Eating fruits, vegetables, greens and beans help you lose weight because they are low in calories, high in volume and high in critically important nutrients. On a very practical level they fill you up, without loading you up with fat and calories. And when your stomach is filled up with high volume, low calorie food, there is less room for other bad stuff.
There is also a growing body of evidence that shows that plant-based foods help to control food cravings and overeating. They are nutrient dense foods, which mean they are packed with some of those much needed micronutrients that help our body function properly.
This is also another great way to get more “bang” for your buck. In today’s society there is a constant eye on how “expensive” something is. At the supermarket the piece of fruit may seem expensive at the moment, but think of it this way…by eating this piece of fruit you can cut out those extra snacks because you now feel fuller and you are healthier so your insurance and doctor bills can cost you less.
Some new thinking and studies about vegetables and fruits are beginning to show that by eating a diet high in these foods can also help turn off our cravings for processed foods. They can short circuit the food addiction cycle, and help provide a jolt to your weight loss efforts.
How fruits and vegetables help curb cravings
Our body sends us many signals throughout the day informing us what it needs. Hunger is one of the bigger signals that our body sends. It is your body telling you to eat. But, not just that, it is telling you to eat something very specific. At times this feeling (or craving) can be overwhelming and send us into a binge until we find that right thing to satisfy the hunger. In other words, your body is looking for specific nutrients and needs to reload on them or is not getting them in nutrient poor processed foods, and anything marked low fat or low carb. So you eat and you eat and you eat but the body still hasn’t gotten what it needs. It’s still looking for the nutrients. Vegetables and fruits provide the bulk of these nutrients. Learning to listen to your body will be a skill you develop. You can get help with this process by getting a free weight loss assessment and beginning to go through the steps for successful weight loss.
I do not like Fruits and vegetables
Many of you are probably saying to yourself, “but I don’t like fruits and vegetables.” This is okay, increasing your daily consumption is something you can do slowly over time. Start by making a list of all the fruits and vegetables you have ever hear or read about. Then, go through and circle the ones that you do like, or can tolerate. Hang the list on your fridge. Begin by incorporating the ones you circled into your daily meals. Add one to each meal. After you have done this for a few weeks you can branch out and start trying a new fruit or vegetable here and there. Overtime you will build up your list of like and be incorporating them into your every day meals.
Here are a few ways you can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet:
- Create your own yogurt flavors with plain yogurt and different combinations of fresh fruit.
- Snack on raw vegetables or fruits instead of chips or pretzels. Keep sugar snap peas, raisins or carrot sticks in your car, your office or your backpack.
- Use chunky salsa instead of thick, creamy snack dips.
- Drink 100% juice instead of addictive coffee, tea, or soda.
- Going out to lunch? Take a trip to the grocery salad bar. Use lots of dark green leaves and other vegetables instead of piling on all of the extras like eggs, bacon and cheese.
- Add frozen veggies to any pasta dish. It’s an easy way to get in another serving of the good stuff.
- Keep fruits and vegetables in line of sight. Grapes, oranges, bananas, and apples make a colorful bowl arrangement on the table. If you see them, you will eat them.
- Dried fruit is just as portable as potato chips — and less messy. It tastes especially good when added to basic trail mix.
- When cooking vegetables, makes 2-3 times more than you need and immediately store the extra away for tomorrow. It’ll save you time later on.
- Add fruit to your cereal, oatmeal, waffles or pancakes at breakfast.
Everyday Extraordinary Mompreneur 