š„¦š„ It’s not just kids who give veggies the side-eye; plenty of adults cringe at the sight of a plateful of green stuff. If you’re in the “hide your Brussels sprouts under the seat cushion” camp, you’re not alone. Vegetables come in various flavors, and while some lean towards sweet and pleasant (carrots, peas, beets), others boast dominant bitter notes (kale, endives, rapini, Brussels sprouts).
š Bitterness, it turns out, is something many animals, including humans, instinctively avoid. However, some individuals are more sensitive to bitter flavors than others. Approximately a quarter of the population are “supertasters” with heightened sensitivity to all tastes, including bitterness. So, if you’ve never been a fan of vegetables and prefer milder, less adventurous flavors like buttered noodles, you might be a supertaster.
š¤·āāļø Not having an affinity for vegetables doesn’t make you inherently unhealthy, but it can pose a challenge when you’re trying to incorporate more greens into your diet for their numerous health benefits. If you’re thinking, “I’d rather eat a sock than kale,” try this three-step strategy to bridge the gap:
1ļøā£ Challenge
š Head to a grocery store with a diverse produce section or a restaurant offering unique plant-based dishes. Choose a vegetable that you wouldn’t typically eat. It could be one you’ve written off as “barf-tastic” since childhood or a completely unfamiliar one.
š½ļø Then, do the unthinkable ā eat it! Treat it as an experiment or a dare. Even if your first experience isn’t love at first bite, remain open-minded. Research suggests it may take several attempts before you acquire a taste for new foods.
2ļøā£ Complement
š Pair vegetables with other foods to balance out or mitigate their bitter flavors. Mix Brussels sprouts with sweet potatoes before roasting them. Some folks who aren’t fans of steamed broccoli discover a newfound appreciation for it when it’s roasted. Incorporate spinach into your dal or ramen bowl and enhance it with spices, herbs, lemon juice, or a good quality vinegar.
3ļøā£ Cushion
šÆ Certain flavors possess the magical ability to dial down bitterness. Sweet and fatty tastes, in particular, can disrupt your brain’s perception of bitterness. Try adding honey, maple syrup, olive oil, toasted nuts or seeds, or butter to your veggies for an enjoyable twist.
š½ļø Here are a few delightful combinations to inspire your culinary creativity:
Kale with tahini and lemon juice
Radicchio with goat cheese, peppers, and honey
Asparagus with garlic, feta, avocado, and lemon
Brussels sprouts with bacon and onions
Broccoli with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Endive with mirin and walnuts
š Remember, not everyone needs to eat veggies the same way. Your preferences, dietary goals, and cultural values all play a role in determining the best approach. The key is to sample a variety of plants and find the ones that:
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Agree with your digestion
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Fit your budget and are readily accessible
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Align with your cultural or familial preferences and traditions
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You genuinely enjoy (especially when prepared just right)
š„ Your dream team of veggies is out there waiting for you to discover them. Happy exploring!
I hope this helps, and while you’re here, I want to make sure you know that if thereās any way I can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, Iām here for you.
I offer online nutrition coaching to clients who are ready to quit dieting and start looking and feeling better, with more confidence and increased energy levels –Ā without complicated diets or painful workouts
What exactly is ānutrition coachingā… and how will it help you reach your goals?
When it comes to losing weight and getting the body you want, āeating betterā is one of the most important steps. The only problem?
Most of the common diet advice you receive simply isn’t sustainable…
- āAvoid your favorite foodsā¦ forever!ā
- āDonāt eat after 7pm!ā
- āWeigh and measure every morsel of food you eat!ā
If you’ve tried something like this before and āfailedāāor just couldnāt stick with itāyouāre not alone.
(And itās definitely NOT your fault.)
I talk to people every day who are trying to muster up all the willpower they can find to diet their way to a better bodyā¦ but they still arenāt getting the results they want.
The good news? Thereās a better way.
My nutrition coaching focuses on strategic, doable daily actions that are designed to fit into YOUR lifestyle. With this approach, youāll learn how to:
- Eat betterāwithout dieting or feeling deprived.
- Lose weightāwithout giving up your favorite foods.
- Ditch the food rulesāovercoming the guilt and shame.
- Feel energized all dayāso you can enjoy all the things you want and need to do.
- Get the results youāve always wantedāand build the healthy habits you need to stay that way for good.
Bottom line: My goal is to help you learn how to āeat betterā so that it becomes easy, consistent, and automatic.
No restrictive dieting. No weighing or measuring your food. No āone size fits allā meal plan.
Instead, youāll learn how to bring healthy eating into your lifestyle and get in amazing shapeāwhile building the habits you need to stay that way for good.
How is nutrition coaching different from fitness coaching or personal training?
As a coach, my number one goal is to help my clients reach THEIR goals. Doing that effectively requires me to constantly look for opportunities to learn new skills and hone my craft.
This is exactly why I chose to become a Certified Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition.
Iāve now been trained by the best of the best, so I know what works.
(The nutrition method they teach is backed by science and has been proven to work with over 100,000 of their own clientsā¦ so itās the real deal.)
The best part? The knowledge and skills Iāve gained can help you finally get the results you wantāand keep them for life.
Through the rigorous training Iāve received, I learned that while exercise is a crucial part of losing weight, feeling good, and achieving optimal health… itās only half the equation.
The other halfāas you may have guessedāis nutrition.
Iād actually argue that nutrition is more important than exercise, because while you spend a few hours working out each week, challenges around eating and food can happen anytime (some would say all the time!).
Thatās why having a coach there to guide and support you is crucial.
Donāt get me wrong: Exercise is very important. But no amount of exercise will ever be able to āoutworkā bad nutrition habits. So in order to help you get the life-transforming results you deserveāIām excited to be able to offer nutrition coaching in an official capacity.
What I learned while becoming a Certified Nutrition Coach opened my eyes to a whole new way of doing things. And through this science-proven approach, Iām ready to help you get even better results through healthy nutrition habits.
Interested? Have questions? Letās talk…
If this sounds like something youād be interested in, or if you have questions about what this would look likeā¦ Iād love to discuss how my online nutrition coaching program could help you get the results youāre looking for.
Click here to get started and Iāll answer any questions you have. Plus, we can connect to talk more about what this would look like for you.
Dedicated to your success,
Nico.
P.S. Just so you know: Iām offer fitness coaching as wellāand it doesn’t have to be āeither or.ā
If youāre in a place where guidance and support from an experienced coach could help you reach your goals, Iām here to help in whatever capacity will be most beneficial for you.
Simply learn more here and we can talk about the different coaching options I have available.