Vegetables are one of the most filling foods you can eat (along with fruits, whole grains and lean proteins). They are generally bulky, fibrous foods (think more along the lines of broccoli, bok choy, peppers etc and not as much corn or potatoes) that have relatively low caloric density, especially when compared to an equivalent amount of calories from junk food. To eat 100 calories of broccoli you’d have to eat 300 grams of it or ~4 cups worth. Whereas 100 calories from something like potato chips would only take about 8-10 chips - an amount you could eat without even noticing.
Think about it - there are some days you could probably eat an entire bag of chips and then ask “what’s for supper?” But eat 4+ cups of broccoli? Especially if that’s in addition to the rest of your meal? You’ve got your work cut out for you there.
Now to be clear, I don’t know many people who look at a plate of raw broccoli and go mmm can’t wait to chew on that for 5 minutes before swallowing. I like veggies but after 2-3 bites of raw broccoli or cauliflower I’m ready to gag. Cook veggies so they taste better. And if they taste better, you’re most likely to eat them… Which is the whole idea.
So if veggies have low caloric density and are very filling for those calories, they are an ideal food to bulk up your meals. And if you cook them in ways that don’t add a lot of extra calories (ie steaming, grilling or roasting with only a light coating of oil) then you can add almost an unlimited amount of them to your meals, even if you’re eating at a calorie deficit, without it affecting your weight loss.
The best place to start is to start adding them to the meals you’re most hungry for or the ones you’re usually still hungry after. Personally I'm not that hungry at breakfast and I’m busy enough during the day after lunch so adding them there isn’t needed. But suppertime? I’m ready to feast. So try this.
Eat whatever food you were going to normally eat at that meal, even if it’s a burger or a bunch of pizza, but add in 1-2 fist sized servings of veggies - again sticking to veggies that have been steamed/grilled/roasted.
For example, grilled asparagus = good. French fry = bad.
How many veggies to add depends on how hungry you are after that meal but once you do this a couple of times you should have a baseline amount.
Still pretty hungry? Add more veggies next time. Feel pretty content? Probably the right amount. Can’t even finish your food? What a nice problem to have but you can probably scale down a bit.
Next time you’re trying to lose weight, try that out for a week or two and see if it helps.
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/5Si0xJ3
No comments:
Post a Comment