Eat MORE To Lose MORE Challenge!
This weeks challenge is all about making you eat more to lose more. Are you in?
I want you to eat two to three cups of vegetables at every meal. For those who want concrete measurements you’re looking at 300 grams or at least 10 ounces of vegetables per meal.
And before you freak out and think, “Oh my word, I can only eat so many salads and stir-frys.” there are numerous ways to eat vegetables (Like Cauliflower Pizza as seen in the pic, check it out www.just4youmeals.com) You can roast them, you can simmer them and put them in soups, you can grill them, steam them, saute them, shoot…you can even make purees with them, you can bake them into omelets, put them in casseroles, or just even eat them raw.
Don’t use the excuse of, “Vegetables are boring and there’s only one way to cook them.” as an excuse not to get your two to three cups of vegetables at each meal. If you’re really having a hard time…look for recipes online and look for a variety, expand your palate so to speak :-).
Consuming a large amount of vegetables helps reduce the risk of heart disease, cardiovascular disease it reduces the risk of cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity, and I’m pretty sure the list could go on. The point is you want to drop fat without being miserable right? I assume that’s the case, if so, your biggest allie in this fight from being uncomfortable and hungry and angry is vegetables.
The reason vegetables are so mighty when you are trying to lose fat is that you can eat a whole bunch of them and hardly consume any calories. Vegetables are extremely low in calories and extremely high nutrients!
Vegetables contain lots of water and dietary fiber. These two things are awesome because they had lots of volume to your plate which helps you feel fuller, all the while consuming less calories than other typical carbohydrates.
Basically these help crowd out and get rid of your high calorie foods like pasta and chips.
Case in point, today I made 2 half sandwiches. I used two slices of bread and made an open faced sandwich, I put my protein and vegetables on top of each. Before I ate my sandwiches though, I ate three cups of salad with some light ranch dressing, about 80 calories worth of dressing before you all nitpick me :-). Because I ate three cups of lettuce, I was to full to eat the other half sandwich. Which my mother thought was fantastic cuz she ate my other half :-).
The point being because salad and vegetables are so high in fiber and water I felt full and satisfied. When was the last time that happened while losing weight? This ended up saving me about 350 calories.
And you really don’t have to take my word for it. There have been numerous studies that illustrate what I’m talking about.
In 2013 there was a study that found if you consume 20% more fruits and vegetables then you were used to, you ended up consuming 308 calories less over the course of a day. And that was with the participants being able to eat whatever they wanted…they just had to eat 20% of their calories in veggies. So…if you want to lose weight and do it comfortably without having to think a lot. Eat two to three cups of vegetables at every meal.
Another study in 2010 had two groups of women consume 1500 calories each per day. One group of women who had to consume more calories in fruits and vegetables. This group reported feeling full and satisfied, which is awesome! While the other group, who had other less calorie rich foods felt like they were suffering and dieting more. Which group would you prefer to be in? The group who is constantly being hungry and irritable? Or the group that felt full and stuffed? I think the choice is obvious.
So, this week I want you to add two to three cups of vegetables to each of your three meals. In doing so you should feel fuller and more satisfied and at the same time reduce the amount of calories you’re consuming. Which means you should be losing weight feeling better, happier and looking fantastic :-).
Who is in? Let me know ;-).
Go be awesome!
KELLEN LAKE – Veggieliciousness!
PS – Remember today you can order your Just 4 You Meals and get in your three cups of veggies with Pizza! Check out what Troy Baker emailed Chef Dave.
Chef Dave, Thank you so much for the Pizza (Cauliflower crust). I have to say….at first I was not very optimistic. The thoughts of cauliflower crust make a fatboy pizza snob like me cringe. But after heating it up just right, it was AMAZING!
I truly was very shocked at how much I really did like that. It IS something I would go out and order at a restaurant and would definitely order from just4youmeals again!
I enjoyed it, and will again today at lunch
PSS – Get yours at www.just4youmeals.com or click here. Orders close on Wednesday at midnight.
