Starchy veggies can wreak diet havoc

When following a food plan or diet it is always advised to check with your doctor.  I had the fortune of working with a marvelous doctor when I lost the majority of my weight. She had weight issues, herself, and we would have long conversations concerning what works and what doesn’t.

Dr. Robin Lopez, P.A., was a firm believer in rotating your food. Never getting into a rut and eating the same thing day after day may help you drop weight fast at first but then you level off. Your metabolism gets use to the calories and the repetitious food content. She always encouraged me to understand what I was eating including the vitamins and nutrients in the food I choose to eat. My initial reaction was What? Then I realized it was not confusing and much easier than it sounds.

We have so much information on diets yet we gasp when we are told corn, peas, potatoes and carrots are high carb veggies. Oh no, say it’s not so. I’m eating my potatoes, carrots and peas thinking I’m eating the good vegetables. Now you tell me I might as well have had a piece of bread? Not fair I tell you! On the list of starchy (high carb) vegetables are also winter squashes, parsnips and legumes.  

The list of low-carb veggies is much longer, I’m happy to say. Broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and summer squash and all the leafy vegetables are included. When food plans mention vegetables, they want us to eat the low-cab vegetables. Most are green which leads me to my favorite weight loss battle cry: If you want to be Lean you have to eat Green! 

The greener your plate is the faster you will lose the weight. But wait there’s more…

The low-carb vegetables are nutrient powerhouses, dense in fiber and antioxidants. Antioxidants are a special group of vitamins and phytochemicals in vegetables that protect cells against the ravages of environmental pollution, stress, disease and aging. Yes, these lovely green vegetables can help bring down the numbers on the scale and just may help take away the trace of time from my face.

Affirmation: I have energy and eat to fuel my healthy body. I stay lean. I eat greens.