anyone else trying to up their veg? just ordered 10 a day the easy way

[yumyumpoppycat]

I was flicking through book people catalogue and have just seen James wong has released a new book called 10 a day the easy way; I loved his last book and have been meaning to tackle my shocking 1 a day veg habbit so ordered it straight away to arrive this evening on amazon prime for 6.99. So excited

Been meaning to start a thread like this for a while as I can't decide what diet to do and keep chopping and changing but the main thing is that I know I need to eat more veg and no matter what the diet when my veg is up I am usually loosing weight. I have been on a couple of these threads and to be honest they don't tend to last BUT it does usually focus my mind on eating more veg at least for a while. Is anyone else on a diet but trying to eat more veg at the same time? I would like to lose a good 40 lbs and might have a stint at BSD while doing this but please don't be put off - any or no diet is welcome!

[yumyumpoppycat]

link to book on amazon

[PinkBuffalo]

Let us know what you think of the book OP
I have shocking eating habits and barely get 1 portion a day, so would interested to see if you think it's any good (could give it a go to improve my veg intake when I am a bit better)

[yumyumpoppycat]

Will do Pink, I really need to get in the habit of eating sensible balanced meals even when not dieting. Is a bit mad that I probably eat better when on a diet, then as soon as I go to normal eating I survive on bread and chocolate.

[PinkBuffalo]

yumyum I'm not best to give any advice on dieting as I have severely restricted eating! Best of luck on your weight loss though, and if you think the veg will help, well veg can only be a good thing right?
Interested in the book though, as I say, my veg intake can be very poor and is at the moment, but when I have a good few weeks, it might be a way to get some extra goodness!

[yumyumpoppycat]

Pink to be honest the new book doesn't seems as good as how to eat better so if you can only have one maybe go for that. However it is interesting that going from zero to one portions of veg does give the most health benefits, this increases for every additional portion until you get to between 7-10 portions where the benefits level out. Beans count as max 1 portion a day, soup 2 and juice and smoothies 1 max.


From a weightloss point of view this is interesting:

"the ability of foods with low calorie density to essentially crowd out other goods … we tend to eat a similar weight of food every day, irrespective of the calories it contains" - this might explain why I seem to get better weightloss when I eat more veg.

[PinkBuffalo]

I'll have a look at how to eat better thanks yum
Good luck with your weight loss

[yumyumpoppycat]

Thanks pink

[soulrunner]

Tbh I find the easiest way is to chop up a tonne of raw veg into sticks ( carrots, pepper, celery, cucumber etc), add some bits that are already sticks like mange tout and mini corn and take it to work in a lunch box ( with some humous if you like it) and then add some sort of protein. Can easily get 6 portions of veg in like that. Slightly boring but even if you only do it 3 days a week......

[soulrunner]

And 100% agree with the ‘crowding out’ theory. When I am strict on 10 portions of veg and fruit plus 60g protein I drop poundage.

[yumyumpoppycat]

Thanks soulrunner - this is the kind of thing I need to do - also would be useful to have a help yourself tub of chopped veg in the fridge to put out for the kids at meal/snack times.


Very slow start weekend was a right off and I have just had a choc fest at the fridge door . Have done better on f&v today avocado and tenderleaves with eggs for breakfast, veggie sticks, salad and smoothie from boots meal deal, blackberries and an apple, dinner not cobbled together yet but hopefully another 2 portions so should be a solid 8 portions at least today (even if a bit high on cals)

[TickVG]

Have you tried making a crustless quiche? I find them very filling and you can get millions of veg in them. Plus they seem to make all veg taste nice. I make a big one at beginning of week and cut it up for lunches- serve with wilted spinach and chopped tomatoes on the side. I've even put in veg I don't particularly like eg sprouts and I still really enjoy it.

[viques]

Well done yumyum. Watch out for the ready made smoothies though! I was idly reading the small print on one recently and realised to my horror that the recommended daily amount to consume was not the whole bottle , but a third of a bottle. And no, it wasn't a huge bottle either, it was a normal lunch deal size. Disgusting amount of sugar in it to, Ive stopped buying them.

[yumyumpoppycat]

No I have never made crustless quiche - is this the sort of thing? all recipes

Viques I suspected as much re the smoothie, bummer.I was weighing up the portion of fruit against the sugar and went with it thinking I would drink half (I had the whole thing of course), but I would prob be better choosing water and eating an extra piece of fruit at home. I need to bring packed lunch to work a bit more really.

