I feel like over the past few weeks I have been very enthusiastic about including vegetables in my diet. Remember when I first went vegan and *everything* seemed strange to me? I had no idea what I was doing, but I had to learn quickly. And once I started cooking with new ingredients, my eyes were opened to a huge world of food prepared in ways I had never tried.
Cooking became FUN again!
Over time, I fell into a pretty good routine, although I still liked to cook new recipes. And now that my main goal is to consume more vegetables, I’ve reached that “OMG, I want to try *everything*!” phase. I purchased the “How Not to Die” cookbook (as well as the “How Not to Diet” cookbook) and have loved all the recipes I’ve made so far. I’ll do a full post soon on what I’ve cooked.
I’m so excited to get that fun attitude back. In fact, I really enjoy cooking; A couple of years ago, I would never have said that.
My focus now is to make recipes with lots of vegetables. So, I thought I’d write down three things that have happened to me or habits I’ve made regarding vegetables…
1. I eat a salad before every dinner.
This was taken from Dr. Gregor’s list of 21 weight loss tweaks (proven trivia that have been shown to increase weight loss). One way is to start each meal with a “negative calorie” food (suggest a small salad or an apple) that has less than 100 calories. So while I’m not a big salad fan, I know I can handle two cups of greens. I simply add some spring mix to a bowl and top with some dressing I made (again from your recipe).
The reason for this is not simply to “fill you up” so you eat less. There are studies that show there are several benefits to doing this (it would take a lot to explain here, so I suggest reading the book How Not to Diet. There is even a difference between eating before a meal and during a meal).
This has actually been really great! I enjoy the salad, which I never thought I would, perhaps because of its simplicity, and I feel like it completes the meal. This is a habit that I think I will continue beyond the two-week challenge between Jerry and me.
2. I sit at the table to have dinner.
This has always been VERY difficult for me, especially when I’m home alone. I want to sit in front of the television. However, I realized that I was spending too much time trying to decide what to watch instead of just eating. Plus, having the salad *and* my meal seemed like too many dishes to eat on the coffee table. Instead, I sit and eat my salad and then my food. And most of the time I’m too full to finish the meal. (All the fiber and vegetables are so filling!)
3. I have never found it easier NOT to snack at night!
This is something I never expected to happen. I eat dinner pretty early, at 5:00 or so, and I always worry that I’ll be hungry at 7:00 or 8:00 and then I’ll go digging for more food. However, because of the abundant meals I’ve been preparing, snacks don’t even cross my mind. If I’m really hungry, I might have a single date or a couple of prunes.
Overall, I’m really glad we’re doing this experiment! It’s MUCH cheaper than I thought, even when I count the new spices I bought. An entire week’s worth of produce cost only $50.
My favorite meal so far was a sweet potato shawarma dish: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, shawarma seasoning, on top of quinoa, with toppings of onion, cucumber, and lettuce. Drizzled with an amazing tahini dressing. This BLOWN MY MIND.
| Not all mine! Only the bowl on the left. Then I covered it with the good stuff 🙂 |
And last but not least, I have to mention the taste of all these recipes I’ve been cooking. Because what good is all that without it tasting good? I will say that probably 7 out of 9 recipes have been very good! There were only a couple that I didn’t like (and one of them was overcooked).
This has been a very refreshing experience. I feel happy and excited to cook again!
