Flex-a-tarian?

ashleyb18_maye69

Im thinking of becoming what i can a flex-a-tarian which is vegetarian that eats chicken and fish once a week but that is it as far as meat goes .. any one tried this before any encouraging words all are welcome
and of course im gonna talk to my dr about this first but wanna see what you all think about it :flowerforyou:

LittleMissDover

You wouldn't be vegetarian at all, just someone who has cut down their meat consumption.....

sjohnny

Didn't the last one of these get locked?

Chief_Rocka

What's the underlying logic?

sjohnny

I think I'm going to become a homosexual but I'm only going to have sex with women.

FitBeto

Yeah I am going to move out of Texas, but I still want to ride horses.

Or I want to join a womens Yoga class, and just keep my eyes closed.

castlerobber

Im thinking of becoming what i can a flex-a-tarian which is vegetarian that eats chicken and fish once a week but that is it as far as meat goes .. any one tried this before any encouraging words all are welcome
and of course im gonna talk to my dr about this first but wanna see what you all think about it :flowerforyou:

OK, why? What specifically do you want to accomplish, and why do you think that's the best way to do it? Seriously, not being snarky.

Sarauk2sf

Why?

now_or_never12

You wouldn't be vegetarian at all, just someone who has cut down their meat consumption.....

That's why the OP said Flexitarian.

To the OP, why do you want to do it? Are you concerned with eating meat? Don't like red meats? Or think that it will help you lose weight?

Taking meat out of your diet causes some other things you need to pay attention to. You need to ensure you are getting enough protein and other nutrients that come from meat.

auzziecawth66

In the spirit of giving a serious answer I have eaten like that before and didn't have any problems nutrition wise, but I do agree that it shouldn't be compared with being a vegetarian. It's just a matter of eating a diet with reduced meat consumption lol...

(The underlying logic? I know for me it was just to eat less meat lol)

Chief_Rocka

I think I'm going to become a homosexual but I'm only going to have sex with women.

Color me disappointed.

hiker359

Too many labels!

Why be any kind of -arian? If somebody offers you something you don't want, a simple, "No, thank you," should suffice.

Trechechus

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

AnneC77

A Flexatarian is a person that eats mostly like a Vegetarian but chooses to eat meat occasionally, I think that means less than once a week though. I don't think they compare themselves to vegetarians, just another label to pin on someone.

sarahisme18

I'll weigh in with a serious comment, too...

I became a vegetarian a year ago, to try to lose weight. It doesn't help, FYI, so I'll save you the trouble there. But what it did do was spur me to learn more about nutrition and macros, and to get creative with my meals by focusing on veggies. Now I'm no longer a vegetarian, as I eat fish on a regular basis. But the majority of my meals are 'vegetarian', and I appreciate the benefits of a balanced diet with a moderate intake of meat.

Basically, do some research first. Figure out the basics of nutrition and how to get your daily requirements and from where. Make a plan. Experiment with vegetarian recipes. Use it as a tool for becoming more educated and learning about a balanced diet, not to jump on a bandwagon or to lose weight. Hope that helps!

LittleMissDover

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

*Sigh*

You're either vegetarian or not, there is no 'semi' about it.

For the OP, if you want to eat less meat, then fine, why label it though? A lot of people eat 'vegetarian' meals and meat based meals and just call it a normal diet!

maricash

Im thinking of becoming what i can a flex-a-tarian which is vegetarian that eats chicken and fish once a week but that is it as far as meat goes .. any one tried this before any encouraging words all are welcome
and of course im gonna talk to my dr about this first but wanna see what you all think about it :flowerforyou:

I guess I am a flexatarian, although I usually just say that I don't eat a lot of meat. I was a vegetarian for about 12 years and then became a meat eater again, but only in a limited way.

I think being a flexatarian or a temporary vegetarian can be a great way to bring more variety into your diet, but only if you really work at it. That is, it's just as easy to eat processed foods or to eat the same foods every day on that kind of diet. But, if you are someone who is used to the idea that a proper meal has meat at the center and everything else to the side, and you start thinking about meals that feature things other than meat as the main course, it can really widen your horizons as far as cooking is concerned and introduce you to ingredients you might not have known existed or ever thought you would like.

