This blog is a collaboration with Tanzie Gooch, who is studying Nutrition and has been interning with me this past spring! One of the first conversations we had was about how Tanzie follows a Flexitarian eating style, which coincided a lot with my style of eating, based in listening to the body.
While I’m not one to observe or recommend any kind of strict diet, this is the exact reason I love these styles of eating. They are all about tuning into the body, listening to what it needs, and allowing you the freedom to follow your instincts. Also, Flexitarianism has an element of environmentalism, which I love!
Elements of Flexitarianism
Flexitarian style eating is also called “semi-vegetarianism.” Elements include:
A Focus on Awareness: Flexitarian eating brings a focus to awareness. You are aware of what you consume. You use your senses when choosing foods.
A Focus on Food: Food isn’t off-limits, but rather focused on. Essentially, you focus on consuming more of a plant-based diet.
A Focus on the Environment: This is an eating style meant for people who care about their health, the environment, and their carbon footprint, but don’t want to completely give up meat products entirely. It’s about bringing awareness and intention to the ecosystem of the world and of the body.
A Focus on Freedom: What makes this eating style extra fascinating is that each person defines it in their own way. It’s also based in providing yourself with options.
A Focus on Plants and Choices
Flexitarian eating is focused on using plant-based food to replace meats and/or foods that are considered to be harmful to humans and the environment, including processed foods and sugars. Rather than focusing on cutting out certain foods, you are focusing on what you can replace them with, often turning to plant-based alternatives.
Eating in the Flexitarian style might look like replacing meat consumption with plant-based protein consumption by two meals a week for the first month, then only consuming meat twice a week. Afterwards, you may choose whether you even want that much meat. You may also do this with other foods and ingredients you might be interested in moving away from, such as processed foods, dairy, or refined sugar. As you focus on your choices, you start to learn about non-meat proteins, non-dairy options, and other alternatives that help support your wellness and often cost less, too!
Eventually, you subconsciously stop consuming certain foods or only consume them on special occasions. This helps to reduce your saturated fat and cholesterol intake which in turn helps fight heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.
The Flexitarian Eater
So, how did I start the Flexitarian Diet?
I noticed over time that I was only eating meats because that is what was instilled into my brain. Growing up, it was common to hear that a third of my plate needed to be protein. My grandparents and friends thought that protein meant strictly meat. But as science and studies made clear for me over the past fifteen years, I learned that protein can come from plants and grains.
Once I started living on my own, I realized how expensive it was to keep buying meat for the sake of protein and habit. I started to grow my own garden full of protein-rich plants ranging from lentils, beans, potatoes, broccoli, spinach, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and more. Having a plentiful amount of vegetables allowed me to focus more on healthy eating from home and cooking. I ended up saving money, feeling better, and worrying less about calories.
What has impacted my Flexitarian eating style?
As I moved a lot, I learned about the climate of the new city and country. I would do my own research to which food grow best in the new climate. I would focus on my garden first when I moved. The changes in climate allowed me to enjoy new foods from different cultures. This helped me open up my palate and introduce myself to new foods.
This was an easy eating style for me to follow without feeling bad about missing out on certain foods. I became more aware of what I consume. I focus on what I should consume and plan meals around that. Mental well-being is important to me, and what I love about being a Flexitarian is that it allows me to be okay with my choices and feel good about myself.
I used to feel badly about myself when I couldn’t follow through with a diet or gave into a tempting snack. Since being a Flexitarian, I haven’t felt this way. Instead, I can tell myself ‘next time’ and not feel bad. And I focus more on my choices. If I eat out. I read the whole menu and narrow down the healthiest entrees that interest me. Then I make a decision from my short list. The flexibility gives me ease.