how many of us get enough fruits and veggies?

lisa4kids
lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
In occasionally viewing some other members food diaries, I have noticed that most people don't get enough of either and some people don't get any on some days!!! I know I personally have a hard time meeting my fruits and veggies recommended servings per day. The "food pyramid", as most of us know, recommends 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 of fruit. I don't seem to have a hard time doing the fruits, but if I get two servings of veggies in, it's a good day for me. Occasionally, I will get 3 veggie servings, but that is very rare.
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting in more vegetables for those of us who have a hard time with them? I have considered drinking some of the V8 juices, but I'm not sure about the taste!!!

Replies

  • spacecase76
    spacecase76 Posts: 673 Member
    I know I don't eat enough of either.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    I have a Vitamix (fancy blender that makes hot soups, ice creams, etc.) and I make soups from their cookbook all the time. They have tons of vegetables and you can even "hide" vegetables in smoothies, sorbets and all kinds of things. I also like to eat salad and steamed vegetables with dinner.
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    I do better some days than others and I'm not sure what veggies you like/don't like... but here are some of my suggestions!

    1) Start with breakfast -- top oatmeal with some berries, throw a banana on your cereal, scramble up some mushrooms/onions/peppers/tomato/spinach with your eggs.
    2) I know it is a dieting cliche... but salad really is a good way to get in tons of veggies. Just go easy on the non-veggie additions.
    3) So is soup! Vegetable soup, black bean soup, taco soup...
    4) Easy dinner ideas with veggies: fajitas, stirfry, roast chicken with carrots/onions/potatoes

    I tend to look for recipes and overlook the easy ideas too. Some of my favorite easy ways to cook vegetables are just to microwave broccoli, grill asparagus on the Foreman grill, or roast some carrots with a little olive oil. Oh, and avocado is always a yummy way for me to get some veggies in! (Okay, that is technically a fruit I think).

    Basically, try to add in some vegetables wherever you can. Put lettuce and tomato on sandwiches or burgers. Saute up onions and mushrooms to throw on top of chicken. Grab and apple or banana with peanut butter for a snack.
  • lisa4kids
    lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
    ooh, I will have to check out the vitamix. My husband has a juicer, and he likes the drinks he juices with it, but I can just hardly gag them down unless it's mostly all apple!
  • spacecase76
    spacecase76 Posts: 673 Member
    I have never met a veggie I didn't like (although, lettuce is pushing close to the line!). I love them! I just don't eat enough of them. And, I rarely touch fruit at all...
  • lordofultima
    lordofultima Posts: 293
    I eat no fruit whatsoever (as little sugar as possible while cutting weight), and little vegetables (only because I shop every 2 weeks for groceries, and they go bad relatively quick). It's obviously not optimal for my health but it hasn't prevented me from keeping at my bodyfat and weight goals.

    When I stop cutting in a month or two, I will be eating back the nutrition I've been lacking in a major way.
  • lisa4kids
    lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
    Melody, do you make your own soup? I need to look into soups more...I've never really made anything besides potato soup, and I find that even the low salt canned options still just have too much sodium and very often MSG! I think I will start researching soup making and see what I think about that. I also can't have any pasta in my soups, so I need to look at adding either potatoes or barley I guess.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I do, I do! :drinker:
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    I don't each much fruit during winter because it's just not tasty. And I apple-d myself out.

    Love veggies though. I make the cabbage soup from the cabbage soup diet fad (hey it's tasty lol) and also cut veggies for the week.
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    I eat no fruit whatsoever (as little sugar as possible while cutting weight), and little vegetables (only because I shop every 2 weeks for groceries, and they go bad relatively quick). It's obviously not optimal for my health but it hasn't prevented me from keeping at my bodyfat and weight goals.

    When I stop cutting in a month or two, I will be eating back the nutrition I've been lacking in a major way.

    you could buy frozen if you miss the veggies. I eat the produce within a few days and so then I have frozen until the next trip
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    Melody, do you make your own soup? I need to look into soups more...I've never really made anything besides potato soup, and I find that even the low salt canned options still just have too much sodium and very often MSG! I think I will start researching soup making and see what I think about that. I also can't have any pasta in my soups, so I need to look at adding either potatoes or barley I guess.

    I do make a lot of my own soups. They are still higher in sodum that I'd like (even with using no salt added tomatoes and such), but mostly because of storebought chicken broth! One of my goals for the next couple of months is to figure out how to make homemade chicken stock. :)

    I have a menu blog (in my signature) and there are links to many of the soup recipes I love the recipe index on the blog! Feel free to come look around and get some recipes!
  • Fat_Chopper
    Fat_Chopper Posts: 97 Member
    I would agree that eating fruit and vegetables is not a common practice on the diaries I view.

