So, how many of you get 9 servings of fruit and vegetables a day?
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If anyone wants to see how it worked out for the people doing the challenge, including our tales of woe from our Brown & Company Depository and Fiduciary Holding, LLC, here is the thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10521320/10-a-day-800g-veggie-fruit-challenge-participants-check-in/p16 -
I honestly don't pay attention to servings. I just eat what sounds good within my daily calorie goals.2
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Vegetables are part of every meal and usually around 300g a meal so it just depends on how often I eat. Low days are probably 400g-600g and high calorie days 800g-1,000g.
I don't aim for a certain amount - and think the "more is better" thing they have going on is nonsense and certainly not evidence based - but you have to eat something. I'm a firm believer in good-food-bad-food and eat low carb to boot so my diet is pretty much meat and vegetables by default with some fruit, nuts, beans and cheese thrown in for delicious.0 -
I was counting servings for a while, a couple of times, for challenges here. It's a rare day when I get less than 10 servings of fruit/veg, and I will often get 15-20. One of my "good nutrition on fewer calories" strategies was to reduce what I consider filler carbs (pasta, bread, most grains) and increase the nutritious things I would've eaten with/in/under them, which is mostly veggies.
As far as bloating: I agree with the advice to ramp up slowly. If the problem is constipation, it's also important for many of us to drink ample water, and to get adequate fat (ideally some with each meal). Some find it helps to add probiotics, since many fibrous veggies are pre-biotic (things we don't digest, but the probiotic microbe guys like to eat). I'm a believer in probiotic foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, fermented pickles, kim chi, kefir, etc.) rather than pills, but that's just a personal taste/preference idiosyncrasy. If one does have intestinal gas from the added fiber, it does tend to subside with time. Doing the right yoga-type twisty stuff in the AM before leaving home can also help avoid gas-related social faux pas by reducing the pressure early.
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My today--
onions, green pepper, and kale in my omelet (noticed at the last minute I was out of broccoli, so had cucumbers on the side)
Brussels, zucchini, and spaghetti squash with lunch
Green beans (couple servings), onions, and Boston lettuce with dinner
I was thinking about avocado too, but had plenty of food, so probably tomorrow morning -- I'm low on lots of stuff so looking forward to shopping Saturday.2 -
We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
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We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
Nice!
My yesterday consisted of toast (sprouted, whole grains so that has to count for something right?), prescription drugs, more prescription drugs and caramel M&Ms.
Having shingles SUCKS
I have so much fresh produce in my fridge right now (I did a big grocery trip on Monday, was diagnosed with shingles on Wednesday), but the meds and pain are making me so nausea I can't really eat. Meds must be causing water retention though because my scale was up 4lbs this morning grrrr....
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We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
Really an awesome diary Ann. Those nonfat 'refried' black beans, great invention I imagine!
I have to get myself a food scale, I can see how it would give me an easy way to get more variety of veggies.
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Crazycatlady, I'm really sorry to hear you got shingles. I would think some of the 4 pounds is from the water retention of inflammation. I never felt as inflammed as when I had shingles. Only thing to hang onto is that it should run its course in a week. Once it was gone, it was as if I had never had it, so that is something to look forward to, there is an end to it! and toast can be comforting.crazyycatladyy1 wrote: »We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
Nice!
My yesterday consisted of toast (sprouted, whole grains so that has to count for something right?), prescription drugs, more prescription drugs and caramel M&Ms.
Having shingles SUCKS
I have so much fresh produce in my fridge right now (I did a big grocery trip on Monday, was diagnosed with shingles on Wednesday), but the meds and pain are making me so nausea I can't really eat. Meds must be causing water retention though because my scale was up 4lbs this morning grrrr....
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If they allowed wine to be counted I'd be golden for sure.4
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Crazycatlady, I'm really sorry to hear you got shingles. I would think some of the 4 pounds is from the water retention of inflammation. I never felt as inflammed as when I had shingles. Only thing to hang onto is that it should run its course in a week. Once it was gone, it was as if I had never had it, so that is something to look forward to, there is an end to it! and toast can be comforting.crazyycatladyy1 wrote: »We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
Nice!
My yesterday consisted of toast (sprouted, whole grains so that has to count for something right?), prescription drugs, more prescription drugs and caramel M&Ms.
Having shingles SUCKS
I have so much fresh produce in my fridge right now (I did a big grocery trip on Monday, was diagnosed with shingles on Wednesday), but the meds and pain are making me so nausea I can't really eat. Meds must be causing water retention though because my scale was up 4lbs this morning grrrr....
It's either inflammation or the M&Ms
I actually only ate about 10 of them before my stomach started revolting, so it's probably inflammation. I'm now out of my maintenance range but I'm not too worried about it. I'm on (generic) Valtrex and then also Amitriptyline, which is supposed to help with the nerve pain. That one came with a huge packet of warning papers though-I guess it can make you suicidal oiy. Of course having shingles is enough to do that 
I have one of the lesions on my eyelid, so that's freaking out my doctor (already been to an ophthalmologist once and will be going back again next week), and it feels like someone is using sandpaper on my face sigh.... I just started going back to bi-weekly grocery shopping (did this years ago and it worked well, when I was disciplined about it), so I stocked my fridge with fresh produce to eat this week and then frozen produce for next week. It's killing me to see the fresh slowly wilting away, but I just can't stomach it right now. 0 -
crazyycatladyy1 wrote: »We're reporting in, are we? Today was veggie-ful.
100g frozen mixed berries
150g black beans (refried but nonfat (?))
