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.
