The Flexitarian Diet: Flexible vegetarians

What is the flexitarian diet?

The mission of the Flexiterian Diet is to go meatless most of the time, and lose weight and get healthy with no difficulty. Eating plant-based foods is a good way to cut calories. But not everyone can become 100% vegetarian. The Flexitarians eat a lot less meat than they used to but don’t restrict it completely.

The goal is to add more plant-based foods (beans, lentils, soya, chickpeas, fava beans) to your diet while cutting back on meat.

What are the stages of the Flexitarian Diet?

•Beginner flexitarian: If you have two days without meat per week (150 g of meat or poultry each day for 5 days a week ).

•Advanced flexitarian: Restricts meat 3 to 4 days per week (135-180 g of meat or poultry each day 3-4 times a week).

•Experts: go without meat 5 or more days per week (130 g of meat or poultry each day 2 times per week).

The Flexitarian Diet does support you to make more meatless changes in your diet, but baby steps are fine.

Should exercising be included in the Flexitarian Diet?

Exercise is a must. You need to be active for 30 minutes per day in order to be healthy. But if you want to lose weight you should exercise 90 minutes per day.

Does the Flexitarian Diet make you lose weight?

It might help you lose weight, but how much you eat still counts.

Research shows that vegetarians tend to weigh less than people who eat meat. In addition, plant-based foods such as vegetables and fruits are usually low in calories and high in nutrition, and they are important parts of a heart-healthy diet.

The flexitarian Diet doesn’t guarantee weight loss, but it is the addition of more plant-based foods to your diet that helps your health in many ways.

Is The Flexitarian Diet  Good for Certain Conditions?

Eating more plant-based foods, which are Cholesterol-free and low in saturated fat, can help prevent and treat various health conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.

What are the strengths of the Flexitarian diet?

The Flexitarian diet’s strengths are that it can manage your weight and improve your health by eating more healthy and plant-based diet.

Christelle Bedrossian
Dietitian-Nutritionist
Beirut, Lebanon