    It would seem eating fresh fruit and vegetables from first principals is a lost art. Too busy to prepare food I hear too often, but how many sit on their behinds for 4 hours each night watching TV?

    The small amount I see consumed is slapped on a plate from a can in the most unappetizing fashion.
  • chocolatnoir
    chocolatnoir Posts: 182 Member
    I love vegetables but I wasn't eating enough and it wasn't until a friend on MFP pointed it out a couple of months ago that I noticed. Pretty silly since I have yet to meet a veggie I don't love.

    So I made a commitment to myself to eat veggies with every single meal, no exceptions. I start the day with mushrooms, bell peppers, fresh spinach, tomato etc in my egg scramble. Usually have a huge salad for lunch and then for dinner whatever it is I eat, I'll make sure I have some steamed veggies,a small side salad, a sweet potato or something.

    I also noticed that I tend to gravitate towards the same veggies (spinach, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce) so I decided to try a veggie I don't usually eat every week. So every Sunday when I buy my groceries in addition to all the standards I buy a "veggie of the week" (or 2). This week I picked up green onions and red radishes. Last week bean sprouts. The weeks before were eggplant and plantain. It is kinda fun!

    Now fruits...I don't love. I'll do berries and the occasional banana but that's about it. Peaches are great when in season, and I devour mangoes when I get my hands on them....but on a day to day basis you won't find much fruit in my diary.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    ooh, I will have to check out the vitamix. My husband has a juicer, and he likes the drinks he juices with it, but I can just hardly gag them down unless it's mostly all apple!

    Juicers throw out all the most beneficial parts of your fruits and vegetables! And all it leaves is essentially sugar water with a couple vitamins. The Vitamix is amazing. You can throw in whole foods (with just the rind cut off) and it purees them so well you'd never know there were apple seeds, orange pith, onion skins, etc. in your soup or smoothie. I have used mine at least once a day since we got it a few weeks ago. It's expensive, but it's worth it. You'll be so much healthier once you're eating tons of fruits and vegetables!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    Melody, do you make your own soup? I need to look into soups more...I've never really made anything besides potato soup, and I find that even the low salt canned options still just have too much sodium and very often MSG! I think I will start researching soup making and see what I think about that. I also can't have any pasta in my soups, so I need to look at adding either potatoes or barley I guess.

    I do make a lot of my own soups. They are still higher in sodum that I'd like (even with using no salt added tomatoes and such), but mostly because of storebought chicken broth! One of my goals for the next couple of months is to figure out how to make homemade chicken stock. :)

    I have a menu blog (in my signature) and there are links to many of the soup recipes I love the recipe index on the blog! Feel free to come look around and get some recipes!

    You can get low sodium chicken broth. I get an organic broth and it has almost no calories.
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    You can get low sodium chicken broth. I get an organic broth and it has almost no calories.

    I always buy reduced sodium (about 450 mg of sodium/cup still!) and buy the no salt added when I can find it (which is about 150 mg of sodium/cup). That's the lowest sodium I can find around here. :)
  • lisa4kids
    lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
    ooh, I will have to check out the vitamix. My husband has a juicer, and he likes the drinks he juices with it, but I can just hardly gag them down unless it's mostly all apple!

    Juicers throw out all the most beneficial parts of your fruits and vegetables! And all it leaves is essentially sugar water with a couple vitamins. The Vitamix is amazing. You can throw in whole foods (with just the rind cut off) and it purees them so well you'd never know there were apple seeds, orange pith, onion skins, etc. in your soup or smoothie. I have used mine at least once a day since we got it a few weeks ago. It's expensive, but it's worth it. You'll be so much healthier once you're eating tons of fruits and vegetables!

    I have heard that the apple seeds are not good for us to ingest (arsenic?)....I guess I could just take them out. I am going to look into it though for sure. I might have to wait for a bit to get one though if they are really expensive.
  • aflane
    aflane Posts: 625 Member
    Tons and tons of veggies... yes. Average 1 piece of fruit a day... at most. But since I eat so many veggies, I don't really think about it.
  • lisa4kids
    lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
    oh my goodness...I had no idea the vitamix was $400-500! I guess I'll stick with my regular old blender for smoothies and just eat my vegetables the old fashioned way.
  • craft338
    craft338 Posts: 870 Member
    i eat tons. i make a raw veggie salad every day with a tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, and a carrot, then either 1/4 avocado, 1/2 cup of beans, or 1/3 can of tuna depending on my mood. it makes a big salad, about 200 calories, so i usually split it up so i can so i can have half for lunch and half for dinner. on the days where i don't get to make a salad, i have a v-8, which is a few veggie servings depending on the size of the can or glass.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I do better some days than others. But my diary wouldn't always show where I'm getting my veggies. Like my lunch today is listed simply as the name of the Thai dish I had, but I had the veggie version of it and it was 1/3-1/2 veggies in proportion to the rice noodles and had everything from sweet baby corn to Chinese broccoli to leafy greens to mushrooms and other veggies I can't even name.
  • jessieinblue
    jessieinblue Posts: 287 Member
    I do I do :D I get five servings of fruit a day on average, and most days I also have a HUGE raw garden salad. If not, I make sure to get my veggies elsewhere. The only fruit I've tried and don't like is cranberries . . . only vegetables are beets and raw celery.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    ooh, I will have to check out the vitamix. My husband has a juicer, and he likes the drinks he juices with it, but I can just hardly gag them down unless it's mostly all apple!