I recommend the cookbook "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman. It's written by a non-vegetarian with new vegetarians (or flexatarians) in mind. It's expensive, but your library might have it.

And be prepared for lots of meat-eaters asking you "why, why, why!" you don't want to eat meat every day. Despite the stereotypes about vegetarians "pushing" their diet on you, I found it was the opposite. When I was a vegetarian, I was constantly questioned about my diet by meat-eaters. Since I started eating some meat again, I have never been bothered about it by a single vegetarian. If you do anything outside the norm, it tends to bring out some jerkish behavior by those within the norm.

wellbert

I'm a strict bovi-lacto-ovo-fowli-pesci-porci-vegetarian. It works extremely well for me.

MoreBean13

I support flexitarians. Mostly because people flexitarian diets have dramatically increased the target population for vegetarian products and restaurant choices, so it benefits ME.

However, I don't think there's any health benefits of choosing a flexitarian diet over a well balanced omnivorous diet- it's just going to make it harder to get protein and maybe certain vitamins. There may be some benefit in that it forces you to be more creative and open to new foods and products, but you don't actually HAVE to limit meat to get creative with vegetables and beans!

If you have ethical reasons for it, I totally support that. It can be a very healthy and balanced diet (as can vegetarian, omniverous, pescatarian, or any other variety).

My tip to you would be to concentrate on hitting your protein and fat macros first, or you can easily end up hitting your calorie target with runaway carbs and not enough protein. Beans and quinoa are great, but bring a lot of carbs with the protein, so balancing your macros is just different than if you have meat to fall back on.

PS. There's no rule about how many times a week a flexitarian can eat meat. It's up to the individual to decide what's right for them. Some people do totally vegetarian when they're alone, but eat meat because of social or cultural reasons around others, some do it when it's convenient, some have a weekly limit...whatever. It's a grey area and it's up to you.

BurtHuttz

Without whining about terminology, I'll say that sounds like a fairly healthy lifestyle, although chicken and fish protein is so high quality it seems a shame to limit yourself. Regardless, more vegetables in a diet is always a good thing! I'm curious how it works out for you.

sarahharmintx

I think I'm going to become a homosexual but I'm only going to have sex with women.

Color me disappointed.

WIN

BinaryPulsar

I became a vegetarian when I was 13 and was a vegetarian until I was 28 (with one brief break at age 16 because I weighed 89 pounds and my knees were purple). I started eating meat again at 28, during my second pregnancy because I had severe vomiting the whole nine months (for both pregnancies) and anemia (basically it got to the point of eat meat or get a blood transfusion).

I was a vegetarian because I didn't want animals to be killed or harmed. But, I didn't want people to think I was judging them, so I told people it was for other reasons. You know how it is, when you are young and you tell people you are a vegetarian, they enjoy talking about killing animals to you. So, I think most people become vegetarian or reduce the amount of meat they eat for the internal conflict they feel about the moral reasons and it's personal (even if they don't say that's the reason because they don't want to deal with the follow up conversation).

carriempls

I slowly transitioned from being a meat eater to being a vegetarian over about 5 years. It started by eating and cooking w/veggie friends quite a bit. I stopped preparing meat at home, but I still ordered it out on occasion and I cheerfully consumed whatever I was served as a guest in someone's home.

Eventually I started making fewer and fewer choices to eat any meat. I had never been a big fan as a child and I think my natural preferences just started leaning away from it. At one point I realized it had been a full year since I'd eaten chicken so I decided to make it official and cut it out completely. A few months later I decided I'd cut it all out but fish and seafood. A few months after that I realized I wasn't eating much of that either, so I went lacto-ovo vegetarian and I haven't looked back.

Nothing wrong with cutting down on meat consumption. Enjoy.

Trechechus

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

*Sigh*

You're either vegetarian or not, there is no 'semi' about it.

For the OP, if you want to eat less meat, then fine, why label it though? A lot of people eat 'vegetarian' meals and meat based meals and just call it a normal diet!

*sigh*

MoreBean13

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

*Sigh*

You're either vegetarian or not, there is no 'semi' about it.

For the OP, if you want to eat less meat, then fine, why label it though? A lot of people eat 'vegetarian' meals and meat based meals and just call it a normal diet!

Take it up with the dictionary.

flex·i·tar·i·an
[flek-si-tair-ee-uh n]
noun
1.
a person whose diet is mostly vegetarian but sometimes includes meat, fish, or poultry.

