More Veggies

[bnvilla]

So I thought I was doing Whole30 but apparently I skipped over that part about having 3 cups of veggies with each meal. First of all, how do I even eat that much at a meal? Second, I like veggies, (some of them) but I struggle to eat 3 cups and also find variety. And apparently I shouldn't be eating sweet potatoes more than once a day? Ultimately, I thought I had this Whole30 thing down and was following the basics of the plan, but the more I read the more I realize this is much more complicated than I thought. Not to mention I don't have a lot of time for meal prep. I might make chili (from the recipe in the Whole30 book) once a week to take to work but otherwise I rely a lot on Aidell's chicken & apple sausage and frozen veggies to get me through the day, but apparently need to be incorporating more veggies. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

[laura_juggles]

Can you post a couple days worth of meals so we can see what you're eating? People have done Whole30s eating little other than compliant chicken sausages and spinach so it's doable, and doesn't have to be complicated. We'll need to see what you're eating now so we can make suggestions

[bnvilla]

I have a few "go to" meals:

Meal one: Chicken & apple sausage, sweet potato, brussel sprouts (maybe a half cup), coffee. I put coconut oil on the sweet potato, brussel sprouts and in the coffee (about a tablespoon total)

Meal two: Baked potato, canned chicken, hot sauce (usually Frank's hot sauce - this looks to be compliant), sliced 1/2 avocado or individual serving of wholly guacamole on top

Meal three: One serving of Whole30 chili with half of a sliced avocado and maybe some plantain chips crumbled on top

 

I'm terrible about snacking but I think now that this could be due to the small amount of veggies I'm eating at meals (and probably still burning sugar as fuel). Snacks are plantain chips and salsa or wholly guacamole, unsweetened apple sauce, dried mangos or peaches, or olives. 

 

I also dine out quite a bit throughout the week but have managed to find compliant meals at the restaurants I frequent such as salmon and veggies. I eat baked potatoes and sweet potatoes a lot throughout the week, too. Meal one (above) tends to be my main "go to" meal for supper as well most days, so I sometimes eat 2 sweet potatoes in a day. 

[laura_juggles]

Yes, you do need more veggies, but you can bump up the servings little by little. And the sweet potato/potato counts too so you may not be as bad off as you think. 

 

You could slowly bump up the amount of brussels sprouts at mean 1, adding a a couple more at a time. Meal two - what if you add in some chopped celery and carrots in with the chicken and hot sauce? Or have carrot and celery sticks with the avo/guac? Add a salad on the side in meal 3, maybe throw in extra veg when you make the chili and that's a bunch more veg without a whole lot of extra work  

 

The plantain chips...are they in a bag from the store or homemade? If they're in a bag, that'd be a no-go even if all the ingredients are compliant because they're commercially prepared. And it'll probably be a lot easier to stop snacking if you're getting fuller meals during the day. Meals should last you 4-5 hours without feeling hungry.

 

You can do it!   

[bnvilla]

Thank you!

 

I've tried to swap out carrots and celery sticks instead of the plantain chips for snacks. The chips are commercially prepared so I'll definitely have to nix those 

 

I'm terrible about not eating salads. I think that stems from my Weight Watchers years - it's a serious aversion (lol). But I can definitely add more veggies to the chili. 

 

Thank you so much for the help! I'm glad to see I'm not as far off base as I thought!

[laura_juggles]

I never did Weight Watchers, but I can 100% understand how something like that can give you an aversion to salads.  Lady in the next cube over keeps commenting how great WW is because she can have as many bananas as she wants since they're "free". 

 

And I was thinking, I know you said you don't have a lot of time for meal prep, but would you be able to roast a big bunch of veggies and have them in the fridge to just throw in meals? Just having them ready to go (reheating for a couple minutes is WAAAAAAY less work than cooking carrots from scratch when you just want to have dinner) might make it easier too.

[bnvilla]

Yes I would definitely be glad to prep veggies for the week. I've been looking for some simple recipes but haven't found any that are appealing. I know someone suggested the Well Fed book on here but I'm really not a great cook and would prefer just some simple recipes I can make on a weekend. That's why I've been buying the frozen veggies. They're usually 12oz bags so I split them into two servings (brussel sprouts, artichoke hearts, green beans, etc.). But I know one 6oz serving isn't enough for a meal. 

[Physibeth]

Try to give up the idea of snacks all together and focus on composing your meals to satisfy you for 4-5 hours. If you are so hungry you need to eat before your next meal have a mini meal that has at least 2 of the macros (I like to have a HB egg and some carrot sticks).

 

How active are you? You might try replacing your meal 1 starchy veggie with non stachy veggies and see how that goes. You might need an adjustment for this but I find when I delay these until my later meals my energy is more even and I go longer before I need food again. I've been having Silky Ginger Zucchini Soup from Well Fed 2 at meal 1 to up my veggies in the morning. 

 

I'm not a big salad girl either, but I've found that if I make a skillet or chili type meal and plate it hot over mixed salad greens or baby spinach it's quite delicious and a good way to get more veggies in. Last night I made a skillet of sweet potato noodles, ground beef, and compliant pesto and dumped it on 2 big handfuls of salad greens. Was delicious and filling.

[bnvilla]

I'm not very active and I forgot to mention I do eat squash on occassion (frozen winter squash) which I should also probably be swapping out. I've run out of ideas for non-starchy veggies that I actually like to eat and don't require much prep work. Basically, if I can't throw it in the microwave, toss some coconut oil on it (and some type of seasoning), I'm probably not going to eat it. I tried the veggie noodle thing but it takes too much time. I'm a single mom with a full time job, a 4 hour daily commute and am in school for my doctorate. I'm not ashamed to say that the microwave is my friend 

[laura_juggles]

This might help with the veggies - http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-roast-any-vegetable-101221Obviously, there's more prep up front, but once you get them in the oven, there's very little "active" work to be done. Some veg that you've tried frozen and then microwaved and you didn't like, might turn out to be yummy roasted. 

 

I've even taken a bag of baby carrots, tossed them with oil and seasonings, and then thrown them in the oven.   Oh, or a big bag of trimmed green beans.