If you have diabetes or have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, you most likely have been exploring or experimenting with a diet or two. Along the way, you have probably learned that there is one thing in common for all of them – diets are easy to start, but difficult to keep up with. Naturally, the more restrictive the diet is, the harder it is to cope with what it has for you on the table. Literally. But you still have the disease to manage, which means you have to control your blood sugar levels and body weight, so you simply cannot afford to eat everything the grocery stores have to offer and you have to find yourself a healthy diet that will be diabetes-friendly and not making your life miserable at the same time. One of the diets that meets the profile to allow successful adaptation and get the job done is the flexitarian diet.

The name of the diet, which is made of two words “flexible” and “vegetarian” gives the idea of what it can offer you. – The flexitarian diet is a combination between vegan and vegetarian diets with the ability (a game changer for many) to enjoy animal products once in a while. In other words, it is an alternative to becoming a vegetarian or vegan, as your focus should still be mainly on fruits, vegetables, and other non-animal foods, but sometimes you can also treat yourself to a nice, juicy burger.

To manage your meat consumption properly, there are three stages of the flexitarian diet for you to go through. In stage one, you should skip meat for just two days of the week, keeping your weekly meat consumption to 28 Oz. As you master that, move on to the second stage, making yourself a vegetarian for 3 – 4 days of the week, while consuming no more than 18 Oz of meat weekly. Once you get comfortable with reduced meat consumption, get to the third stage, in which your vegetarian period will extend to 5 days of the week and your weekly meat consumption will be further reduced to up to 9 Oz. It’s also worth mentioning that when buying meat you should opt for lean beef, chicken or turkey to minimize your animal fat consumption.

So, what does the flexitarian diet bring to your table? The food variety is pretty broad and besides fruits and vegetables includes Plant proteins, such as beans, lentils, chickpeas, edamame, and tofu; Fish; Whole grains like barley, quinoa, brown rice, and oats; plant-based milk; seeds and nuts; Oils, spices and herbs; And also some dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, and milk (in moderation).

With such arsenal of foods, you are guaranteed not be left with a boring menu to endure. Here, we’d like to share with you a few of our favorite recipes that fit the flexitarian diet.

Carrots and Celery Salad

A simple, easy to make, and absolutely diabetes-friendly salad that is good for dinner any time of year.

Spinach, Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

This nutritious diabetes-friendly green salad is a great dish to impress your family and friends with its rich flavor.

Tofu, Salmon and Broccoli Salad

This easy to make diabetic-friendly recipe gives you a simple yet delicious combination of smoked salmon, crunchy steamed broccoli, and tofu.

Pink Salmon Baked with Onions and Tomatoes

Pink salmon cooked in the onion and tomato juice turns out to be a very tender and tasty diabetic-friendly dish.

Chicken Breast, Beans, and Tomatoes Salad

This is a simple, light but filling, diabetic-friendly salad that can easily become your favorite lunch dish.

Eggplant and Tofu Salad with Ginger and Soy Sauce

A very light, yet very satisfying diabetic-friendly salad that can serve as a side or as a full meal when meat is not on the menu.

Chicken and Peach Salad

This diabetic-friendly summer salad is filled with juicy peaches, grilled chicken, tomatoes, Dijon mustard, pine nuts, and other ingredients that make this easy to make salad so delicious.

Quinoa Salad

Nutritious, tasty and diabetic-friendly, quinoa salad is a dish you can’t go wrong with when deciding what’s for dinner.

Tilapia Filet with Cauliflower Salad

Diabetic-friendly steamed tilapia is a great snack with steamed cauliflower, apples and basil.

Baked Salmon with Mustard and Lemon

This diabetic-friendly dish is ideal for people who don’t have much time to cook, but want to eat healthy, restaurant-worthy food in the comfort of their homes.