Seriously, there are nutritional concerns for people that are flexitarians that may not apply to a SAD or a vegetarian diet, like macro balancing is different, B12 issues, or Omega-3 fatty acids. Get off your high horse.

LittleMissDover

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

*Sigh*

You're either vegetarian or not, there is no 'semi' about it.

For the OP, if you want to eat less meat, then fine, why label it though? A lot of people eat 'vegetarian' meals and meat based meals and just call it a normal diet!

Take it up with the dictionary.

flex·i·tar·i·an
[flek-si-tair-ee-uh n]
noun
1.
a person whose diet is mostly vegetarian but sometimes includes meat, fish, or poultry.

Seriously, there are nutritional concerns for people that are flexitarians that may not apply to a SAD or a vegetarian diet, like macro balancing is different, B12 issues, or Omega-3 fatty acids. Get off your high horse.

I was on my 'high horse' about semi-vegetarianism.....

'Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from consumption of meat (red meat, poultry and seafood). It may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter, such as animal-derived rennet and gelatin.[2][3]'.

The person I was quoting hadn't mention 'flexitarian' (which to me is a stupid term for omnivore).

justkeepswimng

Seriously. I was a vegetarian for a long time and even a vegan for a while. I took my lifestyle seriously but I never understood why other vegetarians and vegans looked down on people who used terminology similar to theirs. If you are a pescetarian and only eat fish, you are not butting into the vegetarian terminology. And if you choose to describe your lifestyle to people as "basically a vegetarian who eats fish" then you are just simplifying the description. Vegetarians, you don't have a freaking monopoly on any term ending in etarian.

MoreBean13

I am a semi-vegetarian. I'm leaning toward becoming a vegetarian, but I've been eating meat so long, its hard to just go (forgive the term) cold turkey. It's a moral thing, but I love the taste of meat.

*Sigh*

You're either vegetarian or not, there is no 'semi' about it.

For the OP, if you want to eat less meat, then fine, why label it though? A lot of people eat 'vegetarian' meals and meat based meals and just call it a normal diet!

Take it up with the dictionary.

flex·i·tar·i·an
[flek-si-tair-ee-uh n]
noun
1.
a person whose diet is mostly vegetarian but sometimes includes meat, fish, or poultry.

Seriously, there are nutritional concerns for people that are flexitarians that may not apply to a SAD or a vegetarian diet, like macro balancing is different, B12 issues, or Omega-3 fatty acids. Get off your high horse.

I was on my 'high horse' about semi-vegetarianism.....

'Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from consumption of meat (red meat, poultry and seafood). It may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter, such as animal-derived rennet and gelatin.[2][3]'.

The person I was quoting hadn't mention 'flexitarian' (which to me is a stupid term for omnivore).

Oh I can see how you would fail to understand that semi-vegetarian was being used synonymously with flexitarian being as how the term flexitarian hasn't been brought up....wait, what is the title of this thread?!?!

Give me a break, you're still on a high horse about vegetarianism, and it makes you come off as pompous and silly, and is entirely unhelpful to this discussion, which is about flexitarian diets, a.k.a. a semi-vegetarian diets.

jilliew

Im thinking of becoming what i can a flex-a-tarian which is vegetarian that eats chicken and fish once a week but that is it as far as meat goes .. any one tried this before any encouraging words all are welcome
and of course im gonna talk to my dr about this first but wanna see what you all think about it :flowerforyou:

Haha. My sister does this. I call her a Catholic Vegetarian (because you can still eat fish and chicken on no-meat Fridays during Lent...). She cut out dairy and gluten, as well, and she also eats mostly organic food. She did it for health reasons, not for allergy reasons. She lost about 20 lbs. It worked for her, but it seems like you have to be very commited to make it work.

I myself cut out red meat, and I'm trying to cut out gluten. I can't handle too much dairy anyway. It's hard,and I've had to learn to enjoy beans and rice, but it's doable.

Hope that helps!

sjohnny

Catholics aren't supposed to eat chicken on Fridays during Lent. Only fish.

jilliew

Catholics aren't supposed to eat chicken on Fridays during Lent. Only fish.

Hrm. Apparently we were bad Catholics when I was growing up then...