1/2 grapefruit, dry toast, boiled egg.  Baked chicken, green beans, and salad.  Baked chicken, green beans, salad.

We’ve all tried this diet, haven’t we?  This one or another that was about as enticing as a dose of cod liver oil.  There’s no way anyone can stay on a diet like that in our society.  We are accustomed to too many choices.  Any plan to narrow food intake to just those items is doomed from the start.

During my lifestyle change, I wanted to keep mealtimes interesting.  To do that, I tried lots of new foods.  You saw some of the choices on the menu here yesterday.  There may be some things on that list that are unfamiliar to you or you may just not think of eating them often.

To the list of vegetables I eat regularly, I added eggplant, kale, collards, turnip greens, edamame, rutabega, beets, beet greens, sweet potatoes, parsnips, purple carrots, butternut and acorn squash, yellow tomatoes, Italian rabe or rapini, etc.  I still keep broccoli, carrots, grean beans, tomatoes, salad greens, spinach, cauliflower, cucumbers, yellow and zucchini squash, onions, mushrooms, cabbage, asparagus, sweet peppers and some others I’m sure I’m forgetting.  Look at the variety there!  And there are still lots of things I haven’t tried – kohlrabi, fennel, to name two!  Switching up what I cook keeps mealtimes interesting.  It also switches up the nutrients I’m getting, making my diet more balanced. You might have noticed that I don’t list corn or white potatoes anywhere.  That’s because corn has very little nutritional value for humans – which is a crying shame, if you ask me.  I do enjoy corn on the cob or a corn salad every great now and then, but maybe only two or three times a year.  And white potatoes are really starchy.  Again, they are something I just don’t eat often.

My point is this: vegetables come in a huge variety! Try something new.  If you don’t like it, don’t eat it again.  If you do, you’ve just found something new to add to your rotation.