather enjoy a fresh local dish than go hungry or stress about it.

Slowly, these small exceptions became part of our normal routine. We still eat mostly plant-based at home — cooking with fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes — but when we travel, we stay flexible.

And honestly, it feels good this way. Food is part of culture, and part of the joy of traveling is tasting those local flavors. We’ve found that by eating consciously rather than strictly, we can connect more deeply to the places we visit.

Another bonus? Since we changed our diet years ago, we’ve noticed a huge improvement in our digestion and immune system. We rarely get sick anymore while traveling — something that used to happen often when eating meat abroad. It’s one more reason this lifestyle has truly changed the way we travel.

Conclusion: A Healthier Way to Eat, Live, and Travel

Looking back, switching to a plant-based and mostly vegetarian diet has changed so much more than just what’s on our plates — it’s changed the way we travel, the way we feel, and the way we connect to the world.

Before, we ate whatever was available, often on the go. Traveling sometimes made us sick — food poisoning, stomach issues, or just feeling heavy and tired after a few days. Now, it’s the opposite. We feel lighter, more energetic, and more in tune with our bodies.

Eating this way also makes us travel differently. We slow down, visit local markets, cook our own meals when we can, and appreciate the simplicity of real food. We’ve learned that you don’t need fancy restaurants or expensive dishes to eat well — just fresh, local ingredients and a bit of creativity.

Of course, we’re not perfect, and we don’t try to be. Some days we eat fully plant-based, other days we share a fish dish in a small coastal village or have a cheese board in France. What matters is balance, awareness, and choosing consciously rather than by habit.

In the end, food is part of the journey — it tells stories about culture, people, and place. And the more we simplify what we eat, the more space we create to truly enjoy the adventure.

Psst, you can join Tina’s Yoga Studio and get access to hundreds of Yoga, Meditation, and Well-being videos.