How to Eat More Vegetables Without Overhauling Your Diet
The easiest way to eat more vegetables is to add them to meals you already eat, rather than switching to new recipes. Put one portion of vegetables into each meal you already have: spinach in the eggs, a side salad with lunch, a bag of frozen vegetables in the pasta sauce. Keep frozen and pre-prepared vegetables in the house so there is no chopping barrier. Most people who say they “do not like vegetables” actually dislike preparing them, or eat them boiled and plain. Lower the effort, improve the cooking, and the amount you eat goes up without much thought.
This is the approach I use with clients who know they should eat more veg but have not managed to make it stick.
Why it is worth the effort
For anyone training or trying to lose fat, vegetables do three useful jobs. They add volume to a meal for very little energy, which helps you feel full on less. They add fibre, which most UK adults do not eat enough of. And they bring a wide range of vitamins and minerals. You do not need precise numbers to benefit: going from one or two portions a day to four or five is a meaningful change.
The NHS 5 A Day guidance counts 80g of fresh, frozen or tinned vegetables as one portion. A portion of pulses such as beans or lentils counts, but only once a day however much you eat, and potatoes do not count because they are classed as a starchy food. The NHS “what counts” page has the full list. In practice, a portion is roughly a cupped handful of chopped vegetables or a cereal bowl of salad.
The add-one rule
Do not try to fix everything at once. For the next two weeks, add one portion of vegetables to each meal you already eat. Nothing else changes. You are not removing anything or cooking anything new. Most people go from one or two portions a day to three or four almost immediately.
| You already eat | Add |
|---|---|
| Scrambled eggs or an omelette | A handful of spinach, tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms |
| Toast | Sliced tomatoes or avocado on top, cucumber on the side |
| A sandwich or wrap | Extra salad inside and a bag of carrot sticks or sugar snap peas |
| Pasta with sauce | Frozen peas, spinach or mixed vegetables stirred into the sauce |
| Curry, chilli or stew | A tin of chopped tomatoes, a bag of spinach, extra onions and peppers |
| Steak, chicken or fish | A side of green beans, broccoli or a dressed salad |
| A takeaway | One vegetable side instead of a second carbohydrate |
Remove the preparation barrier
Most of the time, the problem is not taste. It is that a whole cauliflower needs washing, cutting and cooking at the end of a long day. Make it easier:
- Frozen vegetables are frozen soon after harvest, keep for months and go straight into a pan or microwave. Peas, spinach, green beans, broccoli and mixed peppers are all useful.
- Tinned vegetables and pulses: tomatoes, sweetcorn, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils. Choose ones in water rather than brine or sauce where possible.
- Bagged salads and pre-cut vegetables cost a little more, but if they get eaten rather than thrown away, they are cheaper in practice.
- Microwave steam bags are a reasonable option on the busiest nights.
Cook them so they taste good
Boiled, unseasoned vegetables put a lot of people off for life. Three methods change that:
- Roasting. Toss chopped vegetables with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at a high heat until the edges brown. Peppers, onions, courgettes, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower all work. Make a big tray and use it for two or three days.
- Stir-frying. A hot pan, a small amount of oil, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Ready in about five minutes.
- Dressing raw vegetables. A good salad needs salt, acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, and a little fat. Without those, it is just leaves.
Hide them where you need to
If you, or the children at your table, are reluctant, blending is your friend. Grated courgette and carrot disappear into mince sauces. Spinach vanishes into a smoothie with fruit and yoghurt. A blended vegetable soup made with stock, onions and whatever is in the fridge can carry three or four portions in one bowl.
Use vegetables to make fat loss easier
Because vegetables are filling and low in energy, they are one of the simplest tools for eating less without feeling deprived. Fill half your plate with vegetables and the rest of the meal naturally becomes a smaller share. I explain this approach in detail in volume eating. For lunches you take to work, my list of healthy work lunch ideas builds vegetables in from the start.
Increase gradually
If you go from very few vegetables to a lot overnight, you may notice bloating or wind for a week or two while your gut adjusts to the extra fibre. Increase over a couple of weeks and drink enough fluids. My post on how much fibre you need covers this in more detail. If you have irritable bowel syndrome, a bowel condition, or have been advised to limit certain foods for a medical reason, check with your GP first before making big changes.
A simple weekly routine
- Sunday: roast one large tray of mixed vegetables and wash a bag of salad.
- Keep three bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer at all times.
- Keep two tins of tomatoes and two tins of beans or lentils in the cupboard.
- Add one portion at every meal, every day.
That is enough for most people to reach their 5 A Day consistently without thinking about it.
How we approach food in training
Clients who come to the studio for private personal training in Highgate do not get a rigid diet. We look at what you already eat and find the smallest changes that make the biggest difference, and adding vegetables is usually near the top of the list. Sessions, how they work and current prices are all on the personal trainer page.
Questions we get asked
Do frozen vegetables count towards my 5 A Day?
Yes. Frozen and tinned vegetables count in the same way as fresh, and frozen ones are often the most practical choice.
Do potatoes count as a vegetable?
Not for 5 A Day. The NHS classes them as a starchy food, like bread or rice. Sweet potatoes, parsnips and swedes do count.
Is it fine to eat the same vegetables every day?
It is far better than eating none. Over time, aim for a range of colours across the week for variety.
Can I drink my vegetables?
Juice and smoothies count, but only once a day however much you drink, and whole vegetables are more filling.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
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The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
