Getting veggies and fruits in

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huskergina
huskergina Posts: 11
in Food and Nutrition
I am happy with my results this month.. lost 7 pounds. But I ate a lot of processed food/fast food. Subway turkey sandwiches are a daily thing for me......no cheese...just mustard and the veggies....not for sure if this is bad on a daily basis or not.

The problem is...when I am trying to lose weight...I dont like to cook. I want to grab what I need to eat and move on. I dont want cooking or food consuming my thoughts. That is the reason I like the Smart Ones etc. (I know, bad.. bad..) I do alot of cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.

MFP says I should eat about 1350...I usually can get all that in. I never eat my exercise points...I do 20-40 minutes of treadmill/bike 4 days a week. Do you count your veggies in your daily calorie s? Or if they are cucs, lettuce, cauliflower, etc...do you just eat unlimited? How many cups do you eat a day? I am thinking about cutting up raw vegetables every night and putting them in a baggie for the next day...whatever I measure in the bag needs to be eaten . I am eating every three hours in an attempt to increase my metabolism. How many fruits do you realistically eat in a day?

Any feedback is appreciated.

Replies

  • dick01
    dick01 Posts: 18 Member
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    so happy for your loss. I like vegies a lot but I am having difficulty in loosing weight.. and fruits are always putting me in a bad sugar situation on mfp though ww is free.. Keep up with good work
  • s1lence
    s1lence Posts: 493
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    Yes I count everything I eat including fruits and veggies. Sometimes the fruits can be high in calories and high in sugars so it's just worth logging them to me. Though many veggies are very low in calories it doesn't hurt to find out how many calories you are eating. Check out the food guide lines from the government for recommended fruit and vegetables (from what I understood a serving should be around the size of your fist or the palm of your hand). When measuring your amounts many people rely on a food scale. I use measuring cups because that's what I have. Good luck.
  • BandedTriaRN
    BandedTriaRN Posts: 303
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    I have a a protein shake with blueberries almost every day (I am kinda addicted to blueberries but also strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blackberries and have frozen organic unsweetened berries in my freezer that I use). So that gets in some of the fruit requirement. I love salads and eat spinach with some fresh romaine and red peppers and cukes a lot. I also eat summer squash and artichokes several times a week. It really isn't hard to get it all in even tho I am banded and really have to work at it! Frozen veggies are really easy to prepare but also fresh. We were buying from our neighborhood (we live out in the sticks so it is a miracle there is a natural farmer here!)but he is closed for the rest of summer:( We buy organic veggies from a whole foods type market. It only takes a minute to wash some squash and slice it and then put it on our grill and cook it. We use Mrs Dash to season and some fresh lime or lemon juice when we want more seasoning (we are decreasing salt). Just think of ways to add fruits and veggies. Do you like salads?
  • ABQsheila
    ABQsheila Posts: 46 Member
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    I eat lots of vegetable....maybe as much as 2 cups a day. I count them in my calories but they don't add up to a lot. I also choose vegetables on the lower end of the glycemic scale to control my carbs. The same goes for fruits with a low glycemic index. In a day I often eat at least 3 different fruits because they are a great source of potassium. One of my favorite ways to eat veggies is with a little hummus or maybe with a bit of nut butter for a snack.
  • taralc1
    taralc1 Posts: 98 Member
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    I am also on Weight Watchers and a serving of fruits and/or veggies are a 1/2 cup. Their guidelines are to have 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Hope this helps
  • huskergina
    huskergina Posts: 11
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    I have never liked salads. How do you make your shakes with fruit?
  • laus_8882
    laus_8882 Posts: 217 Member
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    I eat a lot of veg, but that's because I like to eat a lot and a smallish bowl of rice=a huge bowl of vegies sauteed in oil. It's an easy choice for me. I always count my vegies because 1/2 a head of cauliflower has a surprising number of calories! As do, say, kiwifruit and bananas (seriously, 105 calories for a medium banana? No wonder I got so fat, although to be fair, bananas are probably only responsible for a of these excess kilos).

    Personally I'd get really, really bored with raw vegetables as a snack and they'd turn me off vegies pretty quickly, even though I'm a huge veg fan. Can you throw together some interesting salads? Get a mandolin and slice your vegies subway style, add some cooked chicken or turkey and throw in yummy things like a few dried cranberries and a little blue cheese to tart it up. Obviously not as low cal as bread, mustard and a thin slice of processed meat, but still not enormously high in calories, especially if you top with a fat free dressing.

    What about having plain yoghurt with fruit in it to sweeten? Grate an apple into some greek yoghurt and sprinkle with cinnamon, for instance. Or chopped banana and flaked almonds. Yum!
  • huskergina
    huskergina Posts: 11
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    that makes sense. I read in another post to follow the 5:30 rule. 5 veggies and 30 minutes of exercise a day. I can do 2 cups of veggies and a cup of fruit a day.
  • elisabeisme
    elisabeisme Posts: 308 Member
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    I like V8 juice as a grab and go veggie. I get the low sodium 5.5 oz. cans and often add a quick splash of tobasco to spice it up a bit. They are considered 1 serving of veggie and are only 30 calories. Also, they have a lot of potassium which always looks low in my reports.

    I know they are still "processed" but I figure processed veg must be better than no veg at all, right?

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