Eat Your Veggies

Often, vegetables aren't really high on people's lists of favorite things to eat.  Many people have that memory of their mother telling them to eat their veggies or there won't be any dessert.  You may even have that memory of sneaking your broccoli  to the dog.

As a carnivore myself, I've always loved meat.  Second on my list has historically been bread or potatoes.  I suppose a steady diet of that over a few decades led me to the point where I needed to make a change.  As I started on my fitness journey and read what has worked for others, I determined that I needed to make veggies a larger part of my diet.  To force my hand, I've even resolved to eat vegetarian one day a week.  If forces me to try new things because I get bored of eating the same things over and over.

Top 5 Reasons To Eat You Veggies

1. Reduce signs of aging.  Crucifers like spinach, greens, broccoli and brussels sprouts are proven to neutralize free radicals that make you age faster.   They also are full of fiber, beta-carotene and other minerals and nutrients.
2. Get your vitamins.  Most vegetables are a great source of naturally occurring vitamins.  Orange and dark green veggies are full of vitamin A which is great for skin and eye health.  Vitamin B, found in many different vegetables, helps you make energy from your other foods.  Vitamin C, which helps you heal and stay healthy, is most famously found in oranges, is is a wide array of vegetables.  A terrific anti-oxidant, vitamin E, is found in alot of leafy greens.  Greens are also loaded with vitamin K which you need to keep you tissues and bones healthy.
3. Get your rock on.  Minerals help build bones, muscles, and teeth, keep your organs functioning, and perform a number or other bodily functions.  Minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium, fouride, and magnesium are needed in fairly high amounts on a daily basis and there are countless minerals needed in trace amounts to keep your body ticking.  Vegetables will help you get the minteral you need.
4. Get your fiber.  Most experts agree that you need about 25g of fiber a day.  Fiber keeps you feeling full, helps unclog your blood vessels and helps clean out your digestive system.
5. Eat variety.  You may have heard the phrase "Eat the rainbow".  You already know that different veggies contain different minerals and vitamins.  If you eat the rainbow of vegetables available, you wll get the rainbow of different nutrients.  The colors are are realted to their nutritional make up, so more vairety of color will mean more variety of the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy

Ideas To Help Like You Vegetables

The first thing to do to get on the path to eating more veggies is to start eating veggies. Over the past several months, I've found that I actually like alot of vegetables that seemed unbearable to me just a year ago.  One of the first things you can do is try fresh veggies.  A fresh green bean compared to one out of a can is night and day, and the cost difference and prep is negligible.  If you can eat them raw, that's a great start.  Try dipping them in some hummus, or maybe a little bit of peanut butter.  If you're going to cook them, you want to try is to not boil the heck out of them. Roasting vegetables is a great way to bring out the flavor.  Toss some cleaned vegetables with a little bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  Lay them out in a flat layer on foil and toss it in a 400 degree over or on the grill for 15-20 minutes.  You'll be amazed at how good something like a brussels sprout can taste.  Look at recipes.  Google vegetable recipes and give them a shot.  Stay away from recipes with cheese or cream sauces.  Finally, eat the rainbow.  You're going to find somethings that you like, get a ton of different vitamins and minerals and broaden your horizons.

So, you now see the many health and wellnes benefits of vegetables and your armed with some new ways to try them so...

Eat Your Veggies!!!