A few weeks ago, I was with some friends and one asked, "How would you categorize your eating habits?" I hadn't thought of it too much before that time. I think I eat a pretty healthy diet. I shop at whole foods. I go to restaurants with my hubby. I bring my lunch to work a couple days a week. I eat a lot of vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese; you know, all the food groups. I try to purchase mostly organic, low processed, or grass fed/pastured. I love good food. My other friend said she thinks of herself as a Flexitarian. Huh? What the heck is Flexitarian - you may be asking (I sure did). Flexitarians have also been referred to as "less-meat-aterians," "part-time vegetarians," "semi-vegetarians," or even "meat-eating vegetarians." I know this seems a bit crazy. Perhaps some believe you either ARE or ARE NOT a vegetarian. I mean, you can't be kind-of pregnant, right?
Wikipedia uses this definition for Semi-Vegetarian: "diets that are not vegetarian but include less meat than typical diets. The term has no precise or widely accepted definition, but it usually denotes the following of a mainly vegetarian diet whilst eating meat occasionally."
I thought that could be something fun and healthy to try. I then read "The Flexitarian Diet." You don't have to give up your favorite meat cravings. You don't have to drastically change what you currently eat (at least for my eating habits). The author, Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietician, says all you have to do is change a little at a time. Instead of having meat as a main ingredient in your dinner, make it a condiment. Add more grains, beans and soy (organic only - non-organic soy is said to have one of the highest concentrations of pesticides) products in to your meals. Eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables.
I've been a Flexitarian for about 2 weeks now. It really only takes a little more work than before. My hubby LOVEs his meat meals, but when I cook a vegetarian meal for dinner he tries it, then if he's into it, he'll eat it and get seconds. He's even been seen heating up the leftovers in the convection-toaster oven in the morning for breakfast! Can you believe it?!
In these 2 weeks I've lost weight. I feel healthier. Sure I've still gone out to dinner with my hubby a few times, and I even had meat during some of those meals! But the majority of the time, I'm thinkin' like a vegetarian. I'm even searching out vegetarian options when I first look at a menu when we are out to eat. I've been cooking quick meals for dinner. I've made a big vegetarian feast. Sure I've made a terribly bland mushroom barley soup along the way, but the next day I was able to reclaim the dish into a deliciously creamy gruyere-parm mushroom risotto! I also splurged and bought a few new cookbooks so that it would be easier to plan, shop, prep and cook for my new eating habits. I got The Flexitarian Table, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen.
Although I'm not specifically changing my "diet" to lose weight, it is having that affect. I feel better. I look better. It's all good. I've never been able to find a "diet" that was easy to do, but not only is this easy, but it makes me feel great. I'm not hungry. I eat less food. I don't crave sweets as much. Seriously, you could try it for two weeks and see results.
This morning I went to Whole Paychecks and bought a whole cart full of groceries. When I got home I started in on a recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Super easy, super yummy and totally satisfying. They call them Beet Chips - page 267, but I call them Chipped Roasted Beets. Their version has the beets more browned and crispy while my version had more of a wholesome roasted beet flavor. If you like beets, you can't go wrong with this simple recipe.
This is a great post and a really cute blog Anne! I can't wait to see more from you!
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