Use Vegetables to Manage Your Weight

Vegetables have low in calories which can help you to lose weight. Vegetables are very important as a part of healthy diet. They provide a bundle of vitamins and minerals for your body. There is no single vegetable provides all nutrients that we need everyday. Eat plenty of varied vegetables everyday to get sufficient vitamins and minerals for healthy body. There are many ways to lose or maintain body weight. Using more vegetables with grain products, lean meats, beans and nuts is a safe healthy diet. Including vegetables into your meals not only help you to reduce weight, but it also helps to reduce the risk of cancers, heart diseases, strokes, eye and digestive problems. 

Vegetables have high fiber and it becomes a part of reducing weight therapy. Eating high fiber food like vegetables makes you feel full. Thus, it resists you from eating more food than you need. Most high fiber foods are fibrous which takes longer time to chew. Psychologically, it gives signals to brain that you have had enough eating. The chewing process also enhances the saliva and stomach juice secretion that help the digestion process.

Start your breakfast with green vegetables. You may cut down the calories by substituting some spinach, salads, tomatoes or onions for one of the eggs or half cheese in your morning omelet. You also can make vegetable-sandwich based by replacing eggs or meats or cheese with salads, cabbage or tomatoes. For lunch and dinner, substitute half of meat or chicken with a cup of chopped vegetables like broccoli, long beans, carrots, kale, cabbage, kai-lan or red peppers. The main key is SUBSTITUTION. What you need to do is try to substitute high calorie foods with vegetables. Make sure that your plate is colorful with variety vegetables. 

Try to include your daily eating plan with one or two small smart snacks. Limit your snack to 100 calories as maximum. Baby carrots are the example of vegetables that can be made into healthy snacks. You may eat them while you are in front of computer or television. But, do not take them too much because carrots have calories. Be careful with starchy vegetables like carrots, potatoes, corn, pumpkin and tuber. Some cultures categorized them as vegetables and some as carbohydrate foods. Those foods have high carbohydrate and they are more calorie dense than non-starchy. Make sure you eat them in moderation and no excess.

Remove or reduce oil when preparing your vegetables. Small amount of oil can increase the calorie intake drastically. Try steaming the vegetables and use herbs or spices to add flavor. You also can eat the raw vegetables to enjoy the natural and freshness. If there are no fresh vegetables in wet markets, you can get the canned or frozen vegetables. But, be careful with the ingredients. The added sugar, cream sauce and syrup may add calories. 

Reference:

How to use fruits and vegetables to help manage your weight. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).