Need help with foods (vegetables, Weight Watchers, smoothie, recipes)

[WildnFree]

I'd like to lose at least 20lbs (no hurry) I do zumba and lift heavy ( New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women)

However my problem comes with food and not fast food. I don't like vegetables....at all. I also have no clue about preparing a "healthy" meal at all.

I have done spinach salads but its usually loaded with "bad stuff" like turkey, egg, cheese, dressing, etc. Other meals include chicken breast with whole wheat rice, steak with baked sweet potatoe with ONE packet of stevia.

Snacks consists of nothing but fruit and pistachios ( I know not healthy)

That's pretty much it, needless to say I get pretty bored with the food. I can still eat it without being tempted by fast food and other junk. However I would like to add some new "recipes."

Thanks all

[Luckyd609]

I would suggest you go to a bookstore and look through the nutrition books.
Bad stuff is not turkey, eggs or cheese. No such thing as whole wheat rice...I am assuming you meant brown rice. Fruit and nuts are very healthy. It seems more than anything you need to educate yourself on which foods are healthy. As far as veggies go you probably never had them fresh and prepared properly.
Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrients but they DO NOT need any sweeteners.

I think Weight Watchers is a great program for losing weight. You will learn how to prepare and eat healthy food and know proper portions sizes. Look them up and I am sure they will have a WW near you somewhere.

[WildnFree]

Thanks

I have done weight watchers before but I found myself being overwhelmed by "points" I felt I wasn't learning anything, other than watching points.

Yeah I meant brown rice, lol.

Only thing I can tolerate is broccoli trees, a little raw spinach ( for salads).

[Luckyd609]

If WW is not for you I would suggest a book on nutrition that has recipes. Do not get a 'fad' diet book. Just one that has facts about foods. You will learn a lot and you will be able to put a menu together of healthy foods.
Broccoli is a fantastic vegetable. I think you may like more veggies than you realize, you just haven't experienced them the right way.

[Houston_2010]

fruits, pistachios, turkey and eggs are good items to consume....just not a lot of it, especially the natural sugars in the fruits. Try to have high protein diet if you can. Have you tried other veggies in your spinach salad? You can easily chop some broccoli and red & yellow peppers into your salad...mix it with Walden Farms dressing. It will make your salad more colorful.

You can also get miracle noodles and mix other veggies in there as well (chop them small).

Have you tried cooking a vegetable and chicken soup? very easy to make and freezes well. Water, fat free chicken broth, chop celery, carrots, onions and cilantro. The smaller you chop these you won't notice much in the soup. Mix all the ingredients and boil for a while. Then throw some lightly seasoned chicken tenders and 1/2 cup brown rice. Let boil and wait for chicken and rice to be ready.

[hershey48]

Have you tried green smoothies? Blend a cup of spinach, water,1/2 banana, a little mango/pinepapple. OR spinach, 1/2 banana, water/almond milk and a little almond butter. I promise you won't taste the spinach.

check out these sites:
greensmoothiesblog.com
incrediblesmoothies.com

Make sure you rotate your greens.

I didn't like veggies before but it's all in how you make it.

sautee green veggies with onions and garlic, black pepper
sprinkle garlic seasoning on steamed broccoli
There has to be some veggie you like. You just may have to prepare it differently.

For lunch I had lentil soup with salad on the side.
For dinner I had turkey burger I made and I added spinach, onions, and tomatoes to it. No bun.

check out these sites for recipes:
sparkrecipes.com
skinnytaste.com
cleananddelicious.com
joyoushealth.ca

[stepka]

I have found with vegetables that if you try cooking ones you don't like in a different way, you may develop a taste for them. My favorite example of that is eggplant--I used to hate it, though I tried it in several different ways. Then I tried some baba ganoush and loved it. Now I will eat eggplant any way you serve it and will go out of my way to order it in a restaurant. I'm still working on beets, though I've found that they're not half bad if I put a spoonful of Fage yogurt on them to cut the dirt taste.

[brightdoglover]

I am convinced I cannot eat beets, no matter how good they are for you. I can't stand them.
Have been able to put many vegetables into a fruit/protein powder smoothie with great results (although the blender has to be powerful enough to pulverize the vegetables, not just shred them- See Under: Kale in smoothie no good shredded).

[AnonChick]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I am convinced I cannot eat beets, no matter how good they are for you. I can't stand them.
Have been able to put many vegetables into a fruit/protein powder smoothie with great results (although the blender has to be powerful enough to pulverize the vegetables, not just shred them- See Under: Kale in smoothie no good shredded).

Since beets don't contain anything magical that you can't get from some other food, why try to figure out a way to eat them at all? Why not just - eat something else instead?

The only way I'd eat a food that I couldn't stand, is if for some reason my preferred foods weren't available and I hadn't eaten in a few days.

[springfieldva]

Somebody suggested the frozen bags of kale at Whole Foods. You just put a bowl of it into the microwave for a bit and season with lemon juice and/or whatever seasonings you like. If you like spinach, you might like kale, too.

Have you tried asparagus? Lightly brush it with olive oil, sprinkle on salt/pepper/garlic powder and bake for about 15 minutes (flipping once midway) at 350. Super easy and really good. Even people who never cared for asparagus before, like it cooked this way.

Try grilling your veggies. Fish is also nice done on the grill - mahi mahi, tuna, salmon, etc.