Loosing Weight on a Diet of Vegetables

Is a diet of vegetables at the top of your list for new year resolutions? Now that the holidays have been celebrated, we know that the majority of us are making the same new year resolution – to loose weight.  Maybe you don’t need to loose weight but maybe you feel convicted to eat more healthy.

Are you like me?  After the holidays I peruse the grocery aisles in search of “healthy” food.  This is the year, I tell my self, that I am going to turn over a new leaf and eat healthy.  I’m going to eat more vegetables because I hear they are good for you.

Case in point: I just read today in my quiet time (daily time in the Word i.e. Bible) that after God had created the heavens, the earth, light, darkness, vegetation (plants & trees with fruit), fish, birds, animals and man, he said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.” Genesis 1:29.  Wow, God made those plants/vegetables to eat!

Ingredients for Healthy Homemade Vegetable Broth

I know, I know, vegetables are good for you and they are not foreign to my diet. Why did God make them as the primary source of sustenance and not meat?  Let me retell another story found in the Bible, about four young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace, Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, the king of Babylon.

Now these young men, best known as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were to go through 3 years of training before entering the service of the king.  The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine.  However,

Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.  Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.  Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the other young men who ate the royal food.  So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. — Daniel 1:8-16

What do you think?  I’m not advocating that you become a full fledged vegetarian but I do challenge you to increase the quantity of vegetables in your daily diet and discover how much better you feel.

If you are looking to kick start a new weight loss routine or simply pledging to eat healthier this year try Dr. Oz’s two-week rapid weight-loss plan.  By loading up on healthy food, like low-glycemic vegetables and small portions of protein, you can help curb your cravings and give your body a healthy start to the year.

The vegetable broth recipe below is part of Dr. Oz’s plan. I wasn’t so sure about drinking broth instead of my diet coke.  But I am pleased to say “its not bad”.

Healthy Homemade Vegetable Broth

Healthy Vegetable Broth

Yields: 2 quarts / 8 cups

  • 3 quarts water
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 cup of winter squash, cut into large cubes (for sweetness)
  • 1 cup of root vegetables, choose one (turnips, parsnips, or rutabages)
  • 2 cups of chopped greens, choose one (kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard or dandelion
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1/2 cup of cabbage
  • 4 1/2-inch slices of fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves of whole garlic (not chopped or crushed)
  • Sea salt, to taste
  1. Add all the ingredients at once and place on a low boil for approximately 60 minutes or longer for desired taste.
  2. Cool, strain (throw out the cooked vegetables), and store in a large, tightly-sealed glass container in the fridge.
  3. Heat gently and drink up to 3-4 cups a day.
  • Preparation time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 1 hour
  • Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Healthy Homemade Vegetable Broth

Here’s to a new year and new eating habits.  What are your suggestions to encourage healthy eating?

Sonya Kay

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