Drop The Baby Weight

I found this great Simple Mom post the other day on incorporating hydrating snacks into your diet as a way to increase your water intake.

Too often I reach for crackers or (arrgh) brownies — I’m a total carbhound when it comes to snacking. I try to drink lots of water and usually succeed, but the addition of an entire plateful of fresh veggie and fruit snacks would definitely boost my intake of not just water but also vitamins and fiber. I know this is just volumetrics or “filling foods” or whatever you want to call it, but I hadn’t thought of it as an actual water strategy before.

Food for thought, indeed….

It’s always easier for me to eat fruits rather than vegetables (and brownies rather than anything). But here’s an easy trick I use to improve my diet and eat more filling foods so I can stop hovering over the cookie jar: Eat 2 veggies with every meal. Some examples:

For breakfast: scrambled eggs (I use 2 egg whites and one whole egg) with a handful each of fresh spinach and chopped tomato with a little parmesan on top

For lunch: salad topped with chicken, hard-boiled egg (or another protein, like a handful of nuts) — just make sure your salad contains a dark leafy green and another colorful veg, like tomatoes, carrots, or peppers. Or spread a tortilla with hummus or cream cheese and add roasted red peppers, cucumbers and sprouts or spinach for something portable. I’m a protein hound, so I’ll add a slice of turkey with the hummus. One soup I love is carrot soup, and it’s easy: cover a bag of baby carrots (or roughly chopped larger ones) with chicken broth, and boil til soft. Add a jar of drained roasted red peppers, a sauteed onion, and a handful of tarragon leaves (or basil or prepared pesto) and blend or puree in a processor til smooth. (True confession: sometimes I add a dash of cream at this point.) Add a small turkey sandwich or grilled cheese and you’re ready to face life again.

For dinner: just add a couple of veggie sides to whatever you’re serving, and eat those first. Instead of mashed potatoes, try roasting cauliflower and pureeing it, or pureeing cooked lima beans with fresh garlic and salt (also good as a dip). With 2 kids, I don’t have time for complicated dinners, and the new Steamers frozen vegetables make meals even easier — we love the green peas as well as the brocc/cauliflower mix with cheese sauce.

If you don’t want to cook, just pass a crudite plate of raw veggies with any meal or keep them handy for snacktime. (This is especially effective if you are a mindless snacker or need that crunch to feel satisfied.)

Eating my veggies the easy way works for me! For more works for me ideas, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer!