Flexible Vegetarian
The keynote speaker at the Healthy Living Summit this past weekend was Dawn Jackson Blatner, the author of “The Flexitarian Diet“. Her presentation was very good, and even though the information wasn’t necessarily new to me, I really believe in the idea of being a “flexitarian” and how beneficial to your health eating a plant-based diet is.
Dawn Jackson Blatner summarized the Flexible Vegetarian as someone who…
- Minimizes meat but doesn’t exclude it
- Wakes up with the intention to be more vegetarian
- Eats a diet that is pro-plans but not anti-meat
Essentially, I am a flexitarian because I eliminate almost all meat from my diet. The only meat I eat is fish, so this is a healthy way to eat a more plant-based diet without eliminating meat completely. Even though I quit eating red meat and poultry for ethical reasons, I stopped eating it for health reasons as well. However, I couldn’t give up fish because I like it and it has some very good health benefits. For example, according to this article on Mayoclinic,
Fish contain unsaturated fatty acids, which, when substituted for saturated fatty acids such as those in meat, may lower your cholesterol. But the main beneficial nutrient appears to be omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish. Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fatty acid that’s thought to reduce inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation in the body can damage your blood vessels and lead to heart disease.
But obviously there are other ways to get your omega-3s in foods other than fish if you want to cut meat out completely.
- Oils (flaxseed, canola or soybean)
- Beans (kidney, pinto, mungo beans)
- Nut and seeds
- Spinach
- Winter squash
- Broccoli and cauliflower
If eating a more plant-based diet appeals to you, here are some steps from Dawn Jackson Blatner’s presentation to become a more Flexible Vegetarian:
- Step 1 – Eat 6 meatless meals a week (21 meals weekly)
- Step 2 – Eat 9-12 meatless meals a week
- Step 3 – 15+ meatless meals a week
Tips on how to do this:
- Reportion your plate with more veggies and less meat
- Reinvent old favorites with meatless substitutes
- Refresh recipes
Here is her starter grocery gist for those interested in a more plant-based diet:
Cutting out meat is really easy. I started out slowly by first getting ride of all red meats, then a few years later I cut out poultry. With all the healthy meat-subsitutes out there, like quinoa, beans, nuts and even faux-meats, I don’t even miss it. I would highly recommend Jackson Blatners book, “The Flexitarian Diet“, even though I haven’t read it, after seeing her presentation, I know I would agree with her 100% that a plant-based diet would be beneficial to our health.
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8 Comments
Amber from Girl with the Red Hair
I also don’t eat meat but eat fish – mostly in sushi form 🙂 I haven’t ate meat for over a year and I feel great and had absolutely zero issues cutting it out of my diet!!
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Cate
I went completely vegetarian 2 years ago, after thinking about making an exception for fish. The reason I opted to not eat fish is because it’s so hard to make sure it’s coming from a sustainable source, and my primary reasons for cutting out meat were environmental. With that said, I definitely think that ANY move towards eating less meat is good, even if people don’t end up removing it from their diets entirely.
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Jessica @ Healthy Obsessions
I’m glad to see this type of eating philosophy is getting out there. I have cut out chicken from my diet mostly, and I’m slowly working to cut out meat as well. I love fish, so I’m mostly going to stick with that.
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Natalie @ Nitty Grits
I am 100% on board with the flexitarian philosophy. But, my husband is a big meat eater and could eat red meat at every meal. Any advice for how to have a healthy balance?
Jen
hmm…maybe try a “reinvention” of one of his favorite dishes but without meat?
lance
I use to eat meat every meal.Double bacon cheese burger for lunch and then again for dinner. Today I eat meat maybe once a week. As long as its raised and fed properly. The transition was actually easy for me. Who would have thought black beans and a spinach salad for dinner could be so awesome.
Liz (Little Bitty Bakes)
I think I told you this when we were sitting there, but I think I’m a flexitarian of sorts. I just eat meat when I feel like it, not because I have to. Which ends up being about 5 times a week. I do need a lot of protein with training though, so I usually get it from Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or beans.
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Sam
This is how I eat. I can go days with out meat. If I moved somewhere that the culture was a plant based diet it would be fine by me!