    Juicers throw out all the most beneficial parts of your fruits and vegetables! And all it leaves is essentially sugar water with a couple vitamins. The Vitamix is amazing. You can throw in whole foods (with just the rind cut off) and it purees them so well you'd never know there were apple seeds, orange pith, onion skins, etc. in your soup or smoothie. I have used mine at least once a day since we got it a few weeks ago. It's expensive, but it's worth it. You'll be so much healthier once you're eating tons of fruits and vegetables!

    I have heard that the apple seeds are not good for us to ingest (arsenic?)....I guess I could just take them out. I am going to look into it though for sure. I might have to wait for a bit to get one though if they are really expensive.

    I know rabbits can't eat them, I think you're right, there is something slightly toxic in them. The Vitamix rep put the whole apple int he smoothie he made, but I always cut out the core because I'm usually giving my daughter some apple slices at the same time.

    The basic model is $450, which I know is a big investment for a blender. There are similar blenders that are cheaper, but they all get pretty bad reviews. The Ninja has blades that are incredibly sharp and with that machine you have to take it all apart to wash it. So lots of people cut themselves badly on it. There's one that Montel Williams endorses but it's made in China and the reviews were terrible. It's basically a $200 piece of crap. The Vitamix is made in America, has a 7 year warranty (that really isn't needed, people have had their machines for over 40 years!), and is just the best. And if you clean it immediately you don't even have to wash it. You just fill it halfway with warm water, put in a couple drop of dish soap and turn it on high. It cleans itself! I highly recommend this machine. Save your money and get one as soon as you can. It really will change the way you eat and live! You can make just about everything in it, bread dough, cookie and cake batters, all kinds of things!
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    I do, I do! :drinker:

    me too :flowerforyou:
  • Aperyan83
    Aperyan83 Posts: 69 Member
    i get my servings in...
  • jamie1888
    jamie1888 Posts: 1,704 Member
    We bought the Vitamix a few years ago and LOVE it. However, recently we bought the Magic Bullet (about $40 for the whole set) and find that it works just as well for grinding up fruits and veggies! You can't work in big batches like you do with the Vitamix. However, if you start your soups stocks on the stove, you can use the Magic Bullet to blend or puree whatever fruits and veggies you want to use. Then, just dump them into your pot.

    It's very handy to freeze small batches of frozen pureed veggies in the freezer to easily add to recipes/sauces in a pinch. You can add veggies to just about anything. Also, the clean up on the Magic Bullet is MUCH easier because it's a smaller unit and the blade screws off. I also make fresh groud almond and peanut butter in the Bullet!

    The Bullet is also very handy because you can blend a single shake or smoothie and drink from the same cup you just blended it in!
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    oh my goodness...I had no idea the vitamix was $400-500! I guess I'll stick with my regular old blender for smoothies and just eat my vegetables the old fashioned way.

    Get a Ninja Prep, only $50.00 or so. The Vitamix at my work doesn't seem to do any better to me. Oh, and you should take that # of servings thing with a grain a salt. One size does not fit all. They should define it in percentage of daily calories/carbs.
  • lisa4kids
    lisa4kids Posts: 54 Member
    Oh, and you should take that # of servings thing with a grain a salt. One size does not fit all. They should define it in percentage of daily calories/carbs.





    That would be a great way to do it. I guess the point I was making is, that I see a lot of diaries that have nothing but carbs and meat, etc...and absolutely NO veggies. I know that some of the prepared meals have vegetables in them, and it doesn't show up on the diary as a veggie, but it just made me really aware that we as humans, are not great about eating them. Believe it or not, I don't eat as many carrots as I'd love to, because they get caught in my throat and it drives me nuts!!! I still have my tonsils and they are somewhat enlarged, but never get infected so I have left them alone in spite of one doc telling me to get them out. I told him I had them in there for 40+ years and they were staying with me till the end!

    I will check out the ninja and the bullet. I have a really nice heavy duty blender that might work with some things....is there somewhere I could get recipes or directions for some of these things? I haven't tried chopping vegetables in it yet, but I might do that later and see what happens.
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