's motd Sat Oct 9, 2010 - Vegetables

[Guest guest]

FROM THE

GROUND TO YOUR DINNER TABLE

Saturday, 09 October 2010

Many research groups often come up

with all kinds of studies about the way we live our

lives. Just before we left for the Cruise To

Lose, I read an article in the New York

Times covering the subject of our failure to

eat enough vegetables. The article pointed out that

only 23% of the meals we ate included vegetables. The

article also stated that the number of dinners

Americans prepare at home that included a salad was

only 17%...that's down 5% from 1994. (And

that's in spite of our government's best efforts to

get us to eat more vegetables!)

There are shows on TV like Dr.

Oz. and The Doctors that constantly

preach how important it is for us to eat our

vegetables...everyday! And you know me, I've

been preaching the Eat Your Vegetables sermon

for 35 years!

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I saved my money to

open up my restaurant and salad bar called Roughage.

It was a big hit and was jam-packed with diners from

the day I opened. I had a colorful assortment of over

twenty vegetables at the salad bar for my customers to

choose from on any given day. And at the end of each

day, all of my leftover veggies would go into making

the next day's vegetable soup. Everybody just loved

that Roughage vegetable soup, too. We always sold

out. Mmmm, good!

Some days we served over 400 people and, believe me,

that's a lot of chopped lettuce and radishes! LOL.

When I got serious about losing weight and, after I

did, keeping the weight off, I felt that

vegetables were going to be my "best friends

forever." (And they are!)

If you look at the Food Pyramid,

you'll note that you're allowed to eat more vegetables

than any other food group. Why? Well, it's because

your body loves vegetables.

When I was growing up, the produce section in our

supermarket was not that large. But, these days, the

produce section of most supermarkets takes up a big

chunk of the store. And lately, you'll find lots

of vegetables that are already cut up and bagged for

you, making them more convenient to prepare when you

bring them home.

And have you noticed all the different kinds of lettuce,

for example, available in the produce

section these days? I mean, no matter what kind of

lettuce you like, from iceberg to romaine, you can

find it, often already bagged and washed for you.

There are also more frozen vegetables to chose from in

the frozen foods section of the market.

So, with all of these options

available, the question is...Why aren't more

people eating their vegetables? Well, lots of

people didn't eat a lot of vegetables when they were

growing up or they had a bad dining experience with

some vegetables during the course of their lives.

That bad experience has remained in their minds and,

because it's still there, they just don't have a good

relationship with veggies.

A lady wrote recently and told me how strict her

father was about her eating her vegetables. She

couldn't leave the dinner table until all the

vegetables on her plate had been eaten. She told me

that to this day, she hates vegetables and

never eats them. I tried to convince her how

important eating her vegetables is. I told her it was

time to forgive, forget and learn to love those

vegetables she'd sworn off for so long. As for me, I

eat six portions of vegetables a day...and

sometimes a few more!

So please, do yourself a favor. Go to the supermarket

and spend a little extra time in the produce section.

Make it your goal to try one new vegetable every week

and, believe me, your health will reach its peak!

Love,