Getting enough veggies & fruit- how?

salads for lunch and veggies with dinner. Also at snack time, try munching on baby carrots!

try to eat a salad with dinner nightly, just a little plate of spinach/leafy green lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes/cucumbers.

i'm very guilty about not eating enough veggies also, and salads are the only way i get em in. i don't eat one daily anymore though, i just can't stand it sometimes.

Some suggestions: Either purchase yourself a really good juicer and juice your fruits & veggies. Then use the pulp of whatever you juice in high protein, low fat muffins, cakes, pancakes etc. Or go to the health food store and purchase either Naka Liquid Vital Greens or a powdered version of Greens & Berries.

Check out some of the suggestions here:
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/

They have recipes, budget tips, an app that determines how much you need, and lots of other interesting stuff.

Isn't it 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.... meaning 5 servings total of furits or vegetables... not 5 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables?

As someone else said, a serving of veggies is actually quite small at 1/2 a cup. I eat a mostlyplant-based diet, so my meals are planned on what delicious, fresh, organic veggies I have in the fridge. I find that when I stopped making my meals revolve around a piece of meat, it was so easy to eat plenty of fruits and veggies. I eat more than the recommended amount, I'm sure.

Have you tried stir fry? You can put a great variety of veggies in one stirfry, make your own homemade sauce, and serve it over 1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa and it's delicious.

A super easy way to get your servings of vegetables and fruit is through juicing. In one juice you can get a whole serving of your 5 fruits and veggies for the day! Drinking your veggies and fruit is the best way to ensure you get a sufficient amount of nutrients from your plant based foods without having to stuff your face with plants. If you don't have a juicer, there are juices in the store that offer a bunch of servings! V8 has a serving of veggies and fruit in one serving. However, if you have a natural foods store nearby try looking in their juice section just beware of the sugar content! Odwalla may seem healthy until you turn to the label and read the sugar--yikes!

It's always best to EAT your fruits and veggies though because the fiber is super important to a healthy digestive system. Try making 50% of the meals you eat containing fruits and veggies and not only with you meet your quota, but you'll lose weight and your body and environment will thank you!

Hope this helps.

I slowly incorporated specific types of veggies into my diet at first. Now it's pretty easy to get the servings I need as long as I plan meals ahead. Most of my veggie intake comes from what I add to meals/recipes for dinner and I’ll purposely make extra for leftovers for lunch the next day to double a particular serving of veggies.

Here's what I require and some basic ways on how I started to incorporate each kind of vegetable:
(I go by cups & "cup equilvalents" instead of servings, 1 cup/cup eq = 2 servings)
This is following the USDA’s MyPyramid which has just changed to MyPlate or something where they have probably updated some categories and minimum amounts.


Dark Green Veggies: 3 cup equilvalents per week minimum
2 cups of Romaine lettuce, leafy greens, or spinach equals 1 cup eq so I try to make at least 1 or 2 small salads (2 cups each) per week and I’ll make one big salad where I will add a lot more veggies from other categories. Even though I hate broccoli I can mask the taste when I mix it with seasonings if I add 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of very finely chopped florets to a cup of rice or a serving of potatoes with a few meals throughout the week. I’m still working on adding other dark greens to change things up a bit, but still trying to find more ways to cover up the taste.


Orange Veg: 2 cups per week minimum
I add a cup of shredded carrots to a big salad most weeks. 1/4 to 1/2 cup to small salads occasionally. I’ll also add a cup eq of baby carrots with rosemary seasoned chicken and potatoes and bake it all together.


Dry Beans & Peas: 3 cups per week minimum
Chili takes care of various beans pretty often for me, as well as adding beans to the occasional salad and Mexican style dishes and fajitas.


Starchy Veg: 3 cups minimum
I have a cup eq of potatoes or corn/corn on the cob with a few meals each week.


Other Veggies: 7 cups minimum
I steam, bake, roast, or sauté peppers and onions with most of my dinners each week. I will add zucchini and tomatoes to various meals, cucumber to big salads, celery sticks for a snack with reduced fat peanut butter, iceberg lettuce on sandwiches or lean beef tacos & chicken fajitas, and various others with different meals.



When I first started following MyPyramid I would divide the veggie categories up in a way where I would include at least 1 cup from three different categories each day while planning my meals and making a grocery list. Now I have gotten used to it and realize that even when I change up recipes and try new ones I still end up eating the same basic ingredients and eat similar sides each week. So now I naturally include specific vegetable sides with particular meals/meats and don’t have to spend as much time planning ahead.

Everyone has there own way, this was mine, hope it helps you in finding your own! It'll be a breeze when you realize how easy it gets after some repetition. Good Luck!