Fruits and Vegetables for Weight Control
Eat Fruits and Vegetables as Nature Provided...
And combine doing that with fat-free or low-fat cooking techniques and you've got a diet-friendly, budget-friendly addition to your diet. Have you taken note of the price of chips, Doritoes, Cheetoes, etc. lately? It's out of control! Now, go to your local Farmer's Market and see how much more fruits and vegetables you can purchase with the same amount of money.
Preparing Your Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Try steaming your vegetables, using low-calorie or low-fat dressings, and using herbs and spices to add flavor. Some cooking techniques, such as breading and frying, or using high-fat dressings or sauces, will greatly increase the calories and fat in the dish. And eat your fruit raw to enjoy its natural sweetness.
Canned or frozen fruits and vegetables are good options when fresh produce is not available.
However, be careful to choose those without added sugar, syrup, cream sauces, or other ingredients that will add calories.
Choose whole fruit over fruit drinks and juices.
Fruit juices have lost fiber from the fruit. It is better to eat the whole fruit because it contains the added fiber that helps you feel full. One 6-ounce serving of orange juice has 85 calories, compared to just 65 calories in a medium-sized orange.
Whole fruit gives you a bigger size snack than the same fruit dried—for the same number of calories.
A small box of raisins (1/4 cup) is not only cost-friendly, but diet friendly as well, coming in at about only 100 calories. For the same number of calories, you can eat 1 cup of grapes.
