Congratulations to our book winner,
Christy Troxell-Thomas
Veggies are so awesome that even though they?re complex carbs, we?ve given them their very own group in carb cycling! In fact, you can eat 2 handfuls of non-root/non-starchy type veggies with every. single. meal. 🙂
So why do veggies deserve such a distinction? They are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and have amazing health benefits:
- Decrease bone loss
- Boost your immune system
- Strengthen your heart and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
- Help prevent kidney stones (based on my kidney stones experience from November, this is one awesome benefit!).
- Lubricate your joints
- Lower your risk of vision and digestive problems
- Provide cancer-fighting antioxidants
- Reduce obesity risk
- Help prevent Type 2 Diabetes
- Lower your blood pressure
Veggies pretty much nourish every part of your body! And one of their main benefits? They are so low in calories that you can fill up with veggies without even making hardly a dent in your daily calorie bank account. Try doing that with any other food group!
I?m often asked about fresh vs. frozen vs. canned veggies. While fresh, in season veggies are best, frozen and canned are great alternatives because fresh veggies start to lose their nutrients within days. Since the frozen and canned variety are picked and then processed at their peak, they continue to hold the majority of their nutrients for an extended period of time. Processing actually increases the lycopene found in tomatoes, which protects you against heart disease and even some cancers. And what?s the best part about choosing frozen or canned veggies? They allow you to eat your favorites year-round! They?re also quick and easy to prepare, and you?ll save money because you?ll throw away less due to spoilage. Just be sure to choose no sugar and low or no salt added varieties.
Since most people consume only about half of the recommended servings of veggies each day, here are some ideas to help you add more of these nutritional necessities into your diet:
- Add a handful of spinach to your smoothie. You won?t even know it?s there!
- Buy pre-washed bags of salad.
- Pre-package your own veggies for a healthy, on-the-go snack.
- Add veggies to sandwiches and soups.
- Choose to snack on veggies instead of other not-so-healthy options.
- Get creative?try something new! You might discover a new favorite. 😉
- Make sure your veggies are colorful!
- Just gotta? have ranch dip with your veggies? Try this healthier version: 1) Mix together equal parts each of onion powder, dried dill, and garlic powder. 2) Mix in three times the amount used for the ingredients in step 1 (if you used 1 tablespoon for step 1, use 3 tablespoons in this step) of dried parsley. 3) Add sea salt and pepper taste. 4) Add this mix (to taste) to plain nonfat Greek yogurt and enjoy!
What creative things do you do to incorporate more veggies into your day? Share your ideas in the comments below. Winner of the?autographed copy of Chris? book, Choose to Lose?was chosen randomly and announced on Friday, March 14, 2014.
Now go eat your veggies! 🙂
142 Responses
I love my veggies I would eat them for every meal if I could. Fresh or stemed all the way.
I have learned to add veggies to every meal and a fruit or veggie to my snack it has helped so much!
When my kids were little they hated veggies. One night I made Taco Soup which contained various veggies including diced tomatoes. I lied to them and said it was warm watermelon. They gobbled it up and still do. A mom’s gotta do what she’s gotta do!
I like to cut a cauliflower into round slices, top with a little parmesan cheese and roast until crisp on the edges. In order to hide veggies in foods, I use my chopper to chop up carrots, onion and celery and put in my pasta sauce, meatloaf, stew, etc. If they are in big chunks my teenage kids won’t eat them.
From my dad’s low carb days, we discovered whipped cauliflower. It is so good! And you can add any other veggie to change the flavor/color, like sweet peppers, spinach, kale, etc.
Our family loves chili! I load up our chili with any veggie in my fridge. Today I will be putting in zucchini, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, chick peas, lentils, a whole ton of other goodness and of course, loads of tomatoes!!
Thanks for sharing this! We’ve just started adding kale and/or spinach to our smoothies. We love the taste and so do our kids!
What works best for me is to do a portion of green veggies to eat with every meat (chicken, beef, pork)And always have some ready to eat-washed-cut veggies in the fridge.
Broccoli has ALWAYS been my favorite veggie! When I was in pre-school I told my teacher it was my favorite food, she was floored! I mean what “normal” child likes vegetables? I’m lucky enough to be passing that love onto my son! I like adding vegetables as my side to any protein in a meal. However, my favorite is just loading up a salad with tons of veggies.
I have discovered juicing to be the easiest way for me to get my veggies in! I love putting cucumbers, spinach, carrots and even beets in my juices! I try to drink about 16 oz of fresh made veggie/fruit juice a day!