Weight Loss Ideas and How Vegetables Help

Is weight loss a personal goal for 2017? If so, congratulations on taking the first step toward living a healthier and happier life! The “trick” to adopting great weight loss ideas and becoming a healthy person isn’t as difficult as we often make it out it be. In fact, it’s often as simple and easy as eating a variety of vegetables throughout the day.

We all know that eating vegetables is essential for their vitamins and minerals, fiber, and disease-fighting benefits. The USDA suggests that adults eat a minimum of two and a half cups of vegetables each day, but unfortunately, many eat far less than that. Instead, many of us fill our plates with fast foods and highly processed foods loaded with carbohydrates, fats, and nutritionally empty sugars and chemicals – no wonder we pack on extra pounds and feel unwell!

Weight Loss Ideas: Adopt a Plant-Based Diet

If you are tired of feeling sick and tired, following a plant-based diet will help you to shed some excess weight and leave you feeling energized and healthy. Here are some delicious and nutritious reasons why you should begin eating more vegetables today and how they’ll help you lose weight:

Losing weight often just comes down to eating lots of fruits and vegetables throughout the day.

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Fiber + Water = Awesome

Vegetables are filled with fiber and water; two ingredients that will help keep you feeling full for longer periods of time. When you combine vegetables with a protein (fish, chicken, tofu) and healthy fats (avocado, nuts) you will easily stay satisfied and sufficiently energized until your next meal.

Get Consistent Energy Levels

Eating more vegetables with your lunch will help to prevent afternoon dips and spikes in your energy level that often prompts us to grab a coffee drink or a sugary snack from the vending machine. When you’re eating 2-3 cups of vegetables each day, and making a plant-based diet your focus, you’ll be less likely to experience cravings for sugar and will have better regulated blood-sugar levels as a result.

Start Feeling Better

Adding more vegetables to your diet will help you to feel better and live longer. Numerous research studies have shown that eating a plant-based diet helps to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the chances of developing life-threatening diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In addition, you’ll have more energy and feel better for activities such as playing with your kids at the park, taking a bike ride, or joining a group for lunch-hour walks.

They Make Staying Fit Easier

Eating vegetables will help you achieve your weight loss goals. When you start adding more vegetables to your meals, you’ll find it easier to reduce the total calories you consume each day without feeling hungry. Of course, how you prepare your vegetables is important! Avoid frying your veggies or pairing them with cream or dairy-rich sauces. Stick with fresh or frozen vegetables that are lightly sauteed, steamed, or roasted with flavorful herbs and spices. You’ll get lots of great flavor and nutrition, without added fats.

Weight Loss Ideas For Every Meal

Here are some suggestions for ways to incorporate vegetables into every meal of the day. Be sure to visit our recipe section for even more tasty ideas!

Breakfast Weight Loss Ideas

• Add chopped broccoli, scallions and/or tomato to your eggs or omelette.
• Make a breakfast “wrap” using turkey or vegetarian sausage, tomato, spinach and avocado in a leaf of romaine lettuce.

Snack Weight Loss Ideas

• Pack a container of celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and peppers with salsa, pesto or hummus for dipping.
• Top slices of tomato and cucumber with a bite-sized portion of tuna or curry tofu salad.

Lunch Weight Loss Ideas

• Pile leafy mixed greens, tomatoes and mushrooms on a plate, add a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and top with grilled fish, shrimp, or chicken breast.
• Make your own burritos using a corn or flour tortilla stuffed with your favorite chopped veggies such as red peppers, mushrooms, and avocado and a scoop of rice or quinoa (or use Tommy’s Fiesta Quinoa!). Add some salsa for a bit of savory zing!

Dinner Weight Loss Ideas

• Start dinner with a cup of vegetable soup. Not only will it provide an extra serving of vegetables, but the water content will help to fill you up – meaning you’ll want to eat less.
• Add extra vegetables to standard dinnertime meals such as pasta, rice, pizza and casseroles and try adopting “Meatless Monday” or other popular plant-based recipe swaps at least once per week.

When you add more vegetables to your meals, it is easier to reduce the total calories you consume.

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Vegetables Will Help You Get There!

There’s no doubt about it! Fresh and frozen vegetables are the best replacement for any food habit you’re trying to break or weight loss goal you’re looking to achieve. You can’t go wrong when you swap highly processed, nutritionally empty fast foods and snack foods (chips, soda, candy, cookies…) with nutrient-dense fresh or frozen vegetables.

At Tommy’s, we believe that frozen vegetables can help with weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle, and that’s why we make the freshest, Non-GMO Project verified vegetable medleys. If you are looking for recipe suggestions, visit our blog to get inspired! Once you try a few, let us know what you think by posting in the comments or sharing with us on social media.