I was watching an episode of Dr. Oz recently and something he said caught my attention: in order to get all of the nutrients that we need from fresh produce, we need to intentionally make sure that half of every meal is made up of vegetables. Yes, HALF.
Here is the link to the whole list of top 10 things Dr. Oz recommended that we do every day to stay healthy: Dr. Oz's Top 10 Daily Essentials. (If you watch the video, it's #8 in the part 2 video here)
The good news for me is that I eat a salad every day for lunch. So yay for that meal! And I tend to sneak veggies in where I can with dinner. Often, we'll have obvious side dishes like steamed broccoli or green beans, but in order to use the veggies that aren't as easy to stomach, I chop them up and add them to soups and quiches or I puree them and add them to chilis, casseroles and spaghetti sauce.
So my big challenge has been to find a way to eat more fruits and vegetables with breakfast. The easiest way to do that is with an omelet. I soften a few chopped vegetables in a small amount of water (whatever I have from the co-op that might not otherwise get eaten - yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, asparagus), then I spray the pan with olive oil spray and add one whole egg and two egg whites (that have been scrambled), and I sprinkle some cheese before folding it all in half. It's a little bit of work, so I try to chop all of the vegetables at once so they're all ready to throw in the pan throughout the week. (BTW, I do that with my salad vegetables, too. I'm all about prep once, eat twice...or thrice...)
My other go-to breakfast is oatmeal. I slow cook it on the stove (whole oats, not quick oats...they break down slower in your system, keeping you full longer), and whisk in egg whites at the very end. I also stir in ground flax seeds, cinnamon, some walnut bits and frozen blueberries. Again, this breakfast is filling and really healthy.
Another way I get more vegetables into my kids is to keep a plate of fresh carrots, cucumbers and broccoli (washed, cut and ready to eat) in the fridge. When they complain that they're hungry before dinner, I direct them to the vegetable tray. If they're truly hungry and fill up on veggies, I don't mind that they "spoiled' their dinner.
Here is the link to the whole list of top 10 things Dr. Oz recommended that we do every day to stay healthy: Dr. Oz's Top 10 Daily Essentials. (If you watch the video, it's #8 in the part 2 video here)
The good news for me is that I eat a salad every day for lunch. So yay for that meal! And I tend to sneak veggies in where I can with dinner. Often, we'll have obvious side dishes like steamed broccoli or green beans, but in order to use the veggies that aren't as easy to stomach, I chop them up and add them to soups and quiches or I puree them and add them to chilis, casseroles and spaghetti sauce.
So my big challenge has been to find a way to eat more fruits and vegetables with breakfast. The easiest way to do that is with an omelet. I soften a few chopped vegetables in a small amount of water (whatever I have from the co-op that might not otherwise get eaten - yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, asparagus), then I spray the pan with olive oil spray and add one whole egg and two egg whites (that have been scrambled), and I sprinkle some cheese before folding it all in half. It's a little bit of work, so I try to chop all of the vegetables at once so they're all ready to throw in the pan throughout the week. (BTW, I do that with my salad vegetables, too. I'm all about prep once, eat twice...or thrice...)
My other go-to breakfast is oatmeal. I slow cook it on the stove (whole oats, not quick oats...they break down slower in your system, keeping you full longer), and whisk in egg whites at the very end. I also stir in ground flax seeds, cinnamon, some walnut bits and frozen blueberries. Again, this breakfast is filling and really healthy.
Another way I get more vegetables into my kids is to keep a plate of fresh carrots, cucumbers and broccoli (washed, cut and ready to eat) in the fridge. When they complain that they're hungry before dinner, I direct them to the vegetable tray. If they're truly hungry and fill up on veggies, I don't mind that they "spoiled' their dinner.
A few other things from that Dr. Oz show that I found helpful were #5: Get at least 7 hours of sleep, #3: Breath and stretch for 5 minutes a day and #1: Sit less and move more. He actually said that sitting is a "death wish" and that for every hour we spend sitting each day, we increase our chance of death by 11%. So get up and move! Park farther from the grocery store entrance, take the stairs, walk around while you talk on the phone instead of plopping on the couch (or even better - dust or clean the bathroom while you're chatting!) - just try to find ways to get your body moving throughout the day.
I'm hoping to get back on a healthy track now that my kids and their chicken pox are on the mend. I've been cooped up at home, stress eating and walking around all day in workout clothes but NOT working out...everything's getting a bit too jiggly for my taste. Ah yes, just in time for swim suit season. Awesome.
Anyway, I hope these tips were helpful. Here's to eating more vegetables!
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6 comments:
I just posted one of our favorite egg recipes this morning. It includes spinach and my kids actually request it! Weird, right?
I keep a container of ready to eat veggies in the fridge as well. I usually set that out along with some hummus or ranch dip while I am making dinner.
Huh? For every hour spent sitting you increase your chance of death by 11%? That doesn't really make sense. So assuming I woke up this morning with 0% chance of dying, the fact that I worked 8 hours at a desk job means my chance of biting it by quitting time is 88%? I'm thinking that's not true.
But, I agree with the veggie part. I like sliced avocado and tomato on toast for breakfast. And I'll be enjoying a protein smoothie after my 10-miler tomorrow morning... (I sure hope that run will bring down my odds of dying a bit...by the end of the week I'll be looking at a 440% increased risk of kicking the bucket!) ;)
(I kind of disagree with the 'just take the stairs' or 'take a further parking spot' mentality. That certainly doesn't hurt anything, but I don't think there is much life-changing benefit in it. To really reap the benefits of exercise, I think you have to push yourself as hard as you can for at least 30 minutes a day.)
I love summertime when fresh veggies are exactly that...FRESH! We just had a dish a couple of nights ago that uses a lot of fresh veggies and it tastes soooo good. Here's the link... http://butterflygenes.blogspot.com/search?q=Italian+chicken+pasta+toss
I am blessed to have a Kiddo who eats veggies pretty well, except tomatoes, bell pepper, and zucchini...which happen to be in this recipe! :D But he did eat it and even said it was good!
I'm one of those weird people who finds that oatmeal fills me LESS than almost any other breakfast food (and yes, I use the real thing on the stove). No matter what I do, an hour after a bowl of oatmeal, I'm ravenous to eat again. Oh well, never mind. It tastes yummy anyway!
I make smoothies all. the. time. For breakfast and dinner. In fact, I am drinking one right now ;) Anyways, I have a big bag of frozen spinich leaves that otherwise would have gone bad that I keep in my freezer. I just throw in a handful of them (sometimes a baby carrot or two or three) with flax, yogurt, banana, frozen fruit and a splash of OJ or other juice, protien powder and sometimes some agave and blend it all up. Yum-o! Filling and full of nutrients! Sometimes I also make a smoothie and then freeze them as pops...kids love them. And they don't even know they are eating veggies. I have also heard that you can add brocolli without tasting it, but I haven't tried it yet.
Thanks Katie for all these wonderful ideas and how to get more veggies. We love to get fresh veggies out of our garden, this year we added squash to our garden. I too take the stairs more often at home and park the car farther away and take the cart back to the store after loading up the van (even my kids say mom can't we park closer) also walk while on phone and even do squats while talking on phone, every little bit helps.
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