This is a post about my diet. It is a diet in the sense that it is a set of constraints that I apply to my meal choices. It is not a weight-loss strategy or a moral statement. My diet is mostly a method for me to be more mindful of the foods I choose to eat. This post exists mostly as an exercise for myself to define my food-eating strategy as a general system.

In my ongoing mission to live mindfully, this diet gives me an easy set of handles to take control over another part of my life that would otherwise fly on autopilot. And it has set me up in a way that has been repeatable and resilient. I’m reminded of rules two and three of the YNAB budgeting philosophy, which encourage people to grapple with their expenses and roll with the punches when things change.

Rules for my diet

I have chosen to limit my meat intake, eating primarily pescatarian options. In a given week, I allow myself a set number of flex options - times where I can choose to eat meat. When I use one of my budgeted flexes, I log it in a habit tracker on my phone. Weeks restart Sunday morning.

Here’s how I might have spent my flex budget in a hypothetical week:

  • Sunday brunch: summer sausage garnish in a bloody mary
  • Monday night: buffalo wings
  • Wednesday night: pepperoni pizza
  • Saturday lunch: mac and cheese with bacon

All other meals fit squarely within the boundaries of pescatarianism. (Shrimp and salmon consumption is way up in my house.)

This example is not representative of an actual week that I lived. But it does pull from actual exceptions that I can remember, which I think showcase two of the biggest benefits this system has for me:

  1. I can remember each of the items I allocated my meat budget to
  2. I really enjoyed all of those flexes, and felt good after eating them

How to eat as a budgetarian

Anyone can be a budgetarian. In fact, just like getting started with the YNAB system, you don’t even need to change any behaviors when you get started! If you have something you want to change about how you eat, your first week of budgetarianism might consist of eating normally, but tracking the habits you want to change. Then, when you understand where you’re currently at, you can establish sustainable constraints for yourself, and give yourself enough wiggle room to flex.

When I started eating this way, I gave myself eight flexes in a week. It went smoothly, and a few weeks in I decided to tighten up to six. When the app on my phone told me I had maintained this habit for over 20 weeks, I pulled it down to four. And a year later, I am now operating with a budget of two meat options a week.

I love this iterative approach. When I started, there was no way I would willingly give up chicken wings. And while that is still my biggest “weakness,” it’s easy to stay within my flex budget because I took steps here gradually. Who knows? Maybe next year I’ll be tracking how many times I eat shrimp, with chicken fully out of the diet.

Here are the steps I’d recommend to anybody thinking about adapting to budgetarianism:

  1. Identity something you want to change about how you eat
  2. Describe that goal in measurable terms
  3. Allow yourself a budget of flexes
  4. Track how well you do and keep getting better

Anecdotal benefits

By far, the biggest upside in my life has been the regular reflection on (and forecasting of) what I choose to eat. If my partner and I want to go out for dinner on a Tuesday, my menu choices take the rest of the week into account. Sure, this place has a great chicken parm, but we’re planning to go out for ramen with friends on Thursday… I’ll try the pasta primavera instead. On Saturday, my budget is spent and I can’t go out for a burger, but damn that pepperoni pizza was good last night.

I’d never applied that level of mindfulness to my eating before. And that’s normal. But we’re out here eating three meals a day, often with zero forethought or intentionality. That’s obviously fulfilling core nutritional requirements, but it just stopped sitting well with me. Now I’ve got a handle on what I’m eating, and I feel great about that.

As for my specific constraints, I’m also happy with how much less meat I’m eating. I’ve seen less food waste coming out of my home, possibly because I’m able to portion better (one pound of ground beef was always a bit more than two people needed), and certain veggie options have a much longer shelf life than meats. Eating out, this budget has forced me out of my comfort zone and urged me to explore a bit more of the menu. And that’s good! I’ve enjoyed tons of new foods because of these choices - too many to list.

And while we’re talking benefits, have I lost any weight? Nope! Not really! And that’s also fine. I feel healthy and happy, and I’ve got tools to make changes to my diet as needed.

Wrap up

So, that’s “budgetarianism.” Since starting this draft, I’ve stopped thinking in terms of “cheats” or “exceptions” - it feels a lot better to talk in terms of flexing the diet instead of breaking it completely. And anyway, it’s not cheating to eat a taco if the rules are built to allow it!

Hopefully you find something worthwhile here. And if you decide to take up my approach, or alter it for yourself, let me know!