Eat Your Veggies! + A Giveaway!

Congratulations to our book winner,
Christy Troxell-Thomasgreen and red healthy food

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:

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

  1. For me because I used to not like veggies I would hide them in a recipe as small as I could get them. And this has helped my daughter even eat them. Also I will slice it as thin as I can get it if possible so its easier to get through. I use all fresh, canned and frozen and if it needs a little seasoning I use pepper as it isn’t bad and I have to have very little salt so I don’t use salt in anything.

  2. I add roasted butternut squash to home made mac&cheese for my kids. My favorite snack is cucumbers & carrots. I also like to juice my veggies. Adding 1 apple to my morning veggie juice makes it all taste great.

  3. I like to have a nice colourful stirfry. Crunchy, delicious, healthy veggies which are pretty & attractive. Mmmm!

  4. I don’t care for most vetables. So to make sure I get a little of everything I boil them and put them in the blender to put into my soups. This way I get my veggies in and have a great base for my soups.

  5. I chop and freeze spinach, kale and avacado so I can toss them into a smoothie. I don’t like any of these so I figured this was the best way to get them into my diet and being frozen, I don’t have to add ice and water down the flavor of my smoothie!

  6. Juicing is great, our favorite consists of lots of spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, parsley, lime, and one green apple.

  7. I have a veggie spiralizer that is amazing. I have so much fun spiralizing veggies that I’m eating more and more veggies, from zucchini noodles to spiralized parsnips.

  8. I keep a bag of sugar snap peas and a bag of baby carrots in the fridge at work so I have an alternative to the mini candy bars in the candy dish!

  9. I recently started incorporating butternut squash into my meals. I especially love adding pureed butternut squash to homemade macaroni & cheese. It gives it a nice creamy texture without having to add a lot of cheese. 🙂

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