Planning a chicken breast and vegetables nightly dinner plan! Ideas on the 'best' vegetables?

don´t underestimate the EGGPLANT!!! if you cut it in slices, spinkle with salt, pepper, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle just a tiny pit of shredded italian cheese (very little, not overload) and bake it at 400F for 20-25 mins. It is so amazing. You can do the same thing with the squash family, zucchini. Asparagas is good with garlic, olive oil, saly, pepper, no cheese baked the same amount of time.

Weight loss is about calories. You eat less calories (deficit) than you would need to maintain your current weight and you will lose weight. No food causes you to magically lose or gain weight. Look at the calorie count of the food.
You can eat whatever food fits your calorie goal. Many people find protein, fats and fiber help them to feel satisfied.
Most vegetables are fairly low calorie so you would have to eat a lot to go over your calorie deficit goal.
Mushrooms-a fungus not a vegetable- are low calorie unless you put butter or cheese on them.
You should just eat in a way you can sustain long term. Eating chicken every day is not necessary to weight loss. It may get old very quickly and you will not have learned to eat appropriate portions of other foods.

Vegetables I like-
I like spinach a lot. I use it for salads, in soups, on pizza, in tacos, on sandwiches, etc.
Tomatoes and green beans are a favorite combination.
Potatoes- white or sweet potatoes are tasty, nutritious and filling. They can be prepared many ways.
Roasted broccoli or asapargus.
Cabbage- salads, sauteed, stir fry, soups, etc
Zucchini

By the time you are "done" with weight loss, you're going to be done with grilled chicken and steamed veggies too.

You won't learn anything from this, so the weight loss will likely be temporary. Learning about a wide variety of foods would help you keep the weight you do lose in check. Many (many) people struggle with maintenance. Just eat foods you like.

In the interests of being helpful, look for leaner cuts of meat. There is no reason why you can't have meats like turkey, other cuts of chicken besides the breasts, pork, lamb, beef. If you like fish and seafood, there are lots of options there too. I had lots of avocados this summer on salads and they were incredibly tasty.

It's more about logging what you eat, watching your portions, staying under your calorie goals, etc.

Leeks are good with chicken. I cut the stalks into 2 inch long pieces then cut again down the centre so you have lots of rectangular pieces. Then throw into a pan with a few sprays of coconut oil to brown them off. About a minute before serving, stir in a tablespoon of low fat creme fraiche for a creamy texture without the calories of actual cream. Ground black pepper is favourite spice. No need for anything else..

I am kind of surprised by how many people are concerned with how 'boring' a meal is. I mean, I guess for some people, that's the biggest issue they have with their diet working, is how exciting or boring it is.

But for a lot of us, convenience or price is a LOT more of an issue to making the diet work. And frankly, having the same a meal with only ONE ingredient the same every time, but with variety elsewhere, doesn't in anyway have to be boring. It can be comforting for some folks, even, especially if they LIKE chicken - like a reward food they are having WITH the veggies, to kind of make it easier to eat more veggies, you know?

Also, it can be cheaper, because you can buy the chicken in bulk, and faster, because you can potentially cook a lot of the chicken at one time, and it can be easier to meal plan when one ingredient is the same.


But as for veggies - for nutrient levels, the more colors you can get, the more nutrients the veggie tends to have, on average (so, like, sweet potatoes and carrots over potatoes and parsnips, for example).

For calorie levels, the majority of veggies are very low calorie. Root veggies will tend to have slightly more to a lot more, depending, so those ones you might want to check, if you are going for low calorie.

And this was a great site for me when trying to figure out veggies to eat - all veggie recipes, alphabetized by vegetable: http://aveggieventuresrecipebox.blogspot.com/2005/03/alphabet-of-vegetables_6295.html

shaumom wrote: »

I am kind of surprised by how many people are concerned with how 'boring' a meal is. I mean, I guess for some people, that's the biggest issue they have with their diet working, is how exciting or boring it is.

But for a lot of us, convenience or price is a LOT more of an issue to making the diet work. And frankly, having the same a meal with only ONE ingredient the same every time, but with variety elsewhere, doesn't in anyway have to be boring. It can be comforting for some folks, even, especially if they LIKE chicken - like a reward food they are having WITH the veggies, to kind of make it easier to eat more veggies, you know?

Also, it can be cheaper, because you can buy the chicken in bulk, and faster, because you can potentially cook a lot of the chicken at one time, and it can be easier to meal plan when one ingredient is the same.


But as for veggies - for nutrient levels, the more colors you can get, the more nutrients the veggie tends to have, on average (so, like, sweet potatoes and carrots over potatoes and parsnips, for example).

For calorie levels, the majority of veggies are very low calorie. Root veggies will tend to have slightly more to a lot more, depending, so those ones you might want to check, if you are going for low calorie.

And this was a great site for me when trying to figure out veggies to eat - all veggie recipes, alphabetized by vegetable: http://aveggieventuresrecipebox.blogspot.com/2005/03/alphabet-of-vegetables_6295.html

Convenience and price is always an issue. I often eat the same meal at lunch and/or dinner for a week or so because I live alone and cook in bulk. While I have no problem with leftovers, and am usually not terribly tired of them by the end of the week, it is not quite like eating like that for a month or longer (which I have done in the past).

It gets boring, and depending on your meal\s you can set yourself up for gastrointestinal distress when you start eating more variety again. But, other than that there's no particular reason not to do it. OP may not get bored with the same meal like others do.

WinoGelato wrote: »

Jakep2323 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

This sounds misguided - I hope it's just a lack of knowledge and that you don't have some kind of eating disorder?

You can eat anything you like and lose weight as long as you stick to an appropriate amount of calories. MFP should have given you that number at startup.

Variety is very important for good nutrition, because different foods provide nutrients in different amounts. No foods are more "healthy", and we need a good mix every day. You will also get bored from eating a boring diet, and you can't risk to get bored if you want to lose weight. No foods "aid weight loss". You want to be looking for foods that don't trigger overeating. But you must also eat enough, and MFP's calorie goal is the goal to hit, every day.

Lol - how is this even close to an eating disorder. Is this a reading disorder? The OP is asking what vegetables are best with chicken.
World is your oyster really - Bring on the broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts are in season, leeks (ooh mama), sweet potato mash, cabbage and greens

Restricting yourself to a certain type of very low calorie meal can be a sign of disordered thinking about food. Less concerning but still misguided as is the belief that you can't eat certain foods and be healthy (mushrooms in this OP's case). Probably not a big deal but also a bit of a red flag is the statement that she will eat this way until she reaches a certain weight.

There are a lot of people who come to this site who truly do have disordered thoughts about eating and food. I'm not saying this OP does, but there are some concerning statements in the original post. People want to try to identify those who are exhibiting those behaviors so they can help, as well as separate those who are just misinformed about diet and weight loss (who also need help but the responses would be different).

OP also posted a thread a day or two ago asking how to deal with his father trying to get him to eat more and alluded to his father worrying that he could become anorexic. Again, not saying there's a problem, but there's no harm in making sure you're not encouraging unhealthy behaviors.

Make sure you eat all the colors in your veggies: green, white, red, orange, purple, yellow.....

We will often have weeks were we have nothing but chicken and veggies, But thats cause Im super picky, and the husband wants to cut way back on the red meat, and he doesn't share my love of weekly tacos. We've perfected a blackened chicken that is melt in your mouth delicious.... anyway, try baked asparagus, coat with olive oil, place on baking sheet, add salt, pepper, garlic, and freshly grated parmesan, bake for 15min at 400..... it's different, but its really really good. You can do it with french green beans too, although I don't put cheese on them.....