[TickVG]

No it's more of an omelette/frittata. So for mine I fry up a load of veg (eg onion, garlic, mushrooms, broccoli and courgette). Then add some protein. At the moment I'm using a sweet chilli salmon that comes ready to eat from Tesco but you can add ham, chicken or just leave out the meat completely. Put it in a baking dish, spread 100g Philadelphia over with a spatula, then top with 6 beaten eggs. Cook in oven for 30 mins. It is super nice

[TickVG]

That's 4 servings btw works out for me at about 300cal per portion

[yumyumpoppycat]

That sounds really delicious Tick thanks! I have had that salmon from Tesco before and it is really nice so would definitely be my choice. DP has decided to be a vegetarian at the moment - but just occurred to me I could make a half and half version so actually its a perfect option for us.

Actually that's a good point about the 10 a day book - a lot of the recipes have meat or fish in, many have dairy or eggs so not a good one for vegans - although obviously it's possible to tweak things to make it work.

[AnnaMagnani]

Waves from the other thread.

I have bought the book and have really liked the recipes I've made so far: have done the mac and cheese and the rainbow tartiflette.

Was a bit sceptical about the mac and cheese as the sauce replaces most of the milk and cheese with whizzed up veg but it was really nice. You end up needing minimal cheese.

I think you could easily adapt the book to be vegetarian as most of the recipes can be done as veg alone but vegan might be a push - although he does often suggest nut milk instead of milk.

What it doesn't work as is a diet book - the portions are mahoosive and although I might not be gaining weight, I have most definitely stopped losing.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

yumyum
Would you recommend the book or is the other one better ?

I need to eat more veg and I definitely need to lose weight and need all the help I can get.

That crustless quiche sounds amazing. Will be giving that a go.

[yumyumpoppycat]

hellooo

Howlong I really like the first book, I am not that good at following recipes so I preferred all the little tips which I could apply to my own food shopping, storage, prep etc. The second book is much more focused on recipes and some didn't really appeal. It depends if you want more information or more recipes. I need all the help I can get too so hopefully we can keep each other on the straight and narrow

Anna I have to say that those are the recipes that stood out for me - especially the mac and cheese - that looked seriously yum. Hmm shame about the weightloss stalling - I guess quite a few of the recipes will have to be weekend treats rather than day to day, and or combined with calorie counting. I thought the section about fruit was interesting as I have it drilled in to my brain to avoid fruit.

[yumyumpoppycat]

Sorry it isn't his first book - this is the one www.amazon.co.uk/How-Eat-Better-Store-Superfood/dp/1784721913/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&keywords=how%20to%20eat%20well&qid=1554236052&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Thank you

I am for ever looking for the thing thAt will one day click !

[yumyumpoppycat]

Yes that exactly describes me, and is why I have a scary number of diet/ healthy eating books.

I had an ok day yesterday in terms of veg but all went wrong in the evening. I weighed in this morning and I am basically 13 stone at 5ft4. Crazy. I don't think I look 13 stone so that might mean there is lots of fat hiding round my organs which is bad. Hopefully it is muscle

So bf - I upturned 2 large field mushrooms, spread with tomato puree and garlic powder and topped with diced yellow pepper and 1 slice of cheddar between the 2 then baked in the oven for 10 mins and had with some salad leaves. It was 3 portions, but not a total success - mushrooms hadn't been washed but still released liquid and the tomato was way too strong - could be a nice breakfast option with some tweaks. I cooked it while making kids lunches and it could probably be prepared ahead ready to cook. I also had an apple so am now on 4.5 which is amazing!

I have some chopped veg and red pepper houmous in the fridge so when I am tempted to carry on with mothers day chocolates I will eat that instead.

[riotlady]

My book just arrived today, so I will give this a go! I always feel better when I eat more fruit and veg

[PlumCakeChica]

Hello, also moving over from the other thread!
Book arrives tomorrow. I’d really like to vary the veg we eat (and lose ~10lbs)
I also have teen dc who ate lots of veg and fruit as smaller kids but are now reverting to a beige diet
Thought a book might encourage them back to a colourful diet.

[yumyumpoppycat]

Ooh brilliant welcome Plum and riotlady

Plum that's the best thing about using this as an approach to dieting as we can up the kids veg at the same time so the whole thing feels less negative than a bog standard diet. My eldest is 13 he isn't too bad with eating veg if it is given to him but he will never grab a piece of fruit other than bananas. Middle child is pretty good with fruit and loves messing up the kitchen making her own smoothies, but less so for veg. As for the youngest I despair - earlier she was telling me she wished she was allergic to all veg other than cucumber and red pepper so she didn't have to eat them

Both my dds were telling them today that their granny gives them much better food than me because she peels their carrots and apples apparently I am very luck to have had such a nice mum (which is true).

Amazingly I have gone over 10 once you add in b/f, so my lunch was veggie bolognaise (3), banana as a snack (1), crudités and red pepper humous (3) and a small stir fry with pak choy and baby corn as well as more of the same veg eaten earlier - this kind of turned into soup as I added a lot of water for the noodles (2). Need to finish adding up cals but likely to be ok so long as I stay out of the kitchen. I am craving chocolate still though.