Unlimited vegetables - anyone lost weight this way

onmyown70
onmyown70 Posts: 233 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi group,

I am trying to lose a little weight (I have lots of food issues which I'm addressing I.e I love food and can eat a lot!). I just wondered if anyone else here, who had a massive appetite has lost weight by allowing themselves unlimited veg with their meals?

I'm
Not stupid (well maybe a little) but too much of anything is bad, and I would ensure I had a variety each day, but my slight concern is I can eat a lot - I'm trying to address my issues with bingeing ( but the idea of a huge massive salad - with loads of veg is 500grams broccoli and tomatoes is appealing).

So again my question is, has this worked for anyone else or is it www should just accept small portions or weighed out portions of everything?

Many thanks

Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Obviously veggies are generally a good low cal option for adding extra volume to your meals, but they do contain calories so yes, you should count those. For example, your 500g of broccoli has 170 calories. If you're eating your allotted cals and then adding veggies on top, you can put a serious dent in your deficit.
  • onmyown70
    onmyown70 Posts: 233 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Obviously veggies are generally a good low cal option for adding extra volume to your meals, but they do contain calories so yes, you should count those. For example, your 500g of broccoli has 170 calories. If you're eating your allotted cals and then adding veggies on top, you can put a serious dent in your deficit.

    Hmmm I guess this is logical! Mind you; 500 grams is quite filling but when you think I may add salmon a small roll of bread, other veg or quinoa with it, although healthy, ends up being a calorific lunch. Thank you for replying.
  • VeronicaByrd
    VeronicaByrd Posts: 3
    hello....
    but i think having veggies in your diet will not lead to weight gain. But your weight may increase if you consistently increase amount of viggies in your diet.
  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
    You might like to look at " Healthy Girls Kitchen" , she has done just that.
  • HowlinAl
    HowlinAl Posts: 277 Member
    If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. If you don't, you won't.
  • Nix143
    Nix143 Posts: 522 Member
    I kinda do this. I eat a HUGE pile of veg with my dinner but I log it. If you want a high volume of food then veg is a great option but it's not calorie free. Nothing is.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I stay within my calorie goal yet still manage to eat my fill of veggies (a lot)!
    I'm a volume eater too and I have lost most of my weight by eating tons of veggies and staying within the limits of my goal.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited April 2015
    I think this is a good plan IF you eat the veggies first (so that you are too full to eat much else) AND you can be satisfied with this.

    I too love to eat a lot. And by a lot, I mean big meals. But I'm not satisfied with just a big bowl of vegetables. I eat a lot of vegetables, but most of the time I like fat on them. Olive oil based salad dressing, tossed in oil and roasted, stir fry, etc. This adds a lot of calories, so I can't eat unlimited amounts.
  • Hippychick5983
    Hippychick5983 Posts: 130 Member
    I am a volume eater too. That is why I have been filling half my plate with veggies first and then adding anything else that might go with the meal. This way most of the meal is veggies. Of course log and weight everything but this helps. Also you can try and trick your brain if you use smaller plates. So far it seems to be helping me. Good luck!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    You can't really do unlimited because vegetables do have calories. If you go over your calorie limit it doesn't matter if it was broccoli or a steak. Vegetables are generally lower calorie, very nutritious and full of fiber so are a good choice to fill your plate while reducing your portion sizes of higher calorie foods though. You can eat a lot more of some foods in comparison to other things.
  • onmyown70
    onmyown70 Posts: 233 Member
    Hippychick5983 wrote: »
    I am a volume eater too. That is why I have been filling half my plate with veggies first and then adding anything else that might go with the meal. This way most of the meal is veggies. Of course log and weight everything but this helps. Also you can try and trick your brain if you use smaller plates. So far it seems to be helping me. Good luck!