100g onions
70g orange bell pepper
215g tomatoes
62g salsa (yeah, that has a little vinegar in there, but mostly veg)
107g apricots
28g olives
134g jicama
81g carrots
128g turnips
26g avocado
147g cucumber
57g romaine lettuce
49g spinach
28g mesquite broad bean snack (so a few non-bean grams in there)
So, even adjusting for the two or three "highly processed foods" (LOL) in there, something over 1400g of veggies & fruit, which I guess is around 18 servings (though I did count all the beans).
Heh.
Nice!
My yesterday consisted of toast (sprouted, whole grains so that has to count for something right?), prescription drugs, more prescription drugs and caramel M&Ms.
Having shingles SUCKS
I have so much fresh produce in my fridge right now (I did a big grocery trip on Monday, was diagnosed with shingles on Wednesday), but the meds and pain are making me so nausea I can't really eat. Meds must be causing water retention though because my scale was up 4lbs this morning grrrr....
Ugh, shingles does suck, sorry about that.
My last couple of days have been off because I'm out of everything! Cannot wait until tomorrow and the farmers' market. It's so fun to see what's new this time of year.1 -
I would say near 9 servings more or less. I just make sure I don't go too crazy with the fruits (even though I love them
) like I did back then for juices and smoothies. It spiked my blood sugar level like crazy and my doctor freaked. Haha! Majority of the time I eat cooked veggies with my meats and carbs for lunch and dinner. 
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I've read all the posts in this thread and find it very interesting. I eat a mostly plant based, whole food diet so most of my food is vegetables and fruit. When I first went vegetarian in 1976 I didn't like too many vegetables. Over the years I've learned to love them.
I am only 5'3" with a petite bone structure, my calorie base is only 1300 per day. The benefit of this diet is that I can eat a large volume of food if I go with a lot of leafy greens. Olive oil, avocado, beans and rice/quinoa add calories quickly though.0 -
I need to find more information on how much is actually a serving. The bagged kale I buy indicates that a serving is 5 cups of kale. So, I can just eat 45 cups of kale a day and hit my 9 servings? I think I'd die.
Ha! I just went to the American Heart Association website and it turns out a cup of raw leafy greens is a serving. So, my 2 'servings' of kale is more than enough.. lol Thank goodness! I imagine whoever packages the kale I buy must be thinking they can pull a fast one and trick people into trying to eat 9 bags of kale a day. Wonder if anyone's done it?0 -
jenniferinfl wrote: »I need to find more information on how much is actually a serving. The bagged kale I buy indicates that a serving is 5 cups of kale. So, I can just eat 45 cups of kale a day and hit my 9 servings? I think I'd die.
Ha! I just went to the American Heart Association website and it turns out a cup of raw leafy greens is a serving. So, my 2 'servings' of kale is more than enough.. lol Thank goodness! I imagine whoever packages the kale I buy must be thinking they can pull a fast one and trick people into trying to eat 9 bags of kale a day. Wonder if anyone's done it?
The serving size in the British system where they recommend 10 servings is 80g I think...0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »jenniferinfl wrote: »I need to find more information on how much is actually a serving. The bagged kale I buy indicates that a serving is 5 cups of kale. So, I can just eat 45 cups of kale a day and hit my 9 servings? I think I'd die.
Ha! I just went to the American Heart Association website and it turns out a cup of raw leafy greens is a serving. So, my 2 'servings' of kale is more than enough.. lol Thank goodness! I imagine whoever packages the kale I buy must be thinking they can pull a fast one and trick people into trying to eat 9 bags of kale a day. Wonder if anyone's done it?
The serving size in the British system where they recommend 10 servings is 80g I think...
I found it.. I guess for cooked kale they say that's around 4 heaped tablespoons, which is about a cup raw.. So, it's all pretty close. Though, next time I will buy a food scale that measures in grams. Mine measures in ounces and tenths of ounces. 0 -
jenniferinfl wrote: »I need to find more information on how much is actually a serving. The bagged kale I buy indicates that a serving is 5 cups of kale. So, I can just eat 45 cups of kale a day and hit my 9 servings? I think I'd die.
Ha! I just went to the American Heart Association website and it turns out a cup of raw leafy greens is a serving. So, my 2 'servings' of kale is more than enough.. lol Thank goodness! I imagine whoever packages the kale I buy must be thinking they can pull a fast one and trick people into trying to eat 9 bags of kale a day. Wonder if anyone's done it?
Package serving sizes have nothing to do with recommended for health servings. But the 5 cups per servings is probably assuming you will cook it. 5 cups raw will cook down to about 1 - 1.5 cooked.0 -
I eat anywhere from 10-12 portions a day of fruits and veggies. My digestion is loving it and so am I :-) I'm in Canada and since I dropped meat 6 years ago, my grocery bill is approx. 15-20% lower. You just have to but what's in season and what's on sale. And I buy more plant based food now than I ever did.
*edited to add in cost of food*2 -
jenniferinfl wrote: »I need to find more information on how much is actually a serving. The bagged kale I buy indicates that a serving is 5 cups of kale. So, I can just eat 45 cups of kale a day and hit my 9 servings? I think I'd die.
Ha! I just went to the American Heart Association website and it turns out a cup of raw leafy greens is a serving. So, my 2 'servings' of kale is more than enough.. lol Thank goodness! I imagine whoever packages the kale I buy must be thinking they can pull a fast one and trick people into trying to eat 9 bags of kale a day. Wonder if anyone's done it?
Are you sure the bag doesn't say .5 cups of kale? As that is a standard serving size. If not, I would assume that the printing of the decimal was off, and not that someone was trying to get people to buy more kale.1
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