So….you’ve just completed a successful session of summer weight loss camp. Now you’re back at home and all those wonderful, enticing, unheathly foods are begging for you to eat them. You know they taste good, but you also know that there are much heathier alternatives. Unfortunately, those healthier alternatives don’t seem to taste as good.
Have you ever wished that broccoli tasted like chocolate and bran cereal tasted like Cocoa Puffs? There’s a reason why foods that are "good for us" never seem to taste as good as foods that are "bad for us." Even adults have difficulty convincing themselves to eat their veggies over something like a bag of potato chips; however, parents can’t very well eat a bowl of ice cream while they make their kids eat their greens!
Unfortunately, if you want to be healthy and lose weight, it’s very important that you eat your veggies. Veggies are low in calories, yet they are packed full of wonderful things like vitamins, minerals and fiber that your body needs to be healthy and strong.
So, how do you convince your tongue that broccoli tastes good? Retrain your tastebuds! Your tastebuds have gotten used to the high flavor of artificially flavored foods. They have also grown quite fond of fat which is flavorful, but not very good for us at all. In fact, most of our diets are so high in artifical flavors and fat that natural foods like veggies and whole grains seem quite tasteless. Many parents send their children to a weight loss camp for kids so that their children can learn about the benefits of eating natural foods.
Once you start eating the good stuff and stop eating the bad stuff, you’ll begin to realize the wonderful flavors that Mother Nature has already provided for us. Over time, you won’t even miss the bad stuff because not only will your tongue begin to enjoy those flavors, but you’ll start to realize how great you FEEL when you eat the good stuff like veggies and whole grains.
Also, ask your parents if you can help out in the kitchen a little bit when it comes to preparing those veggies. A lot of the flavors that make those flavored potato chips taste so good are readily available in natural forms. When you use onions, pepper sauces, vinegars and garlic to flavor your veggies, it’s kind of like coming up with your own blend of "good for you" seasoning. If you like the "flamin’ hot" varieties of Cheetos and other snack chips, you’ll find that spicing up your veggies with pepper sauces will taste pretty good to that tongue of yours!
Give it a shot! Hey, you might even convince your parents to enjoy their veggies!
