10 portions of fruit and veg a day
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Gianfranco_R wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 3 times, and one reason I've never ended up trying the 2 meal/day or IF options is that for me it would be hard to get the amount of veg I like and the amount of protein I aim for without 3 meals to spread them around in.
It really depends on what I have on hand, but on average I tend to eat about 300 g of veg with a meal, usually a couple of different ones, sometimes more, sometimes less (I don't count legumes or starches like potatoes/sweet potatoes/corn as veg in my own mind, just never have). I have as a goal to have vegetables with breakfast, often something like brussels sprouts, 2 eggs, some cottage cheese (today), although I will often have some fruit instead of as much veg then (today I had some blueberries with the brussels, and around 200 g of the brussels). I mostly think in terms of 150-200 g of each veg (which feels like a serving to me) of 2 different veg unless doing a dish that involves a bunch of them (like a salad or stir fry or many of the pasta toppings I make). I take seriously the idea that vegetables should make up the majority of the meal, although I tend to plan in my head around the protein and what goes with it. For me the starch is more accent/round out the meal unless I need more calories.
I also might have fruit as a snack or evening dessert, but often it's a side dish for 1 or 2 meals and I don't snack.
Yeah, I may have to get away from IF while I do this. I'm also curious to see what my calorie intake will be fitting in the extra veggies and fruit. Since I don't like fruit by itself, when I do eat it I add it to other things like smoothies, pudding, pie
etc. I anticipate my calorie intake being quite a bit higher?
Not necessarily. I don't log often, but I have a day from last December with no breakfast, 1900 calories, and 2079 g of F&V (almost 26 portions):
Nice! Since I don't care for fruit though, I may be in trouble lol.0 -
crzycatlady1 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 3 times, and one reason I've never ended up trying the 2 meal/day or IF options is that for me it would be hard to get the amount of veg I like and the amount of protein I aim for without 3 meals to spread them around in.
It really depends on what I have on hand, but on average I tend to eat about 300 g of veg with a meal, usually a couple of different ones, sometimes more, sometimes less (I don't count legumes or starches like potatoes/sweet potatoes/corn as veg in my own mind, just never have). I have as a goal to have vegetables with breakfast, often something like brussels sprouts, 2 eggs, some cottage cheese (today), although I will often have some fruit instead of as much veg then (today I had some blueberries with the brussels, and around 200 g of the brussels). I mostly think in terms of 150-200 g of each veg (which feels like a serving to me) of 2 different veg unless doing a dish that involves a bunch of them (like a salad or stir fry or many of the pasta toppings I make). I take seriously the idea that vegetables should make up the majority of the meal, although I tend to plan in my head around the protein and what goes with it. For me the starch is more accent/round out the meal unless I need more calories.
I also might have fruit as a snack or evening dessert, but often it's a side dish for 1 or 2 meals and I don't snack.
Yeah, I may have to get away from IF while I do this. I'm also curious to see what my calorie intake will be fitting in the extra veggies and fruit. Since I don't like fruit by itself, when I do eat it I add it to other things like smoothies, pudding, pie etc. I anticipate my calorie intake being quite a bit higher?
I typically eat two meals and dessert, plus a small snack - during the week I eat the same thing. my first meal has 450g vegies, the second has 800-1000g vegies (I do low carb days so it's reduced a bit) , and the snack has 50g.
Dessert has 150g fruit.
I don't fit in extra, I just replace stuff with vegies. I rarely eat pasta or rice or bread as I prefer vegies. I'd rather spend my carbs on vegetables!
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amusedmonkey wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 2-3 meals a day but snack a lot in between. My snacks are mostly raw tomatoes and sometimes other veggies too but I do end up with a few pieces of fruit too by the end of the day. My biggest meal usually contains most of my veggies. If roasting or doing cooked leafy, I often go with about 500-1000 grams of raw veggies, or 100-300 grams of leafy veggies. It sounds like a lot of food but it really isn't. I like my cauliflower and eggplant well-roasted so a kilo shrinks down to barely a bowl. If I'm making soup or raw salad it ends up being less per serving than I would do for roasting. My other meals also always contain veggies in some form but in smaller quantities. People eat popcorn when watching TV, I randomly munch on raw lettuce, cauliflower or cabbage leaves right off the stem because I love the crunch.
