Does anyone here grow a vegetable garden to help with weight loss?

Kiwi2mfp

I have a fairly large garden in my opinion at about 50 ×150 foot. Most summers I lose around 10 pounds while tending to it and canning the food we get from it. But the winter time is when I have issues with weight packing on (not so much this winter though). Summer keeps me fairly busy while winter time, I usually spend more time curled up under a blanket somewhere (we live in a very old large, and drafty farm house and heat with wood almost exclusively). I am wondering if anyone else here is going to be gardening with weight loss intent this year? If so, what are you planning to grow? Do you find that the exercise you gain from gardening helps you lose weight? How much time a week do you think you tend your garden? How big is your garden? Maybe some of these questions will help others decide if they want to start a garden to help with their journey. I have noticed the price of food going way up and am looking forward to my garden producing to bring us some relief at the grocery store. I do hope this is an appropriate subject for the Health and Weight Loss portion of our community. Forgive me please if it is not.

SuzanneC1l9zz

There's a garden thread over in the Food & Nutrition part of the forums. It's near the top right now since it's spring. Come join us! 🙂

cwolfman13

Not specifically for losing weight, but there are all kinds of additional activities I have in the summer that don't occur in the winter. I don't really have much of a garden, but I do live on an acre and the land scaping needs tending to in the spring, summer, and fall. I also have a pool and pool boy work that needs to be done regularly.

I don't really count it as "exercise" per sei, but my overall activity increases in the warmer months with that kind of stuff which definitely increases my calorie needs and I usually drop weight naturally in the spring through summer with additional activity plus training for cycling events and whatnot...though this year I'm getting out of my comfort zone and doing a sprint triathlon in August.

88AViva

I wish I had the room to grow food at home. Would be nice to have the essentials. I have a few herbs growing by the window though.

When I lived in Auckland as a college student, I had Tomatoes and peppers growing in pots on my balcony. That was convenient. Anyone ever tried growing Cucamelons?

lemurcat2

I garden, but not for weight loss. Mainly because I enjoy having home-grown food, would like to develop more gardening skills, and (usually) find it fun.

AnnPT77

SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

There's a garden thread over in the Food & Nutrition part of the forums. It's near the top right now since it's spring. Come join us! 🙂

Direct link here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10708195/garden-thread#latest

Don't be dismayed if you open that up, and see old posts. Like any long-running threads, the new posts are at the end, on the high numbered pages.

I used to vegetable garden quite a lot (for decades) plus pickle/can/dehydrate/etc., but now mostly just grow some perennial and annual herbs. My neighbor has taken over my veggie garden plot (with my approval, though he didn't tell me he planned to plant a ridiculously long row of rhubarb, a perennial 🙄).

ReenieHJ

The only way I garden for weight loss is because it keeps me from getting bored and running to the fridge. It requires movement but nothing exciting that burns lots of calories. I have a smallish garden, maybe 20'x30', but love it! The veggies taste SO much better than store bought, you save tons of money and you're doing something good for yourself and the earth.

After the initial planting I might spend an hour during the week, watering and hoeing, until the weeds start to multiply faster. Then maybe an hour and a half or more. Last year we planted tomatoes(cherry and big boy), zucchini, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers and onions. Plus we have 2 strawberry garden beds.
No zucchini this year, dh wants onions again, maybe green beans(but less than last year!), definitely lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers(though those never do that well) and tomatoes.

Gardening gets me outside and it's great alone therapy time.

SuzanneC1l9zz

Thanks for posting the link Ann!

Kiwi2mfp

ReenieHJ wrote: »

The only way I garden for weight loss is because it keeps me from getting bored and running to the fridge. It requires movement but nothing exciting that burns lots of calories. I have a smallish garden, maybe 20'x30', but love it! The veggies taste SO much better than store bought, you save tons of money and you're doing something good for yourself and the earth.

After the initial planting I might spend an hour during the week, watering and hoeing, until the weeds start to multiply faster. Then maybe an hour and a half or more. Last year we planted tomatoes(cherry and big boy), zucchini, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers and onions. Plus we have 2 strawberry garden beds.
No zucchini this year, dh wants onions again, maybe green beans(but less than last year!), definitely lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers(though those never do that well) and tomatoes.

