Here’s an easy question:
How would you like to quickly boost your health, feel great and lose weight, all at the same time? If you said yes, then this blog post is for you.
First, let me say that we will be focusing on vegetables and we will layout some hacks that will make getting more veggies into your diet both fun and efficient.
ARE YOU GETTING YOUR VEGGIES?
Eating vegetables helps deliver a variety of health benefits, including lowering heart disease, losing weight, and adding more fiber, vitamins, minerals , and antioxidants to your diet.
Plus, vegetables are so versatile, they fit in many popular diets, including the Mediterranean diet, Paleo diet, Vegetarian, Vegan, Flexible Dieting, and The South Beach Diet.
To give you the necessary amount of vitamins and minerals your body needs, it is recommended by Dr. Hatem Zayed, a specialist in anti-aging and longevity, that you eat at least 6 servings of vegetables each day.
Despite the many benefits and flexibility of vegetables, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that most Americans eat less than half the amount of recommended vegetable servings. The recommended 2 1/2 to 3 cups per day (roughly 4 to 6 servings) is in fact, only being met by 10% of people.
I get it. It’s not always easy to get enough veggies because we’re running around and tending to work, school, family, etc.
5 HACKS TO MAKE GETTING YOUR VEGGIE EASY
Here are five ways you can easily add veggies to your diet immediately, so you can start receiving the amazing benefits vegetables deliver:
1. Replace Carbs With Veggies
Instead of eating starchy carbs like potatoes, rice or pasta, substitute the starch with fiber-rich, filling veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, peas, spinach, cabbage or kale. Because most vegetables are naturally low in sugar, having veggies instead of starch will reduce your carbohydrate intake, decrease the spike in insulin (a fat-storing hormone) caused by starch and help you cut down on calories, which can help you lose unwanted weight.
Here are some simple substitutions you can make to add more vegetables in your diet: Instead of chips have carrots. Instead of hummus with bread, have celery. When eating a sandwich, wrap it in lettuce instead of using bread.
2. Slather On The Salsa
This is one of my favorite hacks and secret weapons when it comes to eating clean. Cooking lean/low fat can sometimes make the food dry and sort of bland (e.g. chicken breast). A quick fix for this is to add salsa, which helps moisten the food, while also adding vegetables to your plate. Salsa is made up of tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and pepper and packs an entire serving of vegetables in every 1/2 cup. Best of all, no cooking required! Look for organic salsa, which does not cost much more than the regular kind.
3. Batch Cook Vegetables
Having your stock of vegetable prepped and cooked in advance makes it easier to add them to you meals throughout the week. Having cooked or grilled veggies on hand makes it a snap to add them to salads, a side dish or an omelet.
4. Don’t Fear Frozen
No, not the hit animated Disney movie that’s taken over the world. Frozen vegetables! Freezing preserves most vegetables without affecting nutritional content. All you have to do is throw them in the microwave. Buy a bunch and keep them in your freezer for when you need them.
Similarly, easily add veggies to any meal by cracking open canned veggies. Beans, string beans, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, and potatoes all make good canned veggie options. Keep some cans with vegetables in your desk at work to quickly add veggies to your lunch.
5. Use Greens Powders Daily
This is another great hack I use almost daily to add more greens to my diet, instantly. I just stir greens powder in water and voila! Instant serving of veggies.
My favorite veggie supplement is ‘Greens Powder’ from our friends at Organifi. It tastes great, is made from lots of great veggies such as beets, turmeric, moringa, and spirulina, and helps detox the body. It also contains Ashwagandha, which can help you lose weight by aiding in the regulation of your metabolism.
Better yet, because this green juice is made up of 11 versatile, nutrient rich super-foods minced down to an easy to mix powder, you can save plenty of prep time, boost your immune system, reduce stress, increase mental focus, and even rejuvenate the skin.
->Use this link now to save money on Organifi!
In closing, now that you’re familiar with the hacks above for incorporating more vegetables into your diet, you will have an easier time meeting your daily veggie requirements and getting all the benefits that come with it for greater health, a leaner body and enhanced quality of life.