If our daily menu had more fruits and vegetables, perhaps overweight and obesity would be less common.
Combined with whole grains, lean meats, nuts and legumes, vegetables are essential not only to lose weight, but also to prevent cancer and certain chronic conditions, because they have vitamins, minerals, and fiber, among other substances.
Reinvent Your Dishes Some people who are not used to eating vegetables sometimes find that they run out of ideas to include them in their meals.
That is exactly the key to consume more fruits and vegetables: not modifying the entire menu, but only making some changes, replacing some high-calorie ingredients with vegetables.
Some ideas to put this plan into practice all day long:
• Breakfast:
o Replace one egg or half the cheese you use for spinach, onions, or mushrooms. Vegetables will add volumen and flavor to your plate, but with fewer calories.
o Eat less cereal and, instead, add pieces of banana, pears, or strawberries.
• Lunch: o If you’re making yourself a sandwich, burrito, or roll, replace 2 ounces (57 grams) of cheese and 2 ounces of meat with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, or onions. This new version will satisfy your hunger with fewer calories.
o Add vegetables to your soup, such as broccoli, carrots, red peppers,or beans instead of 2 ounces of meat or a cup of noodles.
• Snacks:
o At mid-afternoon, instead of eating cookies, select a healthy snack of 100 calories or less. Some examples are:
A medium-size apple (72 calories)
A medium-size banana (105 calories)
One cup of cooked green beans (44 calories)
One cup of blueberries (83 calories)
One cup of grapes (100 calories)
One cup of carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories) or sweet peppers (30 calories) with 2 tablespoons of hummus (46 calories)
• Dinner:
o To find out if your dinner is healthy, take a look at your dish: if the vegetables, fruit, and whole grains don’t occupy the most part, replace part of the meat, cheese, pasta, or rice with legumes, steamed broccoli, asparagus, or other vegetables.
o When you make your favorite dish, replace a cup of rice or pasta with a cup of chopped vegetables, like broccoli, tomatoes, onions, peppers, or squash.
Just as big changes begin with small gestures, we can also say that weight reduction begin with small replacements.
Source: “How To Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight”, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
