Choosing a Flexitarian Diet

First is first. Just wanted to tell ya’ll that I’m not writing this to start some kind of debate or anything, and totally understand if you don’t have the same opinion. I just wanted to tell you about why I decided to become a flexitarian (although I don’t go around telling people that’s what I am) and what that is.

What is a Flexitarian? A flexitarian is someone who eats vegetarian or vegan most of the time but eats meat and animal products every now and then. Also, could be called a semi-vegetarian. This allows you to eat lots of healthy plant based foods most of the time, but eat meat when we crave it, its at a party, or is incorporated in some kind of dish.

Why chose a flexitarian diet? Sometimes we want to become vegan or vegetarian but feel that it is really hard to give up some of the foods we love. When you become a flexitarian it allows you to be flexible and not stick to one or another (this is great for people who don’t have a ton of will power like myself). It has been said that vegetarians and vegans do the most for the environment because they don’t consume meat, since it has been said that the meat industry contributes to global warming more than the automobile industry. Crazy right? Also, some people chose this because of animal treatment issues and want to eat only free range animals that were treated rightly.

Why did I choose to become a flexitarian? Well if you have been following this blog for a while now you may know that I don’t consume dairy products because of an allergy, so thats out. Well after watching many documentaries like Food Matter and Forks Over Knives I saw how animal products are really not that great for us and being an animal lover I felt guilty knowing the way the majority of the meat sold in supermarkets treated the animals before slaughter (watch Food Inc. if you want to learn more and be grossed out ha).  Plus, I hate cooking it (seriously its gross to touch)!

A little while back I decided to fast and eat vegan for 3 weeks and I felt so much better! I had more energy, felt like I could work out longer and better, and of course I lost a little weight. The biggest thing was I stopped feeling really tired after I ate and my stomach didn’t feel gross like it does when I eat meat. At the same time the Bible does say that we can eat meat and that all food is ok to eat. My husband and I have had long conversations about this and although in biblical times they ate meat we don’t think that they ate meat every day at almost every meal. We know that they ate it to celebrate together plus they didn’t have refrigerators so it couldn’t have been an all the time thing :).

In my opinion, the meat that we eat should be meat that was cared for and not inhumanely treated (God cares for the animals too). So what does that mean for me and what does my diet look like? I am almost kinda vegan most of the time since I don’t eat dairy at all and rarely eat eggs, but will eat it at church events (small group, etc) if someone invites us to their home, were at a party, or the rare occasion we go out for dinner. But I rarely will cook it at our house unless the hubby wants some, which he does once in awhile, and I will pay a little extra to get a cage free chicken from our CSA farm. I consume lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, and whole grains and try to limit simple sugars and processed foods. I just try to have a wholesome healthy diet.

Although I choose to eat like this doesn’t mean you have to! These are my opinions and thats it. You can completely disagree and that is cool! Please only kind comments

This was part of the Homestead Barn Hopthe Morris TribeSew ChattySew Can DoCraft-O- ManiacHomemaker on a DimeFrugally SustainableThrifty Decorating,  Real Food Forager

11 Comments

  1. Totally agree with this! I haven’t heard the term “flexitarian” before, but that is exactly how we eat. We eat a vegan diet, but once in a while we will buy some chicken or beef from the farmers market. It is rare, but we do it on occasion. I think that you should eat what makes you feel good. Eating mainly beans/legumes/grains/fruits/veg make my family feel the best, although I am sure my husband would be fine with meat at every meal too 🙂 Unfortunately, our bodies wouldn’t be!

    1. I think my husband would be the same way but he’s nice enough to eat like me most of the time! I totally agree eat what makes your body feel good aka lots of fruits and veggies! I wish more people knew how much better you would feel with a plant based diet! Thanks for a positive comment Heather!

  2. I guess I am a flexitarian too. I ate a turkey sandwich on a whim last week. It was weird. I just really wanted a turkey sandwich for some reason. I’ll just call myself a 85% vegan. Ha.

  3. Ah, after I watched Forks Over Knives I quit eating meat for a month. I started eating it again, though, because I felt weak all of the time.

    Lately I have been trying to cut back on carbs, mainly wheat based products. I have felt better since cutting those out, but it is hard to cut out all wheat products, especially since I like to cook and I am just now getting into baking.

    Thanks for posting this!
    Julie

    1. Hey Julie thanks for the encouraging words and sharing! Im glad this post could help you out! Asa student studying nutrition though I wouldn’t recommend getting rid of wheat based products especially whole grains. I would say out with the processed white grains but keep the healthy ones. Also, don’t go to low carb though are body needs carbs. Just focus on the healthier carbs. Hope you don’t mind my honesty! I appreciate your concern about health it makes me happy and is refreshing!

  4. I’ve considered this diet or rather lifestyle as well. I had done some reading on it and I remember reading a blog called the weekend carnivore because the lady there ate only enough meat for the span of a weekend, but mostly she had a vegetarian diet. I’m working on it. Although I don’t believe eating meat is wrong, I don’t believe that all this meat we tend to consume (in the U.S. especially) is necessarily that good for us.

    I’m striving for more balance in this area because in the past I tended to focus on eating less of certain things, but not eating more of what I need. I’m definitely a work in progress. Love this post! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *