Vegetarian Star » Flexitarian

“Top Chef Just Desserts” Gail Simmons Treats Self To Vegetarian

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:54:03 +0000

Top Chef Just Desserts’ Gail Simmons won’t call herself a full-time vegetarian, but if there are no carnivores to wait on, she often turns plant-based meals to satisfy her hunger.

“When I’m cooking for myself, I find that I eat almost completely vegetarian, although I’m not vegetarian,” Simmons told the LA Times.

“So I make a lot of vegetable soups and stews, and a lot of whole grains like barley, quinoa and brown rice. I also make a lot of salads. A salad could be a million things — I try to use lots of different vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and seeds.”

Simmons prepares for the big vegetarian indulgence by roasting a “ton of vegetables” at the beginning of each week so she can have plenty to cook with for later meals.

She avoids processed food, but admits to having a weakness for ice cream, butterscotch and dark chocolate.

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Natalie Coughlin–Too Much Meat Gets You In Deep Water

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:29:23 +0000

Eleven-time Olympic American medalist Natalie Coughlin has not joined the ranks of athletes who’ve sworn off turkey for tempeh. The swimmer admits her first meal at the London summer games will probably be bangers and mash. But she’s smart enough to know a flexitarian diet that reduces her meat intake, especially during training season, is Gold worthy.

“If I do eat meat, it’s at night, and it’s a pretty small portion,” Coughlin told Fitsguar. “I love meat, but I think it’s much healthier to eat vegetarian most of the time and eat it when it’s really delicious or in a smaller portion. That being said, one of my biggest guilty pleasures is a bratwurst at the ball game. It’s not like I’m super, super granola and I never touch meat. I just use it sparingly.”

Plus, you have to love a gal who’s gets eggs from the chickens in her own backyard.

“It’s amazing how much food is produced by these little creatures. I just have to give them kitchen scraps, fruits and vegetables, and chicken feed, and they give us a ton of fresh eggs every day, which is pretty incredible,” she said.

Read Coughlin’s entire interview at Fitsguar.

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Meatless Monday Recipe–Bittman’s Chickpea Salad With Arugula

Vegetarian Star — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:15:04 +0000

Food and opinion writer for the New York Times Mark Bittman serves as a good example of how to live as a flexitarian for those that do not shun all animal products, for whatever reasons.

His self-invented “vegan until six p.m.” program helped him lose weight, lower cholesterol and incorporate a variety of plant-based meals into his diet, such as this Chickpea Salad with Arugula.

During a recent speech, he assured other potential flexitarians he’s not preaching the gospel of total vegetarian/veganism yet. He’s just asking that everyone do what he did. Trade the steak for seitan and see what it does for their health.

“What really matters is that we move from the cheeseburger end of the [eating] spectrum to the salad end,” Bittman said. “You never have to become a person who eats raw salads morning, noon and night. All that really matters, diet-wise, is that we eat more plants, and more real food based on plants and less industrially produced animal products, and way less hyper-processed junk.”

More closer to the salad end by trying Bittman’s Chickpea Salad (the egg is completely optional) tonight.

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Lance Armstrong Goes Vegan–At Least Until Six

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:34:51 +0000

At the young age of 40, Lance Armstrong has so many accomplishments to his name.

Multiple Tour de France winner. Testicular cancer survivor with a foundation (Lance Armstrong Foundation @ Livestrong.org) that empowers others living and beating the same disease (80 million people with those yellow bracelets couldn’t be more fashionable). Ironman competitor. A new line of fitness equipment. And now. Perhaps his greatest achievement ever…a vegan until six and Engine 2 Diet athlete.

Armstrong swims with former triathlete, firefighter who turned his station vegan and author of The Engine 2 Diet, Rip Esselstyn. Armstrong was impressed with the film Forks over Knives. The fact that former president Bill Clinton went vegan to erase his heart disease symptoms also adds to the convincing evidence.

Armstrong spoke with the Huffington Post about his latest adventure in the kitchen.

“Even when you’re training really hard, it’s normal that you would have certain things for lunch or certain things for breakfast, and then have this dip, or almost like a food coma … I don’t experience that anymore. My energy level has never been this consistent, and not just consistent, but high. I’m a big napper — I couldn’t even take a nap these days if I wanted to.”

“The other thing — I expected to get rid of that dip, but I didn’t expect the mental side of it, and the sharpness and the focus that I’ve noticed. And I was the biggest non-believer, I was like ‘whatever man’, and I’m in.”

Armstrong is currently combining Rip’s plan with a “vegan until six” plan food writer Mark Bittman advocates, meaning dinners could be non-vegan if he chooses.