Gardening gets me outside and it's great alone therapy time.

We love green beans. Every year I try to can at least 54 quarts (if I remember right we get about 7 quarts to a bushel)..might do more this year do to higher food prices. I am sorry to hear about your bell peppers not doing well. We generally have decent success with them but gardening isn't always a guarantee. Any bell peppers we have extra of we try to dehydrated in strips to add to soups, stews, and spaghetti sauce. Have you ever tried dehydrating zucchini and other squashes? I have been doing this for years. We now add these crumbled fine into our spaghetti sauce to thicken it and to get more veggies into the kids lol we usually plant health kick tomatoes becuase they are excellent in sauces and salsas...so easy to peel too. But we did grow better boys too. I think this year we will grow some cherry tomatoes also. We also have some strawberries. This is only our second year with the strawberry bed but they are multiply like rabbits. Gardening is very therapeutic.

Kiwi2mfp

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I garden, but not for weight loss. Mainly because I enjoy having home-grown food, would like to develop more gardening skills, and (usually) find it fun.

I get the usually part 😆. I tried putting 7 dust on my corns silks last year and broke out of hives before I even finished the rows I had! Won't be doing that again...I'd rather deal with the worms! Then August hits....it gets miserably hot and humid in our area....gardening is not very fun in August but I know I burn more calories then! We garden for the reasons you do also but this year is my weight loss journey so I am going to be tweaking the garden a bit to help with certain foods....more salad stuff, likely less potatoes. I am hoping to gain more gardening skills this year also.

AnnPT77

Kiwi2mfp wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I garden, but not for weight loss. Mainly because I enjoy having home-grown food, would like to develop more gardening skills, and (usually) find it fun.

I get the usually part 😆. I tried putting 7 dust on my corns silks last year and broke out of hives before I even finished the rows I had! Won't be doing that again...I'd rather deal with the worms! Then August hits....it gets miserably hot and humid in our area....gardening is not very fun in August but I know I burn more calories then! We garden for the reasons you do also but this year is my weight loss journey so I am going to be tweaking the garden a bit to help with certain foods....more salad stuff, likely less potatoes. I am hoping to gain more gardening skills this year also.

Consider Bacillus thuringiensis, a biological control; or even mineral oil on the silks, if it's a small area.

Kiwi2mfp

88AViva wrote: »

I wish I had the room to grow food at home. Would be nice to have the essentials. I have a few herbs growing by the window though.

When I lived in Auckland as a college student, I had Tomatoes and peppers growing in pots on my balcony. That was convenient. Anyone ever tried growing Cucamelons?

I have been thinking of trying the cucamelons. I eye them every time a catalog comes my way but I just haven't tried them yet. I don't know why though. They look fun. I used to live in an apartment and not being able to grow my own food was a bummer. I am glad you are able to grow herbs. Anything fresh is a treat. Have you considered trying to grow Mesclun mix salad blends in your window or under lights?

Kiwi2mfp

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Not specifically for losing weight, but there are all kinds of additional activities I have in the summer that don't occur in the winter. I don't really have much of a garden, but I do live on an acre and the land scaping needs tending to in the spring, summer, and fall. I also have a pool and pool boy work that needs to be done regularly.

I don't really count it as "exercise" per sei, but my overall activity increases in the warmer months with that kind of stuff which definitely increases my calorie needs and I usually drop weight naturally in the spring through summer with additional activity plus training for cycling events and whatnot...though this year I'm getting out of my comfort zone and doing a sprint triathlon in August.

A triathlon goal is amazing! I don't think I'd be able to do that. I hope you do very well in your first triathlon. We have been wanting to get a pool for years and I sure hope this is the year we do so. Pools give people a great resource for exercise.

Kiwi2mfp

SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

There's a garden thread over in the Food & Nutrition part of the forums. It's near the top right now since it's spring. Come join us! 🙂

Thank you! I will!

MsCzar

I love to garden, but not as exercise. However having lots and LOTS of fresh veg certainly helps me keep to a healthy diet. Plus, the bounty has me seeking out new recipes and adding fresh veg to meals in far greater quantities than I would without a garden. I freeze and can much of what I grow, Only last week did I finish last season's green beans just as this year's beans are sprouting.