Eating Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Satisfy Me

Eat For Health Food Pyramid

       

       Have you noticed that if you eat a meal of only fruits and vegetables (and even if you eat a ton of them) you don’t feel satisfied? 

         I learned why this week.  It's because you are used to eating large quantities of high-calorie foods that cause a dopamine rush, a rush that low-calorie foods don’t deliver.  The good news is that your body adjusts and becomes less dependent on the dopamine surge to the brain.  Over time your body will become more satisfied with fewer calories.

      That said, be careful you don’t starve yourself!  Are you eating enough?  You can eat A LOT of vegetables for the same number of calories in a Big Mac.  At first, I found it helpful to track my calories because I was worried that I might not be eating enough with this change in my diet.  I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode and start hanging onto the fat!  I used the tracker on Prevention.com which not only tracked my calories, but also told me which vitamins and nutrients I was lacking.  This helped a ton.

       Dr. Joel Fuhrman says the trick to get you to desiring fewer calories faster is to eat lots of high volume, high nutrient foods.  These include:

RAW VEGETABLES:  green lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, cukes, and spinach.  (Dr. Fuhrman recommends that half your vegetables be eaten raw.)

MOST FRESH FRUITS: oranges, grapefruits, apples, kiwis, berries and melons.

COOKED GREEN VEGETABLES: Brussels sprouts, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, string beans and bok choy.

OTHER NON-GREEN VEGETABLES: mushrooms, cauliflower and spaghetti squash.

       My focus this week is going to be on raw vegetables.  Half of my veggies will be raw.  (See Dr. Fuhrman's Pyramid above.) It should be easy because I love salads and green smoothies in the summer.  I’ve been adding a carrot to my usual Green Smoothie, which doesn’t change the taste at all.  What do you put in yours? Send me your smoothie recipes.  I’m feeling brave.

Do You Have to Eat More to Get Full on Good Real Food?

A question from GRF reader Michelle:

Do you find that you have to eat more to get full when you're eating 'good real' food?  

Sometimes I find myself making a relatively healthy meal and then adding stuff like Stove Top as a filler. Maybe I just need to add another vegetable instead.

Answer: No and Yes

No, I do not find myself eating more calories.  But Yes, definitely I am eating a lot more vegetables than what I used to think was a normal serving. 

For example, a salad to me was a small bowl with some iceberg lettuce and a few tomato wedges and shredded carrots.  Who would want to eat that with all that other stuff on my plate to choose from?  When I say salad now, I mean a LARGE salad.  I’m talking, get out the Tupperware and fill it up with spinach, lettuce, berries, nuts, and cheese or meat or beans for protein.

Brett, my husband, said to me last week. “You know, that used to be a salad for the whole family.” Now I make two big salads- one is for the rest of the family to share and one is all mine. (I promise I'm not being selfish, I'd make theirs bigger if they'd actually eat it.)  If my meal is going to be just a salad, I make sure it has some protein in it to keep me full (chicken, beans, cheese, nuts) or I'll eat it with a large slice of whole wheat bread or Cowboy Caviar.  I look forward to my salad.  Getting hungry just typing this!

While planning and preparing dinner I have to chop a lot more vegetables than I used to.  I make enough to fill half our plates with vegetables, so we can easily eat an entire head of cauliflower at dinner.  I have found though, that my family will eat more vegetables if there is a variety instead of just one type.  You know, because they’ll serve themselves some of each.  So that’s a good strategy for getting more veggies in.

Instead of Stove Top, you could try some wild rice pilaf (Winco has some in bulk that you make with a can of broth), a baked sweet potato, whole wheat rolls, something with beans like Cowboy Caviar, or just add another vegetable like you said, or a fruit. It’s a good idea to have both raw and steamed veggies on the menu, even if you just add carrot sticks or cut up some apples.  Keep it simple!

Other posts you might find helpful: Which Lettuce is Healthiest?