Adding more veggies to your diet can help you lose weight. A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who ate more veggies and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet lost more weight and had better results than those who just focused on cutting back on carbs. Getting enough fiber from veggies will also help you feel fuller longer.
That doesn’t mean that adding tons of sugar-coated or fried cruciferous vegetables to your diet won’t help you lose weight, though. There are lots of ways to add healthy veggies to your diet while also reducing calories at the same time. Here are some tips on how you can do just that.
Eat more veggies at breakfast
Breakfast is the perfect meal to start your day with a few more veggies. Omelets, for example, are a great way to add more veggies to your diet. You can use spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, or even avocado in your omelet, all of which are high in fiber and will help you feel full longer. Eggs are also a great way to add more vegetables to your diet.
Scrambled eggs are a healthy breakfast option, but many people like to add vegetables to them for more nutritional benefits and to cut back on calories. You can use spinach, bell peppers, and zucchini, for example, to add more veggies to your breakfast.
You can also use vegetables as toppings for other breakfast foods like toast, pancakes, or even waffles. Add some cherry tomatoes, avocado, or sliced bell peppers to your toast to make it more nutritious. You can also add spinach leaves to your pancakes or waffles or even make a vegetable omelet.
Add veggie-based meals to your diet
Vegetable-based meals are a great way to add more veggies to your diet. Soups, for example, are an easy way to add more vegetables to your diet. You can make vegetable-based soups at home or choose low-calorie options like vegetable broth-based soups from a can.
Stir-fries are another great way to add veggies to your diet. Stir-fries are easy to make at home, and you can make them with lots of different vegetables to fit your personal preferences and nutritional needs. You can also use vegetables as toppings for tacos, wraps, or other types of foods.
Sandwiches are another type of meal that you can make veggie-based. You can add lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, and other vegetables to your sandwich to increase the number of vegetables in your diet.
Be smart about what types of veggies you eat
The best way to add more vegetables to your diet is to choose the right types of vegetables. Dark green vegetables, for example, are rich in vitamins and minerals and are therefore a great choice when you’re adding more vegetables to your diet. Potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables, on the other hand, are high in carbohydrates and aren’t the best choice when you’re trying to up your vegetable intake.
Avoid eating too many starchy vegetables if you want to add more veggies to your diet and lose weight at the same time. You can also use specific cooking methods to increase the nutritional value of certain types of vegetables. Steaming, for example, is a good cooking method for green vegetables.
Boiling and microwaving are better for root vegetables. You can read more about cooking methods for specific types of vegetables to make sure you’re getting the most from each vegetable.
Try smoothies and protein shakes with veggies
If you’re not a big fan of eating lots of vegetables, you can try adding veggies to your diet with smoothies and protein shakes. Add lots of different vegetables to your smoothies, such as spinach, broccoli, peppers, carrots, and even zucchini. You’ll get lots of nutrients from these vegetables while barely even noticing they’re in there. You can also add vegetables to your protein shakes.
Simply add vegetables like spinach, broccoli, and bell peppers to your protein powder, and you’ll get lots of extra nutrition with every protein shake. These two options are great if you don’t like eating lots of vegetables or just want to add extra nutrition to your diet without eating a ton of vegetables. You can also add vegetables to your protein shakes and smoothies if you want, but this isn’t necessary.
Don’t forget the salad
Salads are another great way to add more vegetables to your diet. You can add all types of vegetables to salads, such as dark green vegetables like spinach or kale, tomatoes, and bell peppers. You can also add starchy vegetables like potatoes to salads, but make sure to eat them as part of a balanced diet.
If you tend to eat mostly salads when adding more vegetables to your diet, though, you might want to try some other options as well. Adding more vegetables to your diet doesn’t have to be boring or repetitive; you can try lots of different recipes and ways to add more veggies to your diet.
Bottom line
Vegetables are packed full of nutrients and are a great way to add more nutrients to your diet. They’re also naturally low in calories, which makes them the perfect food to help you lose weight. You can add more vegetables to your diet in lots of different ways. You can start your day with a healthy breakfast with vegetables, add veggies to your lunch, and make sure to include veggies at dinner as well. You can also make sure to include vegetables in snacks throughout your day.
If you’re not a big fan of eating vegetables, you can try adding them to your diet with smoothies and protein shakes. You can also try adding vegetables to your salads or including them in other types of meals like soups, stir-fries, and sandwiches.
