Vegetables. We know how good they are for us, yet we struggle to eat them. Nobody can deny that after eating a tons of veggies you feel superiorly better than after eating a big greasy big mac meal from McDonalds. Still, we tend to go for the greasy maccie. Why? I want to blame biology, because why do we ever want to put the blame on our own poor self control?
Biology and our evolution has made us prone to prefer sugary, fatty, and high calorie foods. Back in the days when we were living as hunters and gatherers, food everyday wasn’t always a guarantee. To survive we had to store up on high calorie foods to make sure we had some kind of energy source when food was scarce. As we’ve evolved our bodies are still working on this same theory – to crave more calorie, fatty, and sugary foods. The difference – today we don’t need to walk a thousand miles or go starving for three days before we might get another meal.
We can take a walk down the street and pick up food, or let’s take it to another level, we can sit on our sweet asses and order in take out. Not a single step required. Obviously this has a bad impact on our health, and that’s why we see a rise of obesity and sickness around the world. Not to mention, that the fast food options we have today are far more unhealthy than the fatty food options our ancestors had to choose from. A good source of fat and energy could come form nuts and fruits while we today can chug down an extra large, extra cheese pizza from Pizza Hut and finish off with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream.
So, are we fucked? Is there nothing we can do to learn to love our veggies?! Obviously we can! To our luck, our taste buds are capable to change taste preferences, and our body has the capability to change how certain foods make us feel and crave. It’s just a little learning process.
Give it time – You know how you have to start making something a routine before it sticks with you forever? Well, the same things goes for loving your veggies. The more we try something, the more we will want it. It takes around 7 tries for us to start liking the taste of certain foods. So man, give veggies 7 chances! For the sake of your health.
Try new things – If you haven’t been a veggie lover you have a whole foreign world to explore. That’s pretty exciting! Try something new every week, and incorporate it within a new recipe. There’s endless possibilities when you try new things! The same goes for your food.
Try new cooking styles – A sweet little carrot. You can devour it raw, boiled, roasted, pureed, baked in cake!! The possibilities are endless. Try out all these different styles and find out which technique you like the most.
Sauce it up – A liquid fountain of joy, that’s what sauces are. They can make anything better! Am I right or am I right? Sauces are also a great way to sneak in veggies from left and right. Thinly grate vegetables into your sauces. You won’t even notice that these nutritious bad boys are in there!
Think texture – We love foods with texture. When a meal has a perfect mix of textures like crunchy, sweet, spicy, soft, chewy we tend to enjoy it more. The awesome thing about vegetables is that they can perform a variety of textures to any meal depending on the way you prepare it. Make a soft element by pureeing a mix of greens such as spinach and avocado, add it on top of bread and finish off with some raw slices of red bell peppers. Fresh an delicious!
Spice it up – Make it fun, man. Just like any food can taste bland and boring, so will your veggies if you don’t give them a nice spice party. If you like heat, bring on the heat! Saute veggies with loads of spices, or bake them with even more. Spices makes everything nice. That’s a fact, and we all know it.
I was never a huge veggie lover in my younger days. I could wake up and gulp down cake and kit kat bars from breakfast. Yes, healthy, vegan little Linnéa was a huge, like I’m talking huuuuuge junk food lover!! Cakes, chocolate, McDonalds – that was my life. As I hit my teens I started to incorporate more exercise in my life and I cut down on some sugar and tried to incorporate more healthy foods in my life. Tadaaa! Look at me today. I love, honestly yes, I do loooove fruits and vegetables. I love the way they provide a natural source of water, how they make my skin look, and most importantly – how they make me feel. Trust me, one day you will feel this way to. It’s all about baby steps, and when your baby steps have reached adulthood we will go out on a great veg fest together!
