If you’re like me you grew up in a meat and potatoes family. Every dinner had to have a protein and a starch. Sure, the veggies were there, but they were usually some wilted looking beans or a couple stalks of broccoli.

There have been several studies conducted that talk about focusing more on the veggies and whole grains and less on meat and processed starches.  It will leave you healthier and slimmer. It’s even lighter on your wallet. Now there is a movement that focuses on this type of eating called Flexitarian living which encourages less meat and more healthy carbs, proteins and fats in our diets.

According to MSNBC, Flexitarians could account for 30 to 40 percent of Americans, i.e. people who occasionally plan a non-meat meal. In fact, only about 3% of the adult population are true vegetarians who never stray to the meat, poultry, or seafood section of the grocery store. According to a poll at Vegetarian Times, 70% of their readers cheat regularly admitting to eating meat at least occasionally.

But the Flexitarian idea isn’t something new. The term dates back to October 1992, when an Austin, TX reporter was interviewing Helga Morath, a new restaurant owner about the menu at her establishment, the Acorn Cafe. If you’re interested in finding out more, there’s even a book,The Flexitarian Diet, by Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD.

Blatner offers guidelines with three different levels that progress from being almost exclusively a meat eater to almost entirely vegetarian. But you can just follow these simple steps:

1. Start by planning one meal a week that doesn’t include meat. Do yourself a favor and don’t count pizza or a big pile of processed pasta and canned tomato sauce as your one meal. Look for something that includes fresh veggies and meatless proteins like tofu or nuts.  For lots of ideas check out Meatless Monday.

2. Once you become comfortable with one meal a week, try to expand your recipes and add a second meal per week. This would be the time to try out a new grain like quinoa or couscous. Maybe something daring like tofu sausage. There will be some trial and error, some pleasant successes and some horrible failures. Just keep trying and you’ll come up with a nice collection of dishes that will keep you healthy and satisfied.

3. Then it’s up to you to decide the best balance between vegetarian and meat-eating human. You might find you naturally drift over time to less and less meat or you might find your cravings kicking in and decide that two or three meatless meals per week is what you prefer.

4. With meat-based meals try to make the meat a side dish, or slice the meat thinly and disperse through the dish like a stir-fry. You’ll never notice you’re using less.

Flexitarian eating can even help the planet. According to an article in Audobon Magazine, to negate the meat-eating effects of global warming the average American should drop their meat consumption from 12 ounces per day (on average) to 3.1 ounces. Of that amount, only half should be red meat.

No matter what’s right for you, even one meal a week without meat will trim some pounds and help reduce greenhouse gases. If you’ve got a great recipe or website please feel free to share it below.

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