Making Vegetables Scrumptious

Posted: Sep 09 in Weight Loss Blog by

Let’s face it: if vegetables tasted like chocolate cake or fried chicken, then you would never forget to eat them. Vegetables are a huge component of following a healthy diet. Naturally low in calories, vegetables are loaded with vitamins and nutrients that support optimal health. This is why they are such a staple in the post-bariatric surgery dietary plan. If your goal is to cut calories while maximizing nutrient intake, then vegetables are going to make it to the top of your grocery list.

The problem is that vegetables aren’t loaded with the things that make us crave foods, like salt, sugar and fat. And loading up your vegetable plate with a lot of those unhealthy foods only negates the low-calorie benefit of eating the vegetables in the first place. So if you aren’t going to douse your vegetables in cheese or bread and fry them, then how are you going to manage to eat vegetables more often?

By learning how to cook veggies in healthy ways, you can explore the natural flavors that vegetables offer in complex dishes that are just as delicious as they are nutritious.

Here are a few tips to help you get started with cooking your veggies:

  • Invest in an inexpensive microwave steamer to cook veggies quick and easy every night of the week. A microwave steamer can cook an entire head of broccoli in just five minutes, and is also great for cooking everything from squash and zucchini to carrots and potatoes. By steaming your veggies you are able to trap the micronutrients in the vegetable, meaning that you are maximizing nutritional value, too.
  • Use a variety of spices to add flavor to your vegetables, and accentuate those flavors with healthy add-ons rather than always turning to fats to supplement your dish. This means using lighter oils like olive oil rather than immediately adding butter or cheese. Explore flavors with some of the most common culinary spice staples like rosemary, paprika, cumin, garlic powder and even cinnamon.
  • Try mixing up your veggies at each meal to offer a change in texture and to find complimenting flavors. Serve up carrots with zucchini and sweet potatoes, or broccoli with cucumber in a garden salad.

Vegetables offer a lot of health benefits, so the more that you can fit into your diet the healthier you are likely to be. Eating a wide variety of veggies can help improve your immune system and encourage progress in your weight loss program. Be creative and explore recipes you may not have considered before to bring new flavors into your meal rotation. Of course, before you try anything totally new or make any big changes to your diet, make sure that you talk to your weight loss surgeon.

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