There is now scientific evidence proving that our taste changes. By not eating fatty foods or junk foods for a couple of weeks, our taste begins to change for the better. Our tongues become more sensitive to fatty foods and they no longer taste good. For instance, think of a person that has to restrict salt in their diet.....at first foods taste very bland, but after a while our taste changes and when they go back to a food that they liked that is salty, it doesn't taste so good anymore. All they taste is the salt. Think of a person that gave up sugar in their coffee....after a couple of weeks without the sugar, their taste changes. If they have coffee that has sugar in it, it tastes terrible....all they taste is the sugar.
Well, the same goes for fatty foods, (animal products) and junk foods. When you stop eating them, your taste will change. Healthy foods taste really good...the junk food doesn't.
However, I hear all kinds of excuses not to go to a Whole Food Plant Based diet. One of the more popular excuses is "veggies are boring....they don't taste like anything". Not true. Just like I mentioned above, when you eat a diet rich in processed foods, sugar, soda, saturated fats, additives and preservatives, your taste buds become numbed to subtle flavors. So when you begin to eat veggies, some of their more subtle flavors may be lost. You think they're boring, but it's really your taste buds need some fine-tuning. Give them time....stop eating all the saturated fat, high-salt, high-sugar foods for about three weeks, and you will not only FEEL great, but you will LOSE WEIGHT. Also, if you are over-cooking vegetables, they can be very bland....cook them just until they are tender, not until they can be pureed into baby food. Cook your vegetables until tender and then toss them with your favorite herbs, balsamic vinegar or salt and pepper very lightly. Let the vegetable's true flavors come through.
The next excuse I hear is that there is not enough time for all the prep work and cooking. Really? This isn't rocket science...we are steaming broccoli. Cooking vegetables on a day-to-day basis is neither time consuming or difficult. If you are making a roasted vegetable dish for dinner, you will need to allow for an hour of oven time, but otherwise, vegetable dishes generally cook up in a matter of minutes. For instance, leafy greens...something we should be eating everyday...if you have 5 minutes you can have a dish on the table. Rinse the leaves, slice off the stems, saute in onion and garlic or just steam them, slice into bite size pieces and you're done.
Feel like a stir-fry? You'll need 15 minutes....get the garlic and onions sliced and diced and saute in a tiny amount of water. While they cook, slice and dice whatever other vegetables you want into bite sized pieces and add them to the pan. Add whatever spices you want...from the cutting board to the pan, the prep and cook time is less than 30 minutes. You don't think your health is worth that?
Excuse number 3...fresh vegetables go bad before using them. Well, if you're eating vegetables everyday they won't go bad! Make sure you buy what you need for the week and what you will eat! This is where knowing your menu for the week comes in very handy. Ideally, you want to shop twice a week for the freshest vegetables and fruit you can get. Most vegetables will last about 7 days when properly stored. Of course the winter vegetables like squash, onions, carrots and other root veggies can last up to a month, but other vegetables can spoil in about 7 days. Make sure when you store the vegetables you can see them. If they end up buried somewhere in the fridge chances are you'll forget about them. Onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash, bananas, avocadoes, tomatoes, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, apples or pears do not even need refrigeration, just keep them in a bowl in a cool part of the kitchen. Keep the bananas and avocadoes away from the other fruits because they can speed up spoilage. Fruits like grapes, berries, apricots and peaches need to be kept cold, so keep them in the fridge.
Really, there are no "good" excuses for not eating healthy. As I said in previous blogs, get your prep work done over the weekend...when things are chopped and ready to go in ziplock bags, it doesn't take any time at all to get dinner on the table.
So, what's your excuse??
Well, the same goes for fatty foods, (animal products) and junk foods. When you stop eating them, your taste will change. Healthy foods taste really good...the junk food doesn't.
However, I hear all kinds of excuses not to go to a Whole Food Plant Based diet. One of the more popular excuses is "veggies are boring....they don't taste like anything". Not true. Just like I mentioned above, when you eat a diet rich in processed foods, sugar, soda, saturated fats, additives and preservatives, your taste buds become numbed to subtle flavors. So when you begin to eat veggies, some of their more subtle flavors may be lost. You think they're boring, but it's really your taste buds need some fine-tuning. Give them time....stop eating all the saturated fat, high-salt, high-sugar foods for about three weeks, and you will not only FEEL great, but you will LOSE WEIGHT. Also, if you are over-cooking vegetables, they can be very bland....cook them just until they are tender, not until they can be pureed into baby food. Cook your vegetables until tender and then toss them with your favorite herbs, balsamic vinegar or salt and pepper very lightly. Let the vegetable's true flavors come through.
The next excuse I hear is that there is not enough time for all the prep work and cooking. Really? This isn't rocket science...we are steaming broccoli. Cooking vegetables on a day-to-day basis is neither time consuming or difficult. If you are making a roasted vegetable dish for dinner, you will need to allow for an hour of oven time, but otherwise, vegetable dishes generally cook up in a matter of minutes. For instance, leafy greens...something we should be eating everyday...if you have 5 minutes you can have a dish on the table. Rinse the leaves, slice off the stems, saute in onion and garlic or just steam them, slice into bite size pieces and you're done.
Feel like a stir-fry? You'll need 15 minutes....get the garlic and onions sliced and diced and saute in a tiny amount of water. While they cook, slice and dice whatever other vegetables you want into bite sized pieces and add them to the pan. Add whatever spices you want...from the cutting board to the pan, the prep and cook time is less than 30 minutes. You don't think your health is worth that?
Excuse number 3...fresh vegetables go bad before using them. Well, if you're eating vegetables everyday they won't go bad! Make sure you buy what you need for the week and what you will eat! This is where knowing your menu for the week comes in very handy. Ideally, you want to shop twice a week for the freshest vegetables and fruit you can get. Most vegetables will last about 7 days when properly stored. Of course the winter vegetables like squash, onions, carrots and other root veggies can last up to a month, but other vegetables can spoil in about 7 days. Make sure when you store the vegetables you can see them. If they end up buried somewhere in the fridge chances are you'll forget about them. Onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash, bananas, avocadoes, tomatoes, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, apples or pears do not even need refrigeration, just keep them in a bowl in a cool part of the kitchen. Keep the bananas and avocadoes away from the other fruits because they can speed up spoilage. Fruits like grapes, berries, apricots and peaches need to be kept cold, so keep them in the fridge.
Really, there are no "good" excuses for not eating healthy. As I said in previous blogs, get your prep work done over the weekend...when things are chopped and ready to go in ziplock bags, it doesn't take any time at all to get dinner on the table.
So, what's your excuse??
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