ETA: I often end up with anywhere between 15-40 servings of veggies a day if I'm not eating out or fasting, so the way I eat is not representative of what it would take to eat 10. Trust me, it won't be hard.
Do you have any idea how much you spend on produce a week? Another thing I'm thinking of is the cost of eating more veggies and fruit.0 -
I get maybe 3-5 servings of fruits and veggies a day now and I make an effort. Lunch had 30 g mixed currents and raisins, 22 g of onions, and 60 g of bell peppers. I might be able to squeeze in a banana with supper. so that'll be 3 fruit and 1 veggie for the day.0
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Gianfranco_R wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »No, it's nonsense.
This is the study:
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/doi/10.1093/ije/dyw319/3039477/Fruit-and-vegetable-intake-and-the-risk-of
Yes, nonsense.0 -
Most days I hit it easily, then I have days where I get only 3-4 servings...
That's basically me. I don't track, so I don't truly know how much I eat, but - like Sabine - sometimes eat an entire bag (4 "servings," per the bag, although I don't know how many servings per the recommendation) of vegetables at lunch. And then some at dinner. So I probably get closer to 4-6 every day, more on others.0 -
Oh, as for the calories, I calculated on of my days for you. A 27 serving of veggies day came up at 539 calories from veggies, so what 10 servings would be adding is not as bad as you would expect.0
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crzycatlady1 wrote: »Gianfranco_R wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 3 times, and one reason I've never ended up trying the 2 meal/day or IF options is that for me it would be hard to get the amount of veg I like and the amount of protein I aim for without 3 meals to spread them around in.
It really depends on what I have on hand, but on average I tend to eat about 300 g of veg with a meal, usually a couple of different ones, sometimes more, sometimes less (I don't count legumes or starches like potatoes/sweet potatoes/corn as veg in my own mind, just never have). I have as a goal to have vegetables with breakfast, often something like brussels sprouts, 2 eggs, some cottage cheese (today), although I will often have some fruit instead of as much veg then (today I had some blueberries with the brussels, and around 200 g of the brussels). I mostly think in terms of 150-200 g of each veg (which feels like a serving to me) of 2 different veg unless doing a dish that involves a bunch of them (like a salad or stir fry or many of the pasta toppings I make). I take seriously the idea that vegetables should make up the majority of the meal, although I tend to plan in my head around the protein and what goes with it. For me the starch is more accent/round out the meal unless I need more calories.
I also might have fruit as a snack or evening dessert, but often it's a side dish for 1 or 2 meals and I don't snack.
Yeah, I may have to get away from IF while I do this. I'm also curious to see what my calorie intake will be fitting in the extra veggies and fruit. Since I don't like fruit by itself, when I do eat it I add it to other things like smoothies, pudding, pie etc. I anticipate my calorie intake being quite a bit higher?
Not necessarily. I don't log often, but I have a day from last December with no breakfast, 1900 calories, and 2079 g of F&V (almost 26 portions):
Nice! Since I don't care for fruit though, I may be in trouble lol.
I find my highest fruit/veg days tend to be lower cal days, largely because I tend to eat extra vegetables in place of higher cal foods. I don't tend to eat a ton of fruit, so if I didn't like it I simply wouldn't worry about it. For example, I'll have apple or pear with a pork chop (or pineapple this past week), but if I didn't like it I'd have more veg instead and save calories. I enjoy smoothies (though not so much in the winter) with lots of vegetables (I have one I make with winter squash, spinach, green pepper, sometimes cucumber) plus some fruit (often strawberries, as they work well, but in the summer depends what's in season/goes well--melon is good). The fruit is a small portion and could be easily left out if you liked it without it.
