Although vegetable diets can be a great ticket to a slimmer body, they don't work for everybody. See how, with a little thought and creativity, you can make them work for you.
For some lucky folk,
using a vegetable diet to lose weight (or simply be healthier) works like a charm. Why? Because they like just about every vegetable on the face of the earth. So, at any given moment they have dozens of enticing veggie recipes at their disposal. Does that sound like you? If so, you don’t need this article.
If not, your journey toward Vegetable Valhalla may require a detour or two and possibly even some pauses. It may also oblige you to strike a workable balance between what you might prefer to eat (initially) and what would actually serve your weight-loss goal(s). Here are five suggestions to help you do that.
1. Make just one dietary change at a time. Add one new vegetable to your repertoire, for example, instead of loading your refrigerator with exotic (to you) veggies that may end up spoiling. The only thing worse than a vegetable you don’t much like is that same vegetable when it’s headed downhill.
If you add in veggies gradually, however, you give yourself a chance to sample them without pressure. You give yourself a chance, as well, to experiment with various ways to prepare them. A vegetable steamed may taste quite different from that same veggie stir-fried or grilled with a piquant (and nonfattening) sauce.
2. Hang in. Veggies bring absolutely wonderful stuff to the party: vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals. You need those; we all do. So, bear that in mind as you ponder the vast gulf between steamed cauliflower and a Big Mac. Remember, too, that steaming isn’t the only way to prepare vegetables. Use your imagination—and find a cookbook that either specializes in vegetables or features them heavily.
3. Eat your veggies raw whenever feasible. Do this particularly with those you believe you dislike—such as broccoli, perhaps, and some of its kin. As ghastly as those taste to some of us cooked, they’re quite a different story when eaten raw with a smidgen of hummus. But only a smidgen if you’re undertaking this vegetable diet to lose weight.
If you do go the raw-veggie route, approach it gradually. Since vegetables have a lot of fiber, overdoing things at the start could stir up significant discomfort. (As in walking around puffed up like a balloon.)
4. Build in plenty of variety. Despite what you might be thinking/hoping, a veggie diet really needs to venture beyond peas, beans, and corn—with a tomato thrown in now and then. So, now’s your chance to push the envelope a bit: visit your Farmers Market and buy something you’ve never tried. Make some raw turnip or jicama sticks. Maybe even buy a jazzy sprouter; if you’ve not yet made the acquaintance of sunflower sprouts, they are a revelation. And lightly sautéed mung sprouts are to die for.
But don’t stop there. Cook up bunch of collard greens; start growing squash blossoms and nasturtiums; and try some fiddleheads! See if you can figure out a way to prepare okra that makes it edible. Experiment with new ways to prepare beets. Create more main-dish salads. You can do this: it just requires a bit of thought and research.
5. Lighten up on meat. Although you’ll need some protein while you’re on this diet, try to go lighter with certain meats than you may be used to. If you eat hamburgers, hot dogs, and roast beef quite a bit, try substituting fish or lean chicken or turkey.
Perhaps even go with meatless substitutes now and then, which are widely available these days. Boiled eggs, yogurt, and cottage cheese can also step into the breach, as can lower-fat versions of cheddar, provolone, Swiss, and mozzarella cheese. Even if you’re going to rely heavily upon vegetables, you’ll need to put some protein in your diet.
And there you have it. Five ways to use a vegetable diet to lose weight and make it work for you. I’ll be watching for you in the produce section!
*Please note that my remarks are meant to imply no disrespect to the cruciferous family, either cooked or raw. Nor to okra, for that matter. No veggie can be all things to all people.
Copyright 2010. Lynda Edwards.
