BY AYOUB OUBARKA
Yes, vegetables are technically a type of carbohydrate, they belong in a class of their own. The right
vegetables are excellent for weight loss because they are mostly water, which means they have no calories
and they help flush toxins from your system. Veggies are high in fiber (so they keep you regular) and you
can eat high volumes of them to fill your tummy while not adding lots of extra calories to your diet.
Vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, and celery have almost no fat, very little simple sugars, few calories,
and will make up the bulk of our weight-loss diet. Any time you're hungry, just grab some celery and chew
away. A whole stalk of celery has 6 calories. A cup of lettuce has just 10 calories. The mistake people make
is that they load up on fatty extras with their salads or celery sticks.
Avoid the fatty dressings and condiments that people put on their veggies. Again, once you get used to it,
celery tastes great by itself. Here's one of my tricks: wash and chop up some celery sticks and put them in
a plastic container in the fridge. First, fill the container about half way with water (to keep the celery fresh)
and sprinkle in a teaspoon of Splenda (or your favorite no-calorie sweetener). The celery will absorb the
sweetened water and you have a tasty snack - with very few calories. I like to add in some baby carrots and
green beans on occasion.
Vegetables also contain tons of vitamins, minerals, and are excellent for your overall health. Vegetables
also contain substances called phytochemicals that make up the plant's immune system. These chemicals
also help to keep your immune system strong. Eat more veggies and you'll get sick less often.
There are no bad vegetables - but keep in mind that a lot of food items like potatos are not classified as
vegetables for the purposes of our weight-loss diet. We've classified starchy vegetables as carbohydrates.
Some foods like olives have been classified as fats.
So, for the remaining vegetables, I've classified them into good veggies and free veggies. The good veggies
are good for you, but you should still keep an eye on the calories. The free veggies have almost no calories,
so you can eat them as often as you'd like - and in pretty large volumes too!
•Good Vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, beets, peppers, broccoli, carrots,
cauliflower, collard greens, eggplant, green beans, onions, pea pods, pickles,
rutabega, sauerkraut, seaweed, peas, string beans, tomato, turnips.
•Free Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, lettuce,
mushrooms, radishes, spinach, watercress, zucchini.
Eat as many of the free vegetables as you want. Your tummy will be bulging full before you have to worry
about counting those calories. A whole head of lettuce has about 40 calories. Good luck.
We have a more comprehensive listing of veggies available on our Web site at RicksWeightLoss.com.
Yes, vegetables are technically a type of carbohydrate, they belong in a class of their own. The right
vegetables are excellent for weight loss because they are mostly water, which means they have no calories
and they help flush toxins from your system. Veggies are high in fiber (so they keep you regular) and you
can eat high volumes of them to fill your tummy while not adding lots of extra calories to your diet.
Vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, and celery have almost no fat, very little simple sugars, few calories,
and will make up the bulk of our weight-loss diet. Any time you're hungry, just grab some celery and chew
away. A whole stalk of celery has 6 calories. A cup of lettuce has just 10 calories. The mistake people make
is that they load up on fatty extras with their salads or celery sticks.
Avoid the fatty dressings and condiments that people put on their veggies. Again, once you get used to it,
celery tastes great by itself. Here's one of my tricks: wash and chop up some celery sticks and put them in
a plastic container in the fridge. First, fill the container about half way with water (to keep the celery fresh)
and sprinkle in a teaspoon of Splenda (or your favorite no-calorie sweetener). The celery will absorb the
sweetened water and you have a tasty snack - with very few calories. I like to add in some baby carrots and
green beans on occasion.
Vegetables also contain tons of vitamins, minerals, and are excellent for your overall health. Vegetables
also contain substances called phytochemicals that make up the plant's immune system. These chemicals
also help to keep your immune system strong. Eat more veggies and you'll get sick less often.
There are no bad vegetables - but keep in mind that a lot of food items like potatos are not classified as
vegetables for the purposes of our weight-loss diet. We've classified starchy vegetables as carbohydrates.
Some foods like olives have been classified as fats.
So, for the remaining vegetables, I've classified them into good veggies and free veggies. The good veggies
are good for you, but you should still keep an eye on the calories. The free veggies have almost no calories,
so you can eat them as often as you'd like - and in pretty large volumes too!
•Good Vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, beets, peppers, broccoli, carrots,
cauliflower, collard greens, eggplant, green beans, onions, pea pods, pickles,
rutabega, sauerkraut, seaweed, peas, string beans, tomato, turnips.
•Free Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, lettuce,
mushrooms, radishes, spinach, watercress, zucchini.
Eat as many of the free vegetables as you want. Your tummy will be bulging full before you have to worry
about counting those calories. A whole head of lettuce has about 40 calories. Good luck.
We have a more comprehensive listing of veggies available on our Web site at RicksWeightLoss.com.
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