Here we go !!
This habit change is to eat vegetables or fruit with (almost) every meal and prioritise eating them first.
I use the word “almost” because I believe in progress, not perfection. There are no “absolute” rules in this program. Do what best works for you.
What to include each day..
Unlimited non starchy vegetables. Half a plate with each meal is ideal, but one is better than none and more is better. Choose whatever vegetables you like. Choose easy and convenient options. Frozen is fine, packet salads are great.
Up to 2 pieces of fruit per day. Whole fruit, not dried or juiced.
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2 Reasons to eat lots of vegetables with each meal
Reason 1
All of the added benefits you will achieve by eating lots of veggies.
- Vegetables are high in fibre and nutrients
- Low in calories
- Improve your gut bacteria
- Improve bowel health
- Increased energy
- Clearer skin
- Helps to balance your blood sugar levels due to the fibre content
- Will help to fill you up
Reason 2
We know that to lose weight we need to create a calorie deficit. Ie – eat less calories and / or burn more calories. 7000 calorie deficit = (approx.) 1kg weight loss.
Replacing some higher calorie food choices such as bread, rice, pasta etc, with low calorie / high nutrient vegetables is a great way to eat less calories over the day.
Fill up on non-starchy vegetables by prioritising eating them first, resulting in you eating less of some other foods.
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Important note –
As with every habit change in this program, the feeling behind the action is just as important as the action itself. I want you to adopt habits that feel relatively easy and enjoyable and that you can see yourself committing to for life.
Don’t add half a plate of steamed broccoli to your lunch if it feels awful to you. Choose the easiest and most enjoyable way to add veg and fruit even if its nowhere near “perfect”.
Don’t completely change what you would normally eat. If you would normally eat hamburger and chips for lunch, then continue to do that (for now). Simply add a substantial serve of veg and reduce the serve of the chips.
It is important to NOT have a feeling of restriction and sacrifice.
You can see an example day HERE – **Important, please read
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What about juicing your vegetables?
It is always better to eat food whole. Chewing starts the digestion process and slows us down (this is a good thing). However, if you really don’t like eating vegetables, then juicing and drinking them is a second best option.
Please still aim to include the vegetable drink with your meal and prioritise it first so that it fills you up and you may end up eating less of the starchy carbohydrate portion of your meal.
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All of the habit changes I give you during this program are long term strategies.
I want you to have the mindset of starting the habit change now, but being able to continue with it long term. If you can’t see yourself doing it in 5 years time, then there is really no point starting at all (fad diets I’m looking at you). It is for that reason that I want you to make the change easy, convenient and as close to your regular routine as possible.
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Now to contradict myself…
Optional 3 day kick-start.
Start the first (up to) 3 days of this program with plants and protein only. This skinny soup recipe would be ideal.
Make up a BIG batch and have it each meal until it has run out. Freeze some for future use. This is a nice kick-start when your motivation is at its highest.
You might think that this contradicts my “long term strategy” rule. Yes I can see your point.
Consider this optional kick-start a short term “corrective” strategy that you can repeat any time you need to get back on track or break a pattern of poor eating choices.
I personally repeat it a couple of times per year.
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Further tips and reading
- Vegetable soup recipe
- Vegetable frittata recipe
- Packet salads and frozen vegetables are great
- I love Heinz individual frozen veg packs to steam in 2 minutes
- Hide grated and spiralized veg in minced meat meals
- Slendier rice paper rolls recipe – I love to add Slendier slim products as hidden veg. They are high fibre and low calorie.
- 10 super simple food swaps
- Top 5 posts on how to eat more veggies
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Don’t forget to check out Habit 1 – example day
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