I see vegetables as the main goal, and fruit as something nice to have too, or something that tastes good and happily for me is low cal and satisfying, and works well as a side to liven up many meals, but I don't consider it that important to go out of my way to have lots of fruit. In the winter I usually have 1 a day, although sometimes 2, sometimes none. (Servings, I dunno -- I'd count a pear as "one" in my head, although it could be 3. I'd grab a couple of clementines normally, although there have been days I've had 5-6. I don't really count and it does depend on the calories some for me with fruit.)1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I want to know how they know this. Did they ask you? Me? Everyone here? I never take these types of statements seriously because I just don't know where they get their information.
Of course they didn't ask everyone. Have you heard of statistical sampling? If the data is based on self reporting it may even be a bit overstated.
Thr data is from the Center for Disease Control. I'm sure their methodology is valid.
Of course I have heard of statistical sampling. My question was rhetorical. Sampling does not give an accurate picture of anything. Which is why I say I am not so quick to accept these types of statements.0 -
crzycatlady1 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 2-3 meals a day but snack a lot in between. My snacks are mostly raw tomatoes and sometimes other veggies too but I do end up with a few pieces of fruit too by the end of the day. My biggest meal usually contains most of my veggies. If roasting or doing cooked leafy, I often go with about 500-1000 grams of raw veggies, or 100-300 grams of leafy veggies. It sounds like a lot of food but it really isn't. I like my cauliflower and eggplant well-roasted so a kilo shrinks down to barely a bowl. If I'm making soup or raw salad it ends up being less per serving than I would do for roasting. My other meals also always contain veggies in some form but in smaller quantities. People eat popcorn when watching TV, I randomly munch on raw lettuce, cauliflower or cabbage leaves right off the stem because I love the crunch.
ETA: I often end up with anywhere between 15-40 servings of veggies a day if I'm not eating out or fasting, so the way I eat is not representative of what it would take to eat 10. Trust me, it won't be hard.
Do you have any idea how much you spend on produce a week? Another thing I'm thinking of is the cost of eating more veggies and fruit.
It wouldn't be representative. Most fruits and vegetables in season are not that expensive here (some go as low as 10 cents per pound)1 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Oh, as for the calories, I calculated on of my days for you. A 27 serving of veggies day came up at 539 calories from veggies, so what 10 servings would be adding is not as bad as you would expect.
I think most people may need to add some fat to their veggies, to make them palatable, so increasing F&V may involve to decrease something else in order to keep calories constant.0 -
It should be veggies and some fruit. I try to eat 2-3 pieces of fruit a day and veggies until satiated.1
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Gianfranco_R wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »Oh, as for the calories, I calculated on of my days for you. A 27 serving of veggies day came up at 539 calories from veggies, so what 10 servings would be adding is not as bad as you would expect.
I think most people may need to add some fat to their veggies, to make them palatable, so increasing F&V may involve to decrease something else in order to keep calories constant.
That's true, but the volume may end up displacing other foods so it evens out.
Here is how the day I calculated played (and yes, I know that very few people munch on whole raw tomatoes all day)
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I eat a lot, especially for a female. I was checking my diary, I could easily do 10- with all the vegetables and fruit I eat. I don't want to start counting that though, cause it will seem like a chore then I will start hating them. I am rebellious like that.2
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amusedmonkey wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat 2-3 meals a day but snack a lot in between. My snacks are mostly raw tomatoes and sometimes other veggies too but I do end up with a few pieces of fruit too by the end of the day. My biggest meal usually contains most of my veggies. If roasting or doing cooked leafy, I often go with about 500-1000 grams of raw veggies, or 100-300 grams of leafy veggies. It sounds like a lot of food but it really isn't. I like my cauliflower and eggplant well-roasted so a kilo shrinks down to barely a bowl. If I'm making soup or raw salad it ends up being less per serving than I would do for roasting. My other meals also always contain veggies in some form but in smaller quantities. People eat popcorn when watching TV, I randomly munch on raw lettuce, cauliflower or cabbage leaves right off the stem because I love the crunch.
ETA: I often end up with anywhere between 15-40 servings of veggies a day if I'm not eating out or fasting, so the way I eat is not representative of what it would take to eat 10. Trust me, it won't be hard.
Do you have any idea how much you spend on produce a week? Another thing I'm thinking of is the cost of eating more veggies and fruit.
