What happened was that by eating more veggies at meals, I was not so hungry for the other heavier foods or even for sweet desserts. I truly believe that this is because when the body is getting better and more various nourishment (via veggies), it isn't continuing to trigger a hunger action in the brain. In other words - when you don't get certain nourishment you think you are still hungry. I believe it may be impossible to overeat vegetables! The more veggies you eat with your meal, the less you will eat the stuff that keeps weight on. When you go for seconds - go for veggies!By my mid-20s I had normally been a little chunky. I experienced an epiphany after a long bout of flu -- I decided to try to eat more veggies for my general health. I realized the reason I didn't eat enough vegetables was because either 1) there weren't many veggie options on the menus at restaurants where I ate; and 2) they usually weren't delicious.
I realized that the first priority is to make veggies at home and make them delicious. Later tackle the restaurant question.
For emergencies keep some celery, cucumbers, and tomatoes available. In a pinch you can simply slice cucumbers into big chunks and drizzle with virgin olive oil and a little good quality salt. Or make a quick salad with any combination of the 3 (cucumbers, celery, tomatoes) tossed with your olive oil and salt, adding fresh herbs like parsley, mint, tarragon, oregano. For cooked green goodness, I have included below a recipe for green veggies that has won fabulous feedback from family and friends.
At every family holiday I make broccoli or kale. My young niece once requested "Stefanie's Signature Kale" for her birthday dinner. Wow, that is a compliment. Okay - This is how I do it.
Some folks like to use a steamer - broccoli and kale only need a minute or two - I prefer to cook quick, edible green veggies quickly, using fairly high heat in a skillet with a lid. I often use a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet (mine is a 12 inch). These are perfect for some kinds of high heat cooking, quick cooking. They are durable, difficult to damage.
I have kept the following recipe simple, in case you are a beginner. You can get fancy with garlic, onions, spices, or other variations once you get the hang of the basic method.
RECIPE
For quick and tasty kale, broccoli, green beans, sweet peas, snow peas, asparagus, etc.
1 skillet (this can be done in cast iron, ceramic or pretty much any other type of skillet)
Green veggie of choice (broccoli, snow peas, sugar snap peas, green beans, kale, rapini, etc.)
High quality salt (i.e. Himalayan or other mineral salt)
1 Tbsp of water
Put your veggies in the pan, but don't add water or oil at first. Let the pan heat up, and then add