Photo: de:Benutzer:Hase/Creative Commons

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Rosario Dawson Was A Financial Flexitarian

Vegetarian Star — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:41:15 +0000

People go flexitarian for a variety of reasons like health, animals and the environment. Could finances be the next motivator to be a sometimes-vegetarian?

Rosario Dawson is featured on the August 2011 issue of Shape magazine. Inside she shared how she grew up eating mostly vegan, but would occasionally eat differently when money was low.

“My mom was practicing vegan and raw diets years ago, so I understood eating healthy at a young age,” Dawson said. “We even belonged to the local co-op. I mean, we had Spam too, because we were poor and had to take whatever we could get, but we stopped eating white bread when I was.”

It’s understandable that in some cases, you have to eat what’s available to survive. But it may be more expensive to go for the “cheap meat” than grains and vegetables after all. Even Spam is getting expensive.

The price of the canned meat has gone up about 17 cents or 7% recently and a 12 oz. can costs on average $2.62. That’s enough to buy several vegetarian or vegan items like whole grain pasta or beans.

Not to mention that processed meats like those found in convenience foods like Spam are linked to several health problems, like cancer.

In the long run, it’s probably cheaper to spurn the Spam, even if it means having to hunt for those few extra nickels hidden in the couch cushions.

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Roger Ebert Steak ‘N Shake Flexitarian Plan Isn’t Only Way To Do It

Vegetarian Star — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:07:52 +0000

Let’s play a game of how many different kinds of flexitarians we can name.

There’s the vegan until six. The weekday vegetarian. And now, the latest new trend to reduce your meat intake…the vegetarian except Steak ’n Shake.

Roger Ebert has supported the idea of eating less meat and was especially turned on after seeing the film Forks Over Knives.

“Here is a film that could save your life,” Ebert said. “The bottom line: I am convinced this message is true. A plant-based whole foods diet is healthy.”

Ebert wrote an article in the Chicago Sun-Times where he explored what it would take to live beyond the average expected lifespan.

Apparently long life depends on keeping active, staying interested, and eating a diet high in volume but low in calories, which means mostly grains and vegetables. So many of us, me included, know that in theory but don’t always follow it in practice. For a time I followed the Steak ’n Shake diet, which meant: Be a vegetarian except when at Steak ’n Shake.

A flexitarian diet consisting of “mostly grains and vegetables” may be the key to living a century or longer, and if the Steak ‘n Shake plan isn’t for you, there are plenty of other ways to do it, such as cutting out red meat, eating only humanely raised meat and eating vegetarian at home while saving meat entrees for dinners out at the steakhouse.

Photo: PR Photos

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Mark Bittman Says July 4th Tough For Meatless Monday

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:33:49 +0000

Okay. So you’ve finally made the decision to change your eating habits because you know that daily burger isn’t doing anything for your health or the environment and the last farm sanctuary you visited made you want to freak your doberman out by introducing him to his latest animal housemate Mr. Pig.

Meatless Monday is a good start, but is the 4th of July holiday the best time to convert, considering there will be all those hot dogs, burgers and other meaty goods on the grill?

Mark Bittman recently explored this dilemma is his New York Times food column.

Like every day in America, the Fourth of July is a celebration of protein. But the Fourth is a special day for burgers and ribs, not beans and rice, a day with contests to see who can eat the most hot dogs, not the most veggie patties. If you’re anti-meat, the Fourth of July can feel anti-you.

Bittman discusses the rising popularity in the Meatless Monday campaign and its benefits, but recognizes that the July 4th holiday may not be the best time for the most dedicated carnivore to make changes.

The Fourth of July may not be the day to trade in your hot dog, but the following Monday is a good one for beans and rice.

While Bittman’s suggestion will work for some, Vegetarian Star would like to remind potential flexitarians that the holiday is also the perfect opportunity to become acquainted with the dozens of faux meats available that put the real stuff to shame.

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Meatless Mouthful–Tal Ronnen On Bacon Eating Vegans

Vegetarian Star — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:22:55 +0000

“So many people tell me, ‘I could be a vegan if it weren’t for bacon,’ and I tell them, ‘Be a “vegan” who eats bacon.’”

“Real militant vegans hate when I say that. But if you are cutting back on the amount of meat that you eat, you’re still doing something great for your health, for the planet and for the animal.”

–Tal Ronnen, in an interview with the LA Times. The article highlights the growing trend among culinary experts, vegetarians and animal activists accepting and promoting flexitarianism or vegetarianism that lets one slide here and there instead of mandating the adherence to strict eating patterns.

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