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Need to Eat Healthier?

Try Out a Part-Time Vegetarian or Flexitarian Diet for 30 Days

flexitarian
Egg Bagel for Flexitarians

I love to eat eggs, cheese, and meat. That certainly limits my choice of becoming vegan.

Patty Cakes Pantry and Kitchen Southern Hospitality food bloggers agreed to a 30-day vegan blogging and eating plan. At first, I said yes. I reconsidered. How could I be vegan for an entire month? No way. But vegetarian? Maybe.

When I looked closer at vegetarian options, I saw the flexibility of food choices. Then I discovered a term, flexitarian. It’s the same as a part-time vegetarian or semi-vegetarian. That could work for me.

Can you commit to this type of eating plan? How about for 30 days? If it means becoming more healthy, it’s worth looking into.

Vegetarian Options

Changing to a vegetarian diet can be much less daunting than becoming vegan. If you’re like me and like to eat steak occasionally, love chicken, fish, and dairy, and can’t live without eggs (not only the egg whites, either), you may want to research the variety of vegetarian options.

  1. Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian
  2. Lacto Vegetarian
  3. Ovo Vegetarian
  4. Pesco-Pollo Vegetarian – You eat chicken and fish but not red meat.
  5. Semi-Vegetarian, Part-time Vegetarian, or Flexitarian

What does vegetarianism mean? It means, very basically, that you don’t eat meat. What is the purpose of being a vegetarian? Common reasons are animal rights, the environment, resource efficiency, religious convictions, and health benefits.

Reasons I would consider becoming a part-time/semi-vegetarian/flexitarian?

First reason:

If for religious convictions, it would be because of what the Bible has to say about eating and food. Listed below are foods, along with Bible verses that mention them, that I love to eat or add to my food when I’m cooking.

This list is certainly not a complete one of all the food verses, but it shows that much of what we eat can be found in the Bible.

  • I love meat: Proverbs 23:20 (NIV), “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat…”
  • I love bread and cheese: I Samuel 17: 17-18 (NIV) “Now Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.'”
  • I love butter, honey, and milk: Isaiah 7:22 (NIV) “And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.” (KJV) “And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.”
  • I love fruits, herbs, and vegetables: Genesis 1:29 (KJV) “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
  • I love honey, cream of wheat, and sometimes fig preserves and pomegranates: Deuteronomy 8:8 (KJV) “A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;”
  • I love nuts, honey, spices, almonds: Genesis 43:11 (KJV) “ And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:”
  • I love salt: Matthew 5:13 (KJV) “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
  • I love olives and olive oil: Leviticus 2:4 (NIV) “If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of the finest flour: either thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in or thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with olive oil.”

Second Reason:

Health benefits would be a reason I would consider going on a semi-vegetarian diet, at least on temporary occasions.

  • Risk of obesity and high blood pressure is lowered.
  • You don’t feel bloated from too much consumption of meat.
  • There’s no need to worry that you aren’t getting enough protein.
  • You could lose weight.

There are plenty of good reasons to choose a flexitarian diet. One not listed above is you could save money by not eating meat every day. By following the semi-vegetarian or part-time vegetarian plan, a person could find it easier to eat in moderation.

Gluttony, excessive eating, can be controlled by not allowing yourself to eat what you love every day of the week. If I eat a dessert daily, then I can’t live without it. So it is with meat.

Have you followed a semi-vegetarian eating plan? How has it helped you with healthy eating? If you have any tips to offer, please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

Kudos to Patty Cakes Pantry, a food blog dedicated to 30-day vegan meals. Take a few moments to visit Patty Cakes and see what vegan food ideas she is blogging about this week.

Day Three on a 30-Day Part-Time Vegetarian Diet

Today’s breakfast was delicious (see the recipe)! I honestly didn’t miss bacon – and I really love bacon and eggs. It was a bagel breakfast with eggs. So very good.

Try the egg and cheese bagel recipe, and let me know how you like it. Got any other ideas for flexitarian bagel breakfasts?

This month on my blog is all about the semi-vegetarian/part-time vegetarian/flexitarian diet. I’m learning more every day about how to eat this type of diet. I think it’s a good idea because I need to shed extra pounds, eat nutritious foods, and stay healthy.

Thank you for visiting Kitchen Southern Hospitality!

 

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