I’ve been on a person mission lately to eat more vegetables. It comes and goes in waves. Right now it’s in the forefront of my mind and I’m making good progress with it. I have a few tips that have helped me naturally eat more vegetable, without too much thought or pressure.
1. Have a lot of vegetables chopped up for easy snacking. Taking the excuse out makes it easier to simply snack on more veggies. When I look into the fridge for a snack or to make lunch, if I see cucumbers or bell peppers ready to be eaten and all I have to do is grab them, I am way more likely to do that. I also say ‘a lot of vegetables chopped up’, because it will encourage you to eat more. It does for me. I don’t want to waste it and let it go bad, so I’ve got to eat it.
2. Always have a side of vegetables. Sometimes I get lazy and make a meal like this one. It’s simple and has everything my meal needs – grain, meat and veggie! But when I really look at the portions my veggies are lacking. So now I just always add a veggie side. I made creamy chicken and potato soup this week. While I could have only had that, I also roasted some sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. I then proceeded to eat half a pan of brussel sprouts with my soup. And it was good.
3. While it’s good to rotate, it’s okay to have the same vegetable multiple times if it gets you to eat more vegetables. I’ve been loving steamed broccoli lately. I don’t always love it like I do now so I’m totally taking advantage of it and eating tons this week. I’m sure next week I’ll move onto something new after I eat through tons of broccoli.
4. Keep grabbing more and more vegetables. I like lots of volume with my food, and especially at dinner time I’m starved so I chow down. I’ll fill my plate, eat it all and normally go back for seconds of certain things. I’ve been loading up on veggies first, then smaller portions of whatever else we’re having. I’ll continue to do that until I’m satisfied.
5. Find ways to sneak in veggies. I’m not above sneaking veggies in where I can, not only for my family but for myself. Some simple ways I’ve been doing that is by adding canned pumpkin into oatmeal and pancakes and greens into smoothies (like this or this one, yummmm). There’s always veggies into baked goods as a way to simply add more veggies into your life.
How do you find ways to get more veggies in? Is it normally a challenge or pretty easy?
Heather
8 comments
Love all of these ideas! Having things ready to go in the fridge is totally key. Vegetables and fruits seem to be no problem for me…its protein I always lack!
Together we’d be super balanced, protein is easy for me 🙂
having veggies prepped is crucial for me!! I also eat a lot of the same veggies over the week 🙂
Better to get veggies in even if they’re the same over the week!
These are all great ideas! Some weeks I do great at having chopped vegetables on hand, other weeks not so much. Whenever I do I inevitably eat more vegetables because I snack on them when I’m hungry.
Yup same here! Some weeks are better than others, but I am always thankful for the weeks that I do get prep time in.
Great tips! I’ve been eating more veggies since having my daughter – I want her to eat a balanced diet and it has kicked my own food choices into gear!
I hear ya! I’m more conscientious about it since having kids too.