It wouldn't be representative. Most fruits and vegetables in season are not that expensive here (some go as low as 10 cents per pound)
Wow, that's fantastic! I just pulled up next week's ad for one of the stores I shop at (meijer), and not a lot of good deals on produce next week-I am going to get a couple pounds of asparagus ($1.48lb) and then a cantaloupe, which will be on sale for $1.68. And that's about it for that store Will get the rest of my produce/groceries at Aldi and waiting for them to put their ad up. 0 -
ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I want to know how they know this. Did they ask you? Me? Everyone here? I never take these types of statements seriously because I just don't know where they get their information.
Of course they didn't ask everyone. Have you heard of statistical sampling? If the data is based on self reporting it may even be a bit overstated.
Thr data is from the Center for Disease Control. I'm sure their methodology is valid.
Of course I have heard of statistical sampling. My question was rhetorical. Sampling does not give an accurate picture of anything. Which is why I say I am not so quick to accept these types of statements.
So you don't accept political opinion polls TV ratings, etc as directionally correct? Even with a much more than the statistical margin of error, the study says only a small minority get the recommended # of servings.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I want to know how they know this. Did they ask you? Me? Everyone here? I never take these types of statements seriously because I just don't know where they get their information.
Of course they didn't ask everyone. Have you heard of statistical sampling? If the data is based on self reporting it may even be a bit overstated.
Thr data is from the Center for Disease Control. I'm sure their methodology is valid.
Of course I have heard of statistical sampling. My question was rhetorical. Sampling does not give an accurate picture of anything. Which is why I say I am not so quick to accept these types of statements.
So you don't accept political opinion polls TV ratings, etc as directionally correct? Even with a much more than the statistical margin of error, the study says only a small minority get the recommended # of servings.
No I do not accept political opinion polls. My actual and only point is that I take these types of statements with a grain of salt. Unless they actually went out and asked a million people they have no real clue. This goes for all of these polls. But you can believe in them all you want. That is totally your prerogative.0 -
crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat no more than three times a day, but one of those times is just a morning protein bar. All my vegetable eating is confined to one or two meals (one is almost always a large green salad.) I might just be used to it, though, as my salad usually has two whole heads of romaine in it...
As far as price, I would estimate that all the weekly vegetables come in at about $40 for the two of us and overall we spend about $180-$200/month on vegetables (and probably $600-$700 month on groceries/household stuff total for the two of us.)
We live in a cold climate and buy almost all our vegetables at Costco. Every week we buy two of the 6-head packages of romaine, a bag of mini cucumbers, a bag of bell peppers, flat of tomatoes, bag of broccoli or green beans or brussels sprouts, bag of celery, and then a bag of lemons every two weeks and large bag of carrots as needed and onions/potatoes as needed (but we don't eat these frequently.)
We don't usually buy frozen or canned as I don't like either much (texture). That said, we're fortunate to be in a financial position where we can feed ourselves with whatever we want, so beyond being careful not to let things go bad - I do first-in-first-out so we never have to throw out food - I admit I don't really make any attempts to economize and just buy heaps of fresh stuff instead of looking for savings.
I dunno, I was raised thinking that vegetables should be the largest part of every meal and I've mostly always eaten like that. Is that really an anomaly? I had "VEGETABLES ARE FULL OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS AND YOU NEED TO EAT LOTS OF THEM IF YOU WANT TO BE HEALTHY" drilled into my head from earliest childhood and I thought that was fairly common.
I kind of don't even know what I would eat if you took vegetables out of the equation...I can't think of anything I eat on a regular basis that I could still make.2 -
crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I eat no more than three times a day, but one of those times is just a morning protein bar. All my vegetable eating is confined to one or two meals (one is almost always a large green salad.) I might just be used to it, though, as my salad usually has two whole heads of romaine in it...
As far as price, I would estimate that all the weekly vegetables come in at about $40 for the two of us and overall we spend about $180-$200/month on vegetables (and probably $600-$700 month on groceries/household stuff total for the two of us.)
