Slimming World flexitarian? ‘What’s that?’, I hear you ask.
I recently mentioned that I had started eating meat again, after being more or less vegetarian for the past couple of years. Doing Slimming World made me realise that, because I have IBS and can’t eat endless pulses, can’t touch soya and can’t stand Quorn, I was getting most of my protein from eggs and cheese. Cutting back the cheese to help me lose weight meant that my options were even fewer.
Add an inability to digest lactose (I use lactose free milk), onions, cabbage and cauliflower (amongst other things) and I am a flipping awkward person to feed. Good job I am chief cook around here!
Anyway, back to my point, which is that, although I am eating meat again, I don’t want to eat a lot of it. Partly due to the cost of the stuff, but also because meat has a huge carbon footprint. I am a greenie! In an ideal world I would be a vegan, but it not being an ideal world I will stick with being a ‘flexitarian’. I want to eat mainly vegetables, nuts, a bit of dairy, some fish and a little meat. This approach fits in well with this diet plan, so I am happy to be a Slimming World flexitarian!
We eat the odd pre-prepared and packaged item – we’re not perfect and get super busy like everyone else. But, on the whole, I like to make as much as possible myself.
So, onto this week’s meal plan, which hopefully reflects all of the blah above. You can read more about the benefits of a flexitarian diet at DietVDisease.Org.
I replace oil with Frylight and tend to either leave out the onions or use finely chopped celery instead.
Slimming World Flexitarian Meal Plan
Saturday
Chicken pilau rice with chard from the garden. We will probably eat this at most meals as it is coming thick and fast. It is also delicious and I prefer it to spinach.
Sunday
It’s not going to be a good Slimming World day, but I will try not to over indulge. Our meat intake is going to be pretty much focussed on this weekend. We have family coming for lunch. I am making coq au vin with rice and also pork with apples and cider. I will make it with pork chops as belly is too fatty.
Dessert will be strawberries, meringues and cream (lactose free low fat Greek yogurt for me, although I might go crazy and spend all my Syns on a meringue).
Monday
Pasta with roasted pepper and tomato sauce. I will roast fresh tomatoes with peppers and garlic and literally just squish them through some cooked pasta with some chopped parsley and oregano. Super easy.
Tuesday
Spanish Style tortilla with a big salad of leaves and herbs from the garden, tomatoes and grated carrot.
Wednesday
Mediterranean fish stew with mashed potato and chard.
Thursday
Slow cooker vegetable curry and brown rice. Something like this recipe, although I will leave out the onions and mess around with it to use whatever we have. Low fat coconut milk is 4 Syns per 100ml. If I make 4 servings with my 400g can it will be mostly free.
I love my slow cooker, but tend to mainly use it for stews and soups in the winter. It’s so versatile though, I should use it more in the summer. I have a Morphy Richards 3.5 Litre one like this from Amazon
Friday
More of the veggie curry and rice.
I do believe that this kind of diet is probably the most healthy we can eat. I am still a snacker so will stick with the ideas in last week’s meal plan to take care of that tendency! What do you think of my Slimming World flexitarian meal plan?
I am joining in with Katy Kicker’s meal planning linky. Check out her meal plan this week too. You can see more of my favourite food ideas and recipes here. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.
Chrissie says
I am doing slimming world on a plant based diet and it is working well for me, it must be frustrating at times for you having dietary limitations but you have made good decisions for both yourself and the environment. The only problem with the slimming world program is the word ” unlimited “. If I hear that I will pile my plate high and it doesn’t work for me so I have cut down my portion size too as in order to maintain when I actually get there ( a long way yet ) I need to get used to a little less on my plate .I never have been heard to say, “just a little bit for me please”, pudding? not for me thanks, or Gosh ,I’m full, I couldn’t eat another mouthful. Since starting this I have had the odd veg pasty, smoothy and freshly made white bread but only one week did I stay the same, I have learnt not to beat myself up about these things and am 20 pounds down. Life is too short to not have a pasty !
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
agree. You can’t be a slave to it, but will lose weight if you follow it most of the time
Katy Stevens says
You really can’t beat homemade veggies, can you? I loved it when we grew Chard at our allotment.
Have a great week and thanks for linking up!
Sarah - Mud, Cakes and Wine says
What an amazing sounding week of meals, must be hard to plan but sounds great. We have a few veggies starting to come along which is lovely. We too eat only smaller amounts of meat and when we do i get it from our local farm shop
Margie from Toronto says
Sounds like a great week of meals.
I did a bit of prep work for the week yesterday. I roasted a bunch of veggies, cooked a steak (which I slice up for a couple of salads), cooked a pile of bacon which I then put into the freezer and will have a couple of pieces with scrambled eggs later in the week, and then I prepped cold veg to add to my salad greens – so most of my meals are sorted for the week – I just keep varying what goes into my daily salad and I switch between bacon & egg and Greek Yogurt with fruit for my first meal. Mostly sticking to the two meals a day and no snacking.
It’s a bit boring but I don’t really mind in the summer – we have another hot & humid week coming up (around 31C but feeling more like 37C) so I tend to keep meals as simple as possible and I try not to turn on the oven!
Kim says
Oh gosh, you do sound awkward to feed. It sounds like it’s the right thing for you to eat meat. Good luck with it.
All of your meals sound so good especially the Mediterranean fish stew. x
Joleisa says
I’ve never had chard before. I don’t even know if I know it. But it sounds like something I would want to try. I love spinach, calaloo, and other green vegetables.
It must be so frustrating to be vegetarian and not be able to tolerate so many vegetables! I would personally just add fish and maybe chicken. But, all the best with it and I love the sound of that fish stew.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Chard is like spinach with a juicer stalk. It’s lovely!
Jaymee says
I love the sound of vegetable curry. I have been trying to reduce my meat intake but it sounds like for you, its the right thing to do. Good Luck and I hope you start feeling the benefits!