We’ll give you the target to shoot for and the tips to make it happen. Here are 6 best ways to use vegetables for faster weight loss.
If weight loss is your immediate goal, loading up your plate with vegetables is a no-brainer strategy. “Foods that are naturally rich in water and fiber, like non-starchy vegetables, tend to be foods that give you a lot of stomach satisfaction and blood sugar control for a very low-calorie cost,” says Lon Ben-Asher, MS, RD, a nutritionist at the Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa.
In other words, you can generally eat as much of them as you want or until you’re full. The challenge for most of us is making eating more vegetables a routine, as easy and automatic as grabbing a handful of potato chips from a bowl. Up for a challenge? Then try these prompts to establish veggie-eating habits for weight loss.
1. Start dinner with a salad
Making a habit of starting your dinner with vegetables could help you lose weight while enriching your body with more healthy nutrients, according to research in the journal Appetite. In an experiment, researchers served salad 20 minutes before the main meal during two meals and at two other meals they served the salad at the same time as the main course. The research revealed that when people ate a low-calorie salad before rather than along with the main course, they ate 23% more vegetables from that salad.
2. Fill half your dinner plate with vegetables
You’ve heard this anecdotal advice a zillion times, but maybe you aren’t aware of the science behind the logic. Penn State researchers tested the practice to see if it worked in a real-world situation, a controlled feeding study of the pickiest veggie eaters on the planet—kids.
When researchers added side dishes of fruit and veggies to a mac-and-cheese meal, kids ate 24% more vegetables and 33% more fruit compared to the control menus. But when researchers added the same amount of fruit and veggies while subtracting 50 grams of the entrée, kids ate 41% more veggies and 38% more fruit than the control meal. In other words, if more of your plate is made up of produce and less of the main, you’ll eat more veggies!
3. Build smoothie volume with vegetables
Adding vegetables to smoothies can be a healthy weight-management habit, says Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CEO of NY Nutrition Group, author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan. “I often recommend smoothies as an excellent method to get in several food groups at once. The trick is to add volume by tossing a few handfuls of leafy greens like spinach and kale or other veggies like zucchini cauliflower into a blender. Not only are vegetables high in nutrients and low in calories, but they’re teeming with metabolism-supporting and energizing nutrients.”
4. Make sunday your day to veg ahead
A little pregame on a Sunday afternoon can save you time during the week while packing your lunches with filling fiber and fat-burning nutrition.
Simple: cook up a batch of fiber-rich farro and build a large salad by adding roasted vegetables (cauliflower, bell pepper, etc.), arugula, and chickpeas. Make a tahini dressing from ¼ cup of EVOO, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 Tbsp tahini, 2 garlic cloves, minced, and sea salt and ground pepper to taste. You’ll get a least four large salads out of that, perfect work lunches at work. Just portion them into separate plastic tubs.
5. Add vegetables to breakfast
Effectively add a third more vegetables to your daily amount simply by making a vegetable omelet instead of scrambled eggs and bacon. Get creative with your mix-ins: chopped mushrooms, peppers asparagus, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, you name it.
6. Make vegetables the main course
Think you couldn’t survive on an all-vegetable main course meal? You’ve already done it if you’ve had a big bowl of vegetable soup. Soup teeming with vegetables is one of the easiest ways to increase your weekly intake of vegetables. And eating vegetable soup is famous as a weight loss strategy. Studies show that vegetable soup made with clear broth is highly satiating, keeping you full longer so you don’t overconsume calories.
Best Vegetables for Weight Loss, According to Dietitians
Broccoli
Broccoli is a versatile vegetable that people love eating raw, steamed, or sautéed. And along with its versatility, it’s also a great addition to your eating plan when you’re trying to shed a few pounds.
“Broccoli contains antioxidants, which are known to lower the inflammation in the body, among other things. These nutrients in broccoli are unique in how they work,” says Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD at Balance One Supplements.
“This vegetable also provides the body with sulforaphane, an antioxidant plant compound that gives this vegetable most of its anti-inflammatory benefits. Sulforaphane works by lowering cytokines and NF-kB, the substances that drive the inflammation process. When these are abundant in the body and allowed to persist dangerous levels of inflammation can be reached.” As research shows that chronic inflammation can cause weight gain, being able to reduce it can help you lose weight.
Bell peppers
Bell peppers are a delicious vegetable with a mild flavor, so they’re great for adding to different types of dishes.
“Bell peppers are ideal vegetables to add to a weight loss diet. They are low in calories and high in nutrients while also helping to create a sense of fullness after meals. This combination can help to prevent overeating throughout the rest of the day,” says Best.
In addition to supporting weight loss, “bell peppers are also packed full of nutrients that benefit the body in significant ways, yet most of the general public is unaware of how healthy they actually are. Red bell peppers are higher in vitamin C than oranges, which is an important nutrient for immune support benefits but also improves the absorption of iron.
Beets
Some people love beets, others hate them. But if you’re a beet-lover, you’ll be happy to know that they are packed with plenty of helpful nutrients to aid in weight loss.
“Being rich in nitrates, beets have been long appreciated by athletes and high performers as a way to increase nitric oxide in the body. This extra boost of NO can help fuel workouts, support blood flow, maximize recovery, and may even boost performance for some,” says Jonathan Isbill MS, RD, LD, Master’s in Nutrition and Dietetics, Registered Dietitian, Holistic Health Coach, and Educator. And when you get more out of your fat-burning workouts, you can support your weight loss goals.
“Many people enjoy beetroot juice, and you can also sauté their greens in stir-fry, add them to a salad, or blend them in a smoothie,” he adds.
Source: Eatthis!