We live in a cold climate and buy almost all our vegetables at Costco. Every week we buy two of the 6-head packages of romaine, a bag of mini cucumbers, a bag of bell peppers, flat of tomatoes, bag of broccoli or green beans or brussels sprouts, bag of celery, and then a bag of lemons every two weeks and large bag of carrots as needed and onions/potatoes as needed (but we don't eat these frequently.)
We don't usually buy frozen or canned as I don't like either much (texture). That said, we're fortunate to be in a financial position where we can feed ourselves with whatever we want, so beyond being careful not to let things go bad - I do first-in-first-out so we never have to throw out food - I admit I don't really make any attempts to economize and just buy heaps of fresh stuff instead of looking for savings.
I dunno, I was raised thinking that vegetables should be the largest part of every meal and I've mostly always eaten like that. Is that really an anomaly? I had "VEGETABLES ARE FULL OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS AND YOU NEED TO EAT LOTS OF THEM IF YOU WANT TO BE HEALTHY" drilled into my head from earliest childhood and I thought that was fairly common.
I kind of don't even know what I would eat if you took vegetables out of the equation...I can't think of anything I eat on a regular basis that I could still make.
Thanks for the input! My weekly grocery budget for a family of 5 is $100/$400 a month, so I do have to be mindful of what I buy. But, I'm starting to make out my meal plan for my 800g experiment, and it shouldn't be too costly (I hope lol). I'm going to stick to basics like bananas for fruit, and then lots of frozen veggies and bagged spinach/lettuce. I can get these things at Aldi fairly cheap
eta: pound containers of strawberries are on sale this week so I think I'll get a couple of those tomorrow and then freeze them for green smoothies next week. I don't usually eat strawberries, so I have no idea what a serving in grams looks like, but those little suckers are heavy so hopefully a lot
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crzycatlady1 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Lot of outliers here. According to the CDC, only 10% of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies.
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html
I'm kind of surprised at how many in this thread eat the amount of veggies and fruit that they eat, I don't know anyone in real life who eats close to that (my husband for example doesn't eat fruit or veggies at all-as in NONE). I actually forwarded my mother-in-law the article link, and she responded back that she maybe gets in 3-4 servings a day. And she's someone who I consider very healthy/eats healthy.
I still don't know how I'm going to actually fit in 800 grams a day for my little challenge next week. For those who do hit that (or close to it), how many meals/snacks do you eat a day? I typically only eat twice, with an occasional afternoon snack, so that breaks down to around 400g per meal. I don't know if my stomach can actually handle that much
I usually eat 3 meals, only occasional small snacks (that are more likely protein-y or an adult bev), and most of the veg/fruit are in one or two meals, as part of the main dish, a side, a salad, or raw (I like to cut up some raw and nosh on those while I cook the rest of the food). (Breakfast either has no fruit/veg for me, or about 2 servings of frozen berries, depending on the day.)
Biggest advice for the challenge, from a heavy fruit/veg eater:
Don't wait until next week to start. Your digestive system will be happier if you gradually increase fiber. Be sure to drink enough water, and to get some fat with veg-heavy meals (for vitamin absorption, as well as digestive-system happiness). Doesn't have to be a huge amount of fat, but some, and could itself be a veg (avocado, for example).
Cost-wise, consider the value of inexpensive options. This includes deals on frozen veg as well as some fresh options.
Most anything I cook in a pan (eggs, stir-fry, tomato sauce, soup, etc.) starts with browning at least half and maybe a whole yellow onion. I do it for yum more than extra veggies, but a good-sized yellow onion is 200g+, and a big bag of them tends to be fairly affordable.
Cabbage also tends to be relatively inexpensive, along with some of the less popular root veg. They're all delicious roasted: Do a massive batch, put the extras in the fridge, eat later reheated or cold in/as salad.
Calorically, for me (when I was starting to lose), increased veggies displaced 'filler' or convenience carbs like pasta, grains, sandwich bread, etc. The calorie (and carb) levels let one replace a moderate amount of the filler/convenience food with quite a few servings of veg.
For fruit, one option not everyone uses is "fruit as substrate": Peanut butter is nice on an apple instead of toast (better, in my world), for example. Cheese & fruit is also great.
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