Flexitarian Diet, Deliciously Balanced

August 14, 2021,

Extremes, even when something is supposedly good for you, is just that. Extreme.

We saw this during our time in organized religion.

There was this thinking that if you essentially gave up everything, especially in a material way, you will be blessed.

We observed some truth to that but too often we saw, over time, that the people involved, though widely admired for walking the walk and not just talking the talk had become very disillusioned and extremely depressed.

Why?

Because the people who found balance appeared to do much better in the long-term.

Health insurance costs money.

Having children costs tons of money.

Having your house paid off in 10-15 years completely changes your financial life as opposed to renting and facing the rising costs that go with it. By the way, that costs money too.

Your wife in particular loves you much better if you have money than if you do not. Your teenagers too.

Even the church needs donations from people with money.

So, even though the literature provided us with inspiring stories about members who gave up everything for the cause, what we saw occur in real life was very different.

Sometimes painfully so.

No, make that often extremely painfully so.

A few in our circle, after graduating from college, gave up a promising though time consuming career to spend the majority of their time on their religious responsibilities and over time greatly regretted that decision.

That is why, in our long life experience, balance is the key.

We know that a vegetarian diet is good for your health. The research on that fact is overwhelming.

The challenge we have faced is that, it too, though extremely good for you, is not balanced.

In our circle, many are crazy about Chinese food. We live near San Francisco so how can we not be. Having said that, one of the joys of eating Chinese food is the wide variety and tastes that go into meat preparation.

Who eats Chinese food just for the vegetables? Can we see a show of hands?

That’s what we thought.

As reported by reuters.com in May of 2018, “China has overtaken the United States in healthy life expectancy at birth for the first time, according to World Health Organization data.

Chinese newborns can look forward to 68.7 years of healthy life ahead of them, compared with 68.5 years for American babies.”

The article goes on to add, America’s life expectancy is falling, having peaked at 79 years in 2014, the first such reversal for many years.

So you see, eating meat in balance is not necessarily going to reduce your life expectancy.

In balance, enjoy it.

That is why we love the new term, at least innovative to us, flexitarian.

A semi-vegetarian diet (SVD), also called a flexitarian, is one that is centered on plant foods with the occasional inclusion of meat.

Flexitarian is a portmanteau of the words flexible and vegetarian, signifying its followers' less strict diet pattern when compared to (other) vegetarian pattern diets.

Vegetarianism is the strict (extreme) practice of abstaining from consuming meat. Flexitarianism is a neoteric term that gained a considerable increase in usage in both science and public sectors in the 2010s.

Common reasons (perhaps common sense reasons)for adopting a semi-vegetarian diet include religious restrictions, weight management, health consciousness, issues relating to animal welfare or animal rights (see ethical omnivorism), the environment (see environmental vegetarianism), or reducing resource use (see economic vegetarianism).

Flexitarians may have attitudes and endorsement behavior concerning health issues, humanitarianism, and animal welfare.

Flexitarian was listed in the mainstream Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in 2012.

In 2003, the American Dialect Society voted flexitarian as the year's most useful word.

The movement is gaining in popularity around the world.

As shared by praguemorning.cz, “According to the latest survey by FMCG Gurus for the Czech Vegan Society, 21 percent of the Czech population is currently flexitarian, i.e. a person who has a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish.”

Count us in on the applause.

We found a great read on the subject at Amazon.

Flexitarian Diet: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide with Recipes Paperback – September 30, 2017

by Bruce Ackerberg

If you are a beginner and would like a concise step-by-step guide to the flexitarian diet, then keep reading

A flexitarian (also known as a semi-vegetarian) diet is ideal for someone who wants to be more of a vegetarian than a carnivore but can’t exactly part from the succulent meat dishes. Being a flexitarian offers immense benefits and advantages that you will appreciate.

You will surely gain a fit and shapely body if you will obediently stick to the flexitarian diet rules, which are not difficult to follow at all. You may need to create some adjustments in your lifestyle and habits, and this book will guide you from day one of your transition phase.

In this guide, you will discover...

• What the flexitarian diet
• The foremost things that you need to do in order to embrace flexitarianism with ease
• 2 options that you can choose from if you follow a flexitarian diet.
• How to follow the different recipes that are included and use them to plan your meal.
• Other important aspects about flexitarian diet.
• Curated recipes

The flexitarian diet is so flexible that you may never feel like following a certain type of diet at all. The delicious and tempting recipes that are included in this book are enticing and appetizing enough for the whole family to enjoy.You will gain better health and body in a matter of time, and the best part is you can do the same with the whole family. They won’t even notice that they are eating a flexitarian meal, unless you explicitly tell them.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is the Flexitarian Diet
• An Environmentally Friendly, Sustainable Diet
• Your Step by Step Guide
• Breakfast Recipes
• Veggie Galor (Lunch and Dinner)
• Guilt-Free Meat and Meat Alternatives (Lunch and Dinner
• Easy Snacks and Drinks
• 5-Day Meal Plan
• Conclusion

Sounds enticing and balanced.

Keep repeating that word to yourself. Balance.

There is a true story in our circle where one of our associates could not consume dairy products. It would create havoc in his dietary tract. You can imagine how at social gatherings, he painfully watched friends love their variety of ice creams for dessert while he had to abstain.

Then he did his homework. Experimented and found some non-dairy ice creams that were absolutely delicious. Were they perfect? No, they did have sugar but so what. He would cut down on his sugar intake elsewhere and now he could have his beloved ice cream again.

We sense all of us were so happy when 2020 ended. Pandemic blues and social unrest were just a number of the factors. Watching NFL games with no one in the stands and it was still called a “home” game was absolutely depressing.

Glad 2020 is way over.

Now that the vaccines are out and working (we are fully vaccinated), as a society we can find balance again and attend the things we have come to love so much, like tail gating at an NCAA or NFL game.

It is not just about sports. Who is kidding who?

We’re also glad the flexitarian food movement is growing.

Flexitarian may sound like a species that Star Trek’s Captain Picard may have discovered in the far outer reaches of the galaxies (he probably loved the cuisine), but to us, it is a word that  signifies a dietary balance and is deliciously very down to earth.

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PHOTO  CREDIT fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com Ron-Lach-pexels.com-photo-credit.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-lifespan/china-overtakes-u-s-for-healthy-lifespan-who-data-idUSKCN1IV15L

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-vegetarianism

https://praguemorning.cz/every-fifth-czech-is-a-flexitarian-new-survey-reports/

https://femcompetitor.com/

https://grapplingstars.com/

https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/

https://fciwomenswrestling.com/