3 Reasons Why The “Big Veggie Salad” Should Be On YOUR Menu
βIt's no secret that the Big Veggie Salad, is well, BIG. And there has been a lot of chatter around the various S3 groups that it is "SOOO much food" and "too big to eat all at once".
Here's 3 reasons why the Big Veggie Salad is so important:
1) More bulk means fewer calories AND you are still full.
Do you know how many calories the Big Veggie Salad has?
A whopping 169.
In fact the dressing for the salad has almost as many calories as the salad itself, coming in at 165. That's a total of 334 calories. ONE chocolate glazed donut at Dunkins has 340.
How come no one ever complains eating one donut is "too much food"? π
The picture above tells the story.
The more VOLUME your food has, the more it fills your stomach, and the fuller you feel. Choosing low density food has been shown to automagically cause you to eat less.
2) It helps you regulate your hunger signaling.
One of the reasons you may be having a challenge eating the big veggie salad at one sitting is you just aren't used to sitting that long!
You can't scarf this thing down in five minutes. The volume of food means you are going to be at the table longer, and that's a GOOD thing.
Why?
Because eating slowly is one of the crucial skills in both hunger mastery and permanent weight loss. It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to signal the brain it is full - "Stop Feeding Me". When there is a lot of food available, it is very easy to just keep eating until it's too late. I bet you can eat a LOT of chocolate chip cookies in 20 minutes, before the brain says "enough".
It's one reason why "family style" is not a good strategy for eating. Usually we are going to keep eating until nothing is left on the serving platter. When we pre-portion our food onto our plates, we are done when OUR plate is empty. Big difference.
3) It helps you build your kitchen skills.
There is a whole lot of chopping, cutting, dicing and slicing that goes into preparing the Big Veggie Salad. You are going to figure out really fast that you may not want to do this every time. Employing strategies such as prepping veggies for 2 or 3 meals at a time, or investing in tools that allow quicker chopping and slicing (such as a mandolin) will help that prep get quicker and quicker.
So there you go. 3 lessons that the Big Veggie Salad teaches us.
- Eat low density foods
- Take your time eating
- Work on your "ninja" food prep tactics
Time to get your veggies on!
- DC
For those of you who have no idea what the "Big Veggie Salad" is, here are the recipes.
The βBIGβ Veggie Salad
Prep Time: 15 min
Ingredients: (Serves 1)
- 3 cups Mixed Greens (not iceberg, chopped)
- 1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
- 1 Carrot (chopped)β’ 1/2 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
- 1/4 Avocado (diced)β’
- Zucchini (small, chopped)
- 1 Cucumber (small, peeled and chopped)
- 1/4 cup broccoli (chopped)
Directions: In a bowl, toss everything together with 2 tablespoons of any challenge-approved dressing.
Momβs Balsamic Dressing
(12 servings, 2 Tbsp. per serving. Store in refrigerator)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tbsp. Dried Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper (just to season)
- 1 Garlic (1 clove, minced)
Directions: Add all ingredients into a bowl & whisk until thick and creamy.
ENJOY!
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