Want Healthier? This Vegetarian-style Lifestyle Can Be Tried

Changing good habits to be healthier like becoming a vegetarian is not easy. Committing to become a vegetarian means you have to stop eating meat.

However, there is another way you can still include meat in your diet, and that is by being flexible. It is a vegetarian lifestyle that occasionally includes meat in the diet.

There are no hard rules for the flexitarian diet. On the contrary, this diet is beneficial to health. Quoted from Gent, nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner first introduced this concept in 2008. She published The Flexitarian Diet which sparked interest in a new, more balanced lifestyle to enjoy the health benefits. Here’s how to live a flexitarian diet.

Self-education

The first step is to get information to make sure you make the transition in a healthy way. Technically, meatless pizza, fries, and soda are all vegetarian. However, that does not mean that these foods provide the macro and micro nutrients that the body needs. Switching to a plant-based diet requires some preparation to ensure you’re getting the nutrients you normally get from meat.

Make gradual changes

Don’t be in a hurry to do a flexitarian diet. Although Blatner recommends beginners start with two meatless days per week before moving to 3-4 days and eventually to five meatless days each week. The key to success is to do it slowly and not cut back immediately. First, try changing one of your daily meals to a plant-based one. Then, after some time, switch to a vegetarian diet one day a week.

Find alternatives

The growing popularity of the plant-based diet has seen a growing market for meat alternatives. There are plenty of plant-based imitation meat options to satisfy the occasional craving. But remember, while these alternatives are generally better for your health than real meat, they’re not necessarily as healthy. If you have time, try making your own meatless alternatives, such as a beet and bean burger or scrambled tofu.

Stay in social situations

One of the hardest parts of making big dietary changes is sticking to social situations. Not all places or environments understand or provide the right foods for diets.

Build routines

Being flexible, vegetarian or vegan, requires paying more attention to what you eat to ensure a balanced diet. Having a routine can make all the difference in maintaining a new lifestyle. Try to prepare meals 2-3 times a week. That way, you always have a spare meal at home for a quick and easy dinner.