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You don't need
to buy exotic ingredients to create healthy weight loss food
You can fix simple vegan
weight loss food using familiar
ingredients. Don't buy packaged drinks or powders. They
are expensive and most of them are not healthy. Instead of buying
packaged vegan foods, buy
unprocessed whole plant foods. Begin with your local
supermarket. You will find
the right foods in the produce section, the frozen
food area, and among the canned and dry goods.
Here are some examples of low calorie foods to get you started:
Foods from the supermarket
- Buy fresh
fruits and vegetables in season. Don't forget the root
vegetables like sweet
potatoes and potatoes. Frozen vegetables and fruits are
good too.
-
Keep canned
and dried beans on hand. Look for salt-free varieties.
-
Buy old fashioned rolled oats and
brown
rice.
-
Frozen
corn, peas, and lima beans are staples for the freezer.
-
Stock cornstarch,
baking soda, vanilla, mustard, ketchup, pickle relish, salsa, hot
sauce, canned tomatoes and tomato paste.
-
Keep assorted
vinegars
on hand, especially cider, rice, and balsamic.
Foods from natural food stores
Support your local natural food store. Find a store that
carries grains, beans, and flaxseeds in large bins. Look for
raw nuts in the refrigerated section. Don't shop in a vitamin pill
store; find a store that sells whole
plant foods. When we travel, we love to visit the local natural food
stores. They can tell you a lot about a town. Some stores are upscale, and others are
straight out of the 60's.
This is a cute little natural food store we found on the Oregon coast.
They had soy milk, healthy cereals, vegan bread, and organic
produce. They also directed us to a local restaurant that had good
vegan food.
In
bigger cities, look for natural food supermarkets like Whole Foods,
Wild Oats, Sunflower, or New Seasons. We found this gorgeous pepper
display in a Whole Foods Market in San Francisco. Whole Foods always
has a huge salad bar too.
Many people adore Trader Joe's. They
do have great prices on soy milk and whole grain breads. Their
no-salt marinara sauce and no-salt salsa can be staple weight loss
foods in your pantry. However, Trader Joe's sells too
many specialty foods and not enough basic bulk
foods.
When you visit a natural foods store, here are a few products
you
might look at:
- Edamame
are
young green soybeans. They are a little high in fat, but they make
a nice snack late in the afternoon or before dinner. They are also good
in rice salads.
- You will find many vegan recipes that use
tahini.
Tahini is sesame seed paste. It has a similar consistency to
peanut butter. It is very high in fat, just like peanut butter. Save it
for special recipes.
- Nutritional
yeast is one
of the more unusual vegan foods. It comes in
a
flake form.
It is high in protein, fat-free, and has a mild, cheese-like
flavor. If you miss the taste of cheese, this is one weight loss food
you will want to try. It is different from bakers yeast and brewers
yeast.
- Miso
is a fermented soybean paste that has an intense salty flavor. The
Japanese use it to make soup. It is very high in sodium.
We
always buy our seasonings from
natural food stores. Most good stores sell herbs and spices in bulk
from
big glass jars. Just measure out the amount you want. In some
stores, a clerk measures them for you. The
seasonings are super inexpensive compared to the ones in tiny glass
jars in the
supermarket. Also try no-salt seasoning
mixtures
like Mrs. Dash.
Food from farmers' markets
If you are fortunate enough to have a farmer's market in your town, be
sure to support them. They usually have fresher produce and better
prices than any grocery store. Buy produce that is grown
locally, not food that has traveled across the country in trucks. As
fossil fuels are depleted and gas prices rise, this is one way we can
help conserve fuel.
Consumer Supported Agriculture
Another great way to support your local farmers is by participating in
Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. You buy a share in a
farm's harvest, and the farm packs a box of food for you each
week. The produce is fresh and seasonal, so you will get different
foods at different times. It is like opening a gift box every week: a
box full of weight loss food.
Organic foods
Of course, it is always best to eat organic plant foods:
- If they are available
- If you can afford them
If organic produce is not available or you can't afford it, do
not panic. It is still highly beneficial for your health to follow a
whole food vegan diet. All plants contain
many special components that help our bodies detoxify chemicals. Buy
conventional produce and wash it well.
Many
of the studies that show benefits from eating plant foods were
done on people who ate conventional produce.
Organic meat, eggs, and dairy products are another story. They are
still harmful to our health because they are high in saturated fat,
high in cholesterol, contain no fiber, and contain no healthy
phytonutrients. Avoid them all. Create healthy weight loss
food from plants instead.
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