Watery Vegetables are Key for Weight Loss

watery vegetables are key for weight loss

When I read articles that implicate one food or other substance as being the key for losing weight,  I get very skeptical.  Whether folks are talking about green tea, coffee and blueberries, or supplements like green tea extract, yohimbe or conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), while all of these might be natural and beneficial in their own right, when people suggest that these single things will magically melt the fat away, I get turned off.

Why?  Because that’s not the way that weight loss works. Weight loss – well, healthy weight loss – will not happen as a result of eating one food or taking one supplement.  At least it won’t happen in a healthy, sustainable manner.

I do believe, however, that in order to experience healthy and successful weight loss, there is one main group of foods (notice the difference…one group vs one food) that you should focus on eating, and that type of food is, what I like to refer to as, “watery” vegetables.

What are “Watery” Vegetables?

Watery Vegetables Pic

Some examples of watery vegetables (and fruits) that I found around the kitchen

Watery vegetables are non-starchy and also tend to have a high water content.  The following are examples:

Tomatoes – Squash – Green beans – Cucumber – Peppers – Onions – Eggplant

Leafy green vegetables count, too;

Lettuce – Broccoli – Cabbage – Kale – Spinach – Collards – Turnip greens – Swiss Chard

Here are some examples of watery fruits:

Strawberries – Grapes – Raspberries – Apples – Pineapple – Melons – Oranges – Blueberries

There are a lot more out there than these, by the way…I just listed a lot of my personal favorites.

Because of their low starch content and high water content, watery vegetables and fruits are naturally low in Calories and carbohydrates, which makes them absolutely great for fat loss.  To add to that, they’re packed with vitamins and minerals, as well as phytonutrients (a term given to the thousands of other compounds in plant foods that can increase health).

So how much should I eat?

When it comes to the watery vegetables, you can pretty much eat as much as you want.  Because they’re high in fiber, you typically do not have to worry about overdoing it with Calories because you’ll be full well before that happens.

With the watery fruits, on the other hand, you have to use a little more discretion.  While you can still be relatively liberal with your consumption of them, you still have to be careful because of the sugar that they contain.  I heard a story once on TV about a lady who was complaining that she was eating healthy by eating oranges, but she was still gaining weight.  Thing is, she was eating 20 oranges a day.  Uh oh.

For those of you who want me to give you a more definite amount to shoot for, I would say to make no less than half of your plate watery vegetables when you sit for lunch and dinner.  If you can eat more, that’s even better in my opinion.  Here’s another important detail.  You should also consider replacing some of your starchy vegetables and grains with watery vegetables, at least for most meals if you particularly need to lose some fat.


From my personal experience, making watery vegetables the main part of your diet will work wonders with helping you get your body fat down.  But like Levar Burton of Reading Rainbow used to say,

“you don’t have to take my word for it.”

Try it yourself!  And if you are looking for a guide to help you gradually lose fat while improving the quality of your diet and your health, make sure you check out my fat loss workbook.

If you have any comments or thoughts, please share below…

Related Resources

8 Weeks Fat Loss Workbook

You don’t have to struggle with knowing how to eat. Get your copy of my fat loss workbook which will help you develop eating habits that will result in weight loss and a healthier body


Becoming your healthiest self, preventing and reversing lifestyle-caused disease, and enjoying your life.  That’s what we’re about.  All new subscribers get our free monthly newsletter, a copy of the book, My Doctor is NOT Responsible for my Health…I AM, and more.  Join us today!

Shawn McClendon
Shawn McClendon is an author, podcast host, fitness entrepreneur and owner of Back to Basics Health and Wholeness LLC, an organization dedicated to empowering people to take responsibility for their own health.

6 Responses to “Watery Vegetables are Key for Weight Loss

Trackbacks & Pings

Start a Discussion...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: