FRUIT & VEGGIE CHALLENGE!!

YummyTpn

Hey all you fellow MFP members, I challenge you to eat your fruits and vegetables!!

I have been noticing that nearly NOBODY eats enough fruits and veggies! Do you know that we are supposed to take in a MINIMUM of five-seven servings per day? Of course, what I have observed is based on those who keep their diaries viewable, so I don't even know what the rest of you are doing (or not doing!)
We are all here not only to lose weight, but to be healthier, right?
Well, I want to remind you that this is about not only how many calories/fat/sugar/sodium/whatever you are eating every day, but it's about WHAT you are eating as well.
For example, you can easily stay within your calorie range, but still eat badly, or even just not so great. If you are using your calories for lots of processed foods, sugar, or salt, you may well be in your range, and even be losing, but are you eating healthy?
I guarantee you that if you use fruits and veggies for some of your calories, you will definately lose weight, and be doing your body a great service by feeding it what it really needs, which is the rich nutrients in these foods, that cannot be duplicated anywhere else! It is also guaranteed to make you feel GREAT!
So, while I am proud of you all that are losing weight, exercising and making positive changes, let's take it a step further...will you join me in commititing to eating your required amounts of fruits and vegetables every day?
Maybe we can even exchange recipes and ideas for how to incorporate these crunchies into our diets, especially for those of us for whom eating our (especially) veggies or fruit doesn't come so easily!
So, who's up for the challenge? Let's do our bodies good!!

TANYA :happy:

PS: Maybe it will even inspire the MFP designer people to include a counter for fruits and vegetables on our food tracking page...I feel this is needed and sorely lacking.

spob

I am in!!!!:drinker:

inskydiamonds

I definitely am in! It would be awesome if MFP could implement some way to keep track,but I can do it in an excel document or something.

I drink a smoothie every morning to help with my fruit intake

kpopa

I know this is personally a HUGE challenge for me! I struggle every day to get in some fruit and veggies. (I tend to do better with fruit). I'm in! Right now I'm at approximately 3 servings of fruit and 1-2 of veggies. I am going to start trying to get those last 3-4 servings in day!!! Thanks for the motivation!

I love the idea of getting a servings counter on her. You should write the peeps at MFP and let them know this is something we need!

-Kate

fitterpam

Hey all you fellow MFP members, I challenge you to eat your fruits and vegetables!!

I have been noticing that nearly NOBODY eats enough fruits and veggies! Do you know that we are supposed to take in a MINIMUM of five-seven servings per day? Of course, what I have observed is based on those who keep their diaries viewable, so I don't even know what the rest of you are doing (or not doing!)
We are all here not only to lose weight, but to be healthier, right?
Well, I want to remind you that this is about not only how many calories/fat/sugar/sodium/whatever you are eating every day, but it's about WHAT you are eating as well.
For example, you can easily stay within your calorie range, but still eat badly, or even just not so great. If you are using your calories for lots of processed foods, sugar, or salt, you may well be in your range, and even be losing, but are you eating healthy?
I guarantee you that if you use fruits and veggies for some of your calories, you will definately lose weight, and be doing your body a great service by feeding it what it really needs, which is the rich nutrients in these foods, that cannot be duplicated anywhere else! It is also guaranteed to make you feel GREAT!
So, while I am proud of you all that are losing weight, exercising and making positive changes, let's take it a step further...will you join me in commititing to eating your required amounts of fruits and vegetables every day?
Maybe we can even exchange recipes and ideas for how to incorporate these crunchies into our diets, especially for those of us for whom eating our (especially) veggies or fruit doesn't come so easily!
So, who's up for the challenge? Let's do our bodies good!!

TANYA :happy:

PS: Maybe it will even inspire the MFP designer people to include a counter for fruits and vegetables on our food tracking page...I feel this is needed and sorely lacking.

Totally in on this one - I even suggested the counter thingy last week. Going to go grab something now...gonna make it a fruit or veg....not sure which yet. I'll keep track of them in my notes below the diary! Also, requested friend status with all of you - anyone that I missed, please feel free to add me. That way there is some accountability

inskydiamonds

Actually, I'll keep track of it in my notes on the food information page.

kpopa

Actually, I'll keep track of it in my notes on the food information page.

Great Idea! I'll do the same! Thanks!

How do I view other's diaries?

kpopa

Actually, I'll keep track of it in my notes on the food information page.

Great Idea! I'll do the same! Thanks!

How do I view other's diaries?

inskydiamonds

Actually, I'll keep track of it in my notes on the food information page.

Great Idea! I'll do the same! Thanks!

How do I view other's diaries?

It depends on if they're public or not. If they are, go to their profile and click on the view diary link.

inskydiamonds

Also, I found this website: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/

It gauges how many fruits/veggies you should be eating a day based on your sex, age, and activity level!

clipsychic

I'm so in!

SugarDiva

Count me in! I'm vegetarian, so I'm usually good on the veggies/fruit, but for my 2 weeks away at work I'm a little lacking because I work the back shift. This might keep me on track. It's a great idea, koodos! :happy:

chrissyh

I need this badly! No veggies for fruit so far today.........I REALLY NEED THIS!

kpopa

I looked this up online -

"The United States Department of Agriculture sets a serving size for fruit or vegetables to be equal to about one-half cup. Greens like spinach and lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. One serving of sliced fruit is equal to one-half cup; however a single piece of fruit, such as an apple or an orange counts as one serving."

FROM: http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/f/servingfruit.htm

girlruns

We are doing a wellness challenge at work and one of the components is 5 fruits/veggies a day so I will challenge it up here too! I'm usually pretty good, but I am working on getting more or at least equal to veggies vs. fruit. I have already had 3 fruit servings today, and probably what counted as two worth of veggies for my lunch. Now I have green beans planned for a snack and dinner so I should be at 3:3 (even though green beans are technically a fruit, but I'm counting them <and tomatoes> as a veggie).

YummyTpn

You guys all rock, and make me feel uber-motivated! Thank you!
I am going to add you all as friends; this way, we can stay in touch and cheer each other on, through our fruit and veggie quest!
Thank you to the wonderful gal who referred the http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov website, I checked it out and it is full of great info, so helpful.
We Can Do This, and our bodies will thank us as reward!!
TANYA :flowerforyou:

kpopa

Thank you to the wonderful gal who referred the http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov website, I checked it out and it is full of great info, so helpful.

I agree! I went and it said 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies for me! It doesn't seem like much and is definitely doable. It gave me the idea to do a veggie omelette for dinner tonight! YUMMY!

SugarDiva

Actually, I'll keep track of it in my notes on the food information page.

Good idea. I'll do that too

jewels319

Sounds good. I never had a prob with veggies.....I just get lazy.

YummyTpn

That's a good idea to track in the notes section...until we get MFP to change it! :bigsmile:

inskydiamonds

haha, I'm definitely going to try this week, but since Sunday's are my grocery shop day I'll make sure to get a lot more veggies than are currently in the house

chrissyh

Now we need some great veggie recipes!

I ate homemade salsa yesterday...that was it for fruit of veggies.
Need a trip to the store to restock.

chrissyh

Motts Plus fiber for breakfast

YummyTpn

I know one way to easily get a lot of servings in, is in a smoothie. You can concoct them at home with just about anything except the kitchen sink, but I am a frequent customer at Booster Juice (here in Canada: its counterpart in the States is Jamba Juice.) I always freeze bananas that have overripened, and then throw them into smoothies later. I also freeze all kinds of berries for the same reason: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. I blend with lo-fat milk, sometimes I include a scoop of frozen yogurt. I make a meal out of these smoothies, they are incredibly satisfying!

LuckySue333

I love fruits and vegs ... Count me in ..

fitterpam

I'm such a juicer - in a good way of course. The only things I haven't liked in juice have been sweet peppers or garlic. They took me about 3 hours to get the taste out of my mouth. I like putting in 2 serving of veg and 1 of fruit, or at least a 2:1 ratio so I don't send my sugars sky high.

As for my fav veggies, I'm a huge fan of sauteed zucchini with any protein for my meal. I love baby carrots as a snack. And this year, I had my own little vegetable garden and I found that homegrown celery tastes WAY different than the stuff you buy in the store. So I've been munching on that and cherry tomatoes too while I'm in the garden.

girlruns

That all sound delicious Pam! I LOVE fruit so that is never a problem for me, but I'm always looking for new veggie ideas. Usually I just buy the fixings for a big salad (cukes,carrots,celery,tomatoes, peppers, green beans) and then eat those items seperately as well. I've seen many people talk about smoothies with veggies, but I just can't get my head around that yet. Maybe I'll have to try one without knowing what is in it...

YummyTpn

Yes, we have to get some veggie recipes on here...I will be back with more!
For now, I am trying to add raw veggies to whatever I can...
I hear what you are saying about homegrown celery! I buy it organic and it tastes so sweet and incredible!
My mom also grew some amazing cukes this summer...very sweet, I never knew a cuke could taste sweet!

chrissyh

Two servings so far today! Motts natural applesauce, raw baby carrots

cardbucfan

We make a smoothie with V8 fusion. It gives you one full serving of veggies and one full serving of fruit in 1 cup of juice. I mix it with plain greek yogurt and an overripe banana and it's great. My kids drink them and don't realize they are getting something healthy. The sugar in the V8 comes from the fruit juices and it masks the veggie juice taste. I especially like the cranberry/blackberry and the pomegranite/blueberry flavors. I also get veggies in by throwing mushrooms, onions, mushrooms and peppers in with my egg whites in the morning.

YummyTpn

I am going to try the smoothie with V8 fusion, thank you for the recipe!