You Don’t Hate Vegetables. You Hate Bad Cooking.

I had a conversation this week with one of my newer members. His goal? Weight loss.

He pulled up his food tracking app and walked me through what he’d been eating. Breakfast was a “protein donut.” Dinner included low-fat cream cheese and low-carb pasta.

Now listen — I’m not anti-substitution. But let’s be honest… a lot of these “diet” versions are just the bland cousin of the real thing.

Sidebar: isn’t it fascinating that everything is now labeled “High Protein”? Check the label — most of the time it’s 1–2 extra grams of protein. But it sells.

Anyway…

I asked him, “Are you eating any vegetables?”

He said yes. But he looked like he had just bitten into a lemon.

After a little digging, he told me he mostly eats steam-in-bag vegetables.

Now — steam-in-bag veggies are absolutely better than nothing. But think of it like this:

Fresh pizza vs. reheated pizza.

Same thing… but not the same thing.

I told him, “The reason you hate vegetables might be how you’re preparing them. Have you ever tried roasting them?”

He hadn’t.

And just like that — we had his first nutrition goal.

This week: roast vegetables.

Knowledge is power. Challenging the things we think are true — “I hate veggies,” “I can’t do a sit-up,” “I can’t lift that weight” — is how we break negative feedback loops.

Now let me share a few tricks that have worked for me.

First tip (and yes, a dietitian might slap me for this): bagged salads from ShopRite.

Are they perfect? No.
Is it better to build a salad from scratch? Yes.

But we’re chasing easy wins.

Most of those bags are lettuce or cabbage, something crunchy, and a packet of dressing. Not exactly a micronutrient powerhouse — but it’s a starting point.

I’ll “doctor it up” with chickpeas, cucumber, tomato — just to level it up a bit.

The real magic? It slows me down.

My wife and I both work a lot. Sometimes we don’t get home until 8pm. At that hour, nobody feels like cooking. That’s when frozen pizza starts calling your name.

If I eat a salad first, I physically slow down. I’ll eat a few slices of pizza… and if I’m still hungry, I’ll go back to the salad before I demolish the rest of the box.

Is that a life-changing difference?

Probably not.

But maybe I eat one less slice.

That’s a small win. And small wins compound.

For the SUPER veggie-averse person — start even smaller.

Love cheeseburgers? Add lettuce.
Pizza person? Add peppers or broccoli.
Tacos? Throw some shredded cabbage in there.

You might laugh — but for someone who avoids vegetables entirely, that’s a big step.

Sustainable beats perfect.

So here’s your challenge:

Prepare a vegetable this week.

If you already eat veggies, try a new recipe. I’ll follow my own advice and level up my veggie game too. If you find a great one, send it my way.

And if you’re looking for a structured jumpstart, our Golden Habits Challenge kicks off April 1st. It might be exactly what you need to build some momentum.

Shoot me a message if you want the details.

Happy Sunday everybody.