How to use vegetables for a faster weight loss

One of the best ways to lose weight is to ditch the junk food and eat more veggies, which are lower in calories.

Not only are veggies rich in fibre, but they can also help control your blood sugar levels and keep you full for lower.

In fact, eating veggies might even be a quicker way to burn calories and lose weight! However, we recommend eating a healthy and balanced diet with the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.

How to add more veggies into your diet

A recent study found that a generous intake of fruit and vegetables may also assist in weight management because they are low in energy but high in fibre and water to produce a satiating effect.

However, while veggies are important, a balanced diet is equally important. Not just eating one thing over another.

You could aim to eat five portions of veggies a day for your diet. Try grating veggies into your meals or investing in a spiraliser to help bulk out meals with veggies.

10 hacks to add veggies into your food

1. Put carrot or spinach into your Healthy Mummy smoothie – it’s virtually impossible to detect.

2. Add chopped mushrooms, zucchini or grated carrot to a meatloaf or spaghetti bolognese.

3. Make homemade sweet potato fries instead of using store-bought ones.

4. Add some finely grated (and peeled) zucchini into your pancake mix.

5. Blend baby spinach with a smoothie that has raspberries or blueberries. It will mask the green colour.

6. For healthy mashed potatoes, include some mashed cauliflower and other mashed vegetables.

7. Want a creamier-tasting smoothie? Add avocado to it to give a creamy consistency.

8. Peel and finely grate zucchini (drain excess water) into vanilla cupcakes or a cake mix.

9. When making a risotto, puree carrots and add, will give it a sweeter taste.

10. Finely grate carrots and zucchini and add to homemade sausage rolls.

Simple ways to get your 5-a-day serving of vegetables into your meal plan!

If you’re struggling to get your 5 a day of vegetables, don’t stress. There are some simple ways to get your share of fresh fruit and vegetables into your healthy eating plan.

A recent survey conducted by the Australian government found over 90% of people above the age of 16 did not consume the recommended servings of vegetables daily.

We will show you a few simple ways to get your recommended daily servings of veggies in your day. It takes practice, but we can all do it.

The aim is to eat vegetables or fruit at each meal or snack.

Breakfast

Most people see having a couple of cups of fruit for breakfast as a typical and tasty breakfast meal. Often people think of breakfast as a no go vegetable zones. There are plenty of healthy recipes that you can enjoy some fruit or even get your vegetable intake included in your breakfast.

• There are plenty of healthy recipes like omelettes where you can add 1 cup of spinach and a ½ cup of chopped mushrooms. That would be 2 of your 5 serves done by breakfast time.
• Think of roasted capsicums and fetta cheese on grainy toast. That is 1 serve of veggies there as well.
• Or you could add 1 cup of baby spinach, a puck of frozen spinach, and some fresh fruit like raspberries or blueberries to your Healthy Mummy Smoothie.

These are just a few simple tricks to start the day off with a veggie bang.

Snacks

People often head for a piece of fresh fruit as a snack, mix it up next time and try some veggies instead.

• Some suggestions for veggie-based snacks are, of course, vegetable sticks. Still, these could also be served with a veggie or legume-based dip (legumes like chickpeas and lentils are deemed veggies!!). You could again knock off 2 servings of veggies just in your mid-morning or afternoon snack.
• How about 3 or 4 celery sticks with some peanut butter. Yum! The protein hit will also keep you feeling fuller for a little longer.
• A cup of dried fruit is also a great snack that can help increase your serving of fruit if you struggle to get them.
• Have some veggie-based dips as a snack, like a beetroot dip or a spinach dip. Not only is the dip made of vegetables, but if you consume the dip with some carrot and cucumber sticks, you may make up a whole serving of vegetables in a snack.
• Find some other veggie-based snacks you could eat. This does not mean beetroot chips in a bag! They have just as much fat, sometimes more, than standard chips. What about having cut-up veggies for snacks, cucumber, carrot, celery. Eat them with reduced-fat cream cheese, ricotta, hummus, or a nut-based spread for extra protein. Take them to work, take them to school or uni, take them wherever you go.

Lunch

When you are having lunch, opt for a healthy recipe that you can veggify. Salads are obviously the easy option, but you don’t have to stick to salads. You can include many other possibilities in your meal plan and get your 5 a day.

Think about bulking up your sandwich or wrap with ½ cup of carrot or 1 cup of leafy greens. Try one or the other or both, and you could be ticking off another 2 serves!

Try and eat a few servings of veggies with your lunch. Have a side salad, an extra serving of grated carrot in your sandwich, or even if you have a Healthy Mummy Smoothie, add some spinach.

You’re now halfway through your day and have ticked off 4-6 serves of veggies in your healthy eating or weight loss meal plan.

Dinner

Dinner is the obvious time to meal prep and include veggies in the meal plan, but if you’ve been following our tips, you’ve already ticked off about 4-6 serves, so you can take it easy at dinner time.

Try to always eat your dinner with a side of veggies; aim for 3 serves. You can have them in the actual meal, hidden or part of it, and then add them on the side.

One way to help with vegetable consumption at night is to try and have at least 2 vegetarian meals per week. You can also add salad, steamed veggies, roast veggies, ratatouille or a host of other veggie side dishes to your main meal to add vegetable content for the day.

So don’t delay; add some veggies to every meal today!

You could potentially be at 6 serves following this eating plan!