When healthy food really tastes good, seconds seem like a sin

“Eat your vegetables. It’ll put hair on your belly.”

This was a statement often tossed my way by my grandfather while I was still a young child, likely within the year before he died.

I remember pondering this statement sitting at the dining table, trying to figure out why on earth I would ever want hair on my belly.

At the bright age of about four to five years old, I was smart enough to figure out that there was something really strange about this comment. I didn’t want hair to grow on my belly – not unnaturally so anyway – but I didn’t really believe that vegetables could do that anyway.

I eventually made peace with vegetables, but that took years. I just wasn’t a fan of the taste and texture of most vegetables, except corn. Frankly, I didn’t really want to bother eating vegetables for the most part.

I came around to liking vegetables more when I lived in Germany for a year as a foreign exchange student. I came around to liking them because I was determined to eat whatever I was served without complaining because I figured that would be rude. Of course I didn’t exactly give my mother at home the same courtesy. Sorry Mom!

Now that I’m living on my own, I haven’t been a vigilant as I should about eating my vegetables. I didn’t know what to do with them. I felt like they needed something, like they just couldn’t taste good on their own.

This bugged me because every time I would track my calories since I have started trying to lose weight, I would find that it was so easy to use up so many calories simply by trying to make my vegetables taste better. Worse than that though were the sodium counts that I would encounter.

But that’s okay, because I’ve found a new way of cooking and it’s made vegetables exciting.

Technically, I didn’t find this way of cooking myself, unless you can count seeing an advertisement on Facebook as finding it.

I decided recently to subscribe to a grocery delivery service where the company sends recipe cards for three dinners, two servings each, complete with all of the ingredients except the most basic staples like olive oil, butter, sugar, salt and pepper.

Everything comes in a box delivered each week. Spices are included as well as fresh herbs.

I’ve enjoyed it the past couple weeks and I’m in the early part of my third week of service – and so far, so good.

What is the company called that offers this service? It’s called HelloFresh.

I understand there are other similar companies that offer these services, such as Plated and Blue Apron, but I have not tried either of those.

I’m happy with HelloFresh; in fact, someone not so long ago told me that when I talked about it I had a light in my eye.

Why?

Well, this food is incredibly good. It’s teaching me that I can use vegetables to make my food taste good and that I don’t have to use my food to make my vegetables taste good.

It’s teaching me that I can be satisfied with a normal serving size and not want seconds. In fact, it’s teaching me that food can be so good that it can almost seem like a sin against one’s tongue to take one too many bites.

I’m eating food that I would have otherwise refused (such as olives), but I’m enjoying it. I find myself having choices, and I chose now to give vegetables that I’m hesitant about a chance to see if maybe they might taste good if prepared right.

In fact, it’s true.

Take for instance okra. I had my first introduction to okra as a child. It came in a can and my mother boiled it. Ack. It oozed through the fork. It was slime. It was the only time in history that I remember my mother giving me permission to discard my food. She joined me in that act as well.

Apparently, one should not boil canned okra. I’m not sure they should eat it either, but I’m sure there’s someone out there that likes it.

I had okra just yesterday. HelloFresh okra. It was fresh and it topped a bowl of cheddar grits, and was paired with sizeable shrimp and delicious cherry tomatoes.

This okra was good. Even fresh okra seems a little slimy when preparing it for cooking; but once cooked properly, this vegetable has a pleasing taste. I did not throw out my okra last night. I ate every bite.

A 627-calorie dish, this food left me satisfied.

That’s another new experience for me. I’m not used to feeling satisfied after I eat.

I thought it was because my appetite was so disordered by obesity that it was impossible to feel full without massively overeating.

This is not true.

I’m not sure exactly why one plate of this HelloFresh food seems to satisfy me much quicker than multiple plates of other food, but here are my observations:

– This food is flavorful. Whether it’s bold flavors, layers of flavor or a medley of flavors, there’s a lot of taste for the tongue to experience.

– This food is made of quality fresh ingredients.

– Dishes are well balanced, with protein, vegetables and a starch, along with healthy fats.

– These meals smell incredible and offer a feast for the nose too.

– The presentation of the meals also offers a feast for the eyes.

– There’s a mixture of textures in each meal.

– There’s so much variety meal to meal that each new meal is an adventure.

– There’s something satisfying about cooking the meal over simply popping it in the microwave.

It seems that this food provides a pleasurable eating experience, and that, along with all of the things listed above seem to create a sense of satisfaction once the meal is done.

I don’t know why it’s any different than other food I’ve had with quality fresh ingredients, but perhaps it’s about each element of what I’ve listed above being present and not just some of those elements.

Perhaps it’s about food not just tasting good, but amazing perhaps.

In fact, at least three meals so far have wowed me to the point of jaw-dropping awe since I started my grocery subscription including the okra, shrimp, and tomato topped cheesy grits. I can’t say enough good things about the “Balsamic Chicken with Glazed Carrots & Roasted Potatoes.” It was amazing. Nor can I praise their “Seared Cod with Sautéed Greens and Quinoa” enough. It transcends almost every eating experience I have ever had.

It was the seared cod dish that truly stunned me most. I wasn’t familiar with the Swiss chard that was served as a side dish and wasn’t sure that I had ever had any. I’m told I had some growing up, but may have thought it was spinach. I used to shun anything that looked like spinach, so I don’t know if I really ever ate more than the tiniest speck of this stuff before this recent meal.

The Swiss chard was so good that I was amazed.

I love that this new service that I’ve subscribed too is teaching me about cooking, how to eat well and be satisfied, and to give a chance to food I might otherwise not like because it might just be good if prepared well. I’m learning the lessons that will help me not only love healthy food but to also skip the seconds that I have so often thought I needed. That’s a good thing for my waistline. It may help me find one again.

If you want to follow my weight-loss journey, read about it occasionally in my column, “Healthy steps” or you can watch my weight-loss journey unfold and show your support by liking the page https://www.facebook.com/GretchenGetFit on Facebook or following me on Twitter @GretchenGetFit. Contact the writer at gbalshuweit@thedailyreview.com.

Healthy steps is written by Gretchen Balshuweit, news editor and now health and wellness page columnist for The Daily Review in Towanda, Pa. as she pursues her own journey to health and wellness in hopes of losing a total of 200-250 pounds of excess weight.