    You see it comes down to brain tricks, I felt so dishearted with weight gain over the past few weeks I cut down on the veggies and notice I'm eating more bread/pasta/cake
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    The good thing about logging is that you can keep track of how much protein is in those vegetables.
  • Chrysalid2014
    Chrysalid2014 Posts: 1,038 Member
    edited April 2015
    From what you've posted I would suggest you allow yourself a huge, but still measured portion of vegetables. If you are trying to break the habit of bingeing or compulsive eating, unlimited amounts of anything isn't a good option to have in front of you.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
    Massive appetite isn't really my issue, but I do try to make sure that veggies constitute a significant portion of my meals and will use them as snacks if I'm hungry for some reason and don't wish to use up significant calories. I'd say try it and see. I'm enough of a volume eater that having a plate full of low calorie foods will usually fill me up as much as a higher calorie plate of a smaller amount of food, at least in the short term.

    It works better for me if I also eat a reasonable amount of protein and fat with my meals also, though, in addition to lots of veggies.

    I count the veggie calories, but I don't limit the amounts I eat of them by anything other than desire. If I need to cut calories I'll eat less of higher calorie foods (usually starches or extras, although I also am careful with fat portions, including higher fat cuts of meat).
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    I lost almost 4 stone with slimming world. Unlimited fruit, veg, pasta rice and lean meats. It was/is a great diet in my experience BUT it isnt sustainable. Sadly, I am a binger and have a huge appetite. Eating unlimited amounts of food suited me becasue I get a buzz out of that full feeling. It taught me nothing about portion control though. As soon as I stopped attending the group meetings, stopped being accountable and stopped the 'competition' of standing up in group and telling everyone how I did that week, it all fell apart.

    Now I am learning new skills. I'm learning to tell when I'm hungry and learning to exercise self control. I'm learning to listen to my body instead of spending my time working out just how I can get as much quantity into myself as possible whilst still only eating certain foods.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Nope, everything has calories, thus everything adds up.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited April 2015
    I have never limited veggies.
    And I don't generally consider most vegetables something I would want to limit. If I need to cut calories, it will be something more calorically dense, and less nutrient dense.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    I log everything, including veggies, but I am definitely a volume eater. I learned right quick that the key (for me) to staying at my calorie goal while still eating "gobs" of food was tons of veggies (i.e. salads eaten out of serving bowls, dinner plate full of sauteed veg, etc.).

    The key is still to log those veggies--I know I can easily consume 500 calories of veggies daily. But...I'm far more satisfied than the 1,000 calories (approx.) of bread, chips, and sweets they replaced. Of course, I still eat the breads and starches, etc., but I need far less of them (one small sandwich and giant side salad for lunch vs. 2-3 sandwiches plus potato chips, for example).
  • Oldbitcollector
    Oldbitcollector Posts: 229 Member
    HowlinAl wrote: »
    If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. If you don't, you won't.

    Funny how it always seems to go back to that old, simple truth... :)

    My friends ask me what kind of diet I'm on and I tell them it's my grandmother's diet strategy. ^^^

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Nope...i am a healthy eater. Had my own garden with veggies and fruits Own eggs etc cooked from scratch and still ended up extreme obese

    Its simple eat less calories than you burn that is the only way..nothing magic about it.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    "unlimited vegetables" (excluding some starchy ones) while closely tracking everything else is basically how I lost weight using weight watchers -
  • vgnfarmer
    vgnfarmer Posts: 108 Member
    I used to do this and lost weight because I never wanted the reason I didn't eat the veggies to be that I was saving calories for something else. I just set my deficit a little lower. Eating the veggies first usually helped lower overall calories.
    Also at night when I thought I was hungry I would tell myself that I could have all the broccoli I wanted. I knew that if I was truly hungry it would satisfy but if I didn't want to eat it then it was probably just a craving.
    Recently I started logging veggies because I wanted a more accurate macro count. I have learned that a head of cauliflower DOES have significant calories but not too bad considering how filling. I usually eat a head of romaine a day and that comes in pretty low...
    Good luck!
  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,275 Member
    Literally, binge eating celery, sweet potatoes, legumes, you will stop because your body will be full. No butter, or cheese sauce!
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