30F 5”6 / SW: 184.7, CW: 161.6, GW: 145
It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are key to a healthy diet, and including them in your diet can help aid weight loss with satiating fibre and volume, but it’s not always easy to incorporate them, especially when you’re not used to eating a lot of produce or haven’t found exactly what you like. I wanted to share some tips that have helped me eat more fruit and veg, particularly while dealing with depression, but I’d like to preface this by saying that I know some of these might be controversial as we’re in a weight loss sub and some tips involve adding significant calories to fruit and veg. This is because I believe enjoyment and satiety are key to long-lasting weight loss success, and by having extra calories with a fibre- and nutrient-dense fruit or vegetable in the moment, I’ve found I’m much less likely to binge later on than if I’d restricted myself. That binge is usually way more calories than if I’d let myself have the peanut butter with the apple, or cheese on the cauliflower!
-
First, let go of any shame or negativity towards “imperfect” food. Frozen veg has been proven to be just as (if not more) nutrient-dense than the stuff in the fresh aisle because of the preserving effects of freezing once they’ve been picked at peak season. Martha Stewart would probably rather eat organic raw carrots picked from the finest soil than a tin of peaches, but what’s better when you’re feeling low? The easy tin of peaches you actually eat, or the carrots it felt overwhelming to peel and chop and cook, that go spoiled and uneaten in the back of your fridge? Don’t be so hard on yourself, and don’t discount that every little helps.
-
Identify your “lowest effort” fruit and veg, and always have this on hand. I don’t always have the motivation or energy to tackle cooking a butternut squash, but it’s pretty easy for me to throw some frozen carrots in the microwave, so I keep a bag in the freezer. There are always bananas in my fruit bowl because they require no washing or chopping unlike some other fruit, which I love, but can’t always handle. Make a list of the fruit and veg you enjoy, and score them 1-3. 1 is grab and go, 2 is a little bit of prep, and 3 is a real effort in the kitchen. Everybody’s list will be different. Try to keep your 1s on deck as failsafe options, and even better if you can vary the colour or rotate options of the same colour to get that variety in.
-
Line your plate or bowl with spinach. I wish I could remember the YouTube video I learned this from! Basically whenever you reheat leftovers, put a handful of spinach in your bowl first, then the food on top, and let the spinach wilt as you reheat. It works especially great with pastas and curries.
-
Turn your fruit savoury! Chaat masala and Tajin are two popular seasonings for fruit. Sometimes you know you “should” have some fruit that day but the sweetness isn’t as appealing. Who says it can’t have a savoury twist? Chilli, salt and lime are great on fruit, especially bananas, apples, mangoes and melons.
-
Make your veg the star of the show. I fall into the routine of having meat/fish, potatoes, and steamed green beans or broccoli quite often. If you can relate to always cooking your veg the same way, commit one mealtime to using a completely new recipe for that veg, with different cooking methods and seasonings than you’ve ever used. When you put more attention and care into your veg prep, it becomes more exciting to eat!
-
For dessert, take inspiration from fruit-based desserts. These are tried and true combinations that work great for a reason. Add chocolate chips and chopped nuts to a banana. Dates give a lovely toffee-like note for banoffee vibes, and bonus, that’s another serving of fruit! Add apple pie spices to your apples. Dark chocolate for a Black Forest gateaux vibe to your tub of cherries.
-
Vegetable utensils! This might be a weird one haha, but on days where I realise I’ve barely eaten any veg, I’ll cut a carrot or cucumber in half lengthwise (or whatever fraction gets it to the right thickness), roughly hollow it by cutting a V or U shape out the new flat side, and use that to scoop my dinner like a spoon. Of course, this only works with scoopable dinners, like curry on rice! And you look a bit silly lol, but it’s nice to have a crunch with each bite and it doesn’t require any cooking. The divot in celery works perfectly for this. Alternatively, you can also slice veg into smaller pieces and use them to scoop up your rice-based dinners like using chips for dip.
-
“Something you want, and something you need”. This is one of my favourite healthy eating mottos. If you want to treat yourself by having the chocolate, but berate yourself for not eating the tangerine instead, have both - the something you want AND the something you need. Soon enough you might even start associating fruit and veg with the food you already love, and it doesn’t seem as strange to reach for it when you want a snack. It’s a win-win; the treat food you were weary of now has added fibre and nutrients, the fruit or veg you didn’t want now comes with something fun, and you’re satisfied both physically and emotionally so less likely to binge if you find yourself prone to that, by having just one of the two.
-
The little things add up. Don’t discount the value of the little bits of fruit and veg scattered to your meals, even if they seem negligible because they’re not full 80g portions. The salad leaves added to your sandwich don’t count for nothing, the few slices of tomato you add to your cheese on crackers don’t count for nothing. These little additions of fruit and veg are still valuable fibre than the alternative of just not having them, and they normalise incorporating produce into your diet.
-
Find your favourite go-to “everything but the kitchen sink” scrap recipes. Omelettes and soups are great ways of using up leftover veg. Any vegetable tastes amazing in a potato fritter!
-
Mindless snacking. I’m a huge snacker, and found I often don’t even really register what I’m snacking on while I’m focused on something like work, or a tv show. If you can relate, take advantage by using those moments to get in your fruit and veg. I have a small tub of cherry tomatoes on my desk while answering emails at work. I’m focused on my job, I don’t have the attention to give to a treat food I’d much rather be able to focus on and enjoy, so might as well sneak some veg in mindlessly!
-
Experiment with how you chop fruit and vegetables. It might seem insignificant but cutting fruit and vegetables differently to the usual sticks and round coins can make them way more fun to eat, and give the added benefit of extra surface area for flavourful dressings, for example with spiralised cucumbers or grated carrots. If a salad of diced veg feels boring, try using a peeler to slice carrots and cucumber into ribbons, and eat them like noodles.
I’m definitely eating more fruit and veg than when I started my weight loss journey but sometimes I still find myself getting home from work in the evening and realising I’ve barely had any! I would love to hear everyone else’s favourite tips and suggestions for eating more!
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/eKYytqx
