How To Eat More Vegetables
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
If you are not getting between 5-10 servings of vegetables per day, here are some tips.
1. Take a different persepctive. I look at intake on a weekly basis instead of daily. I just find it easier to overdose on veggies somedays and then I'm not too worried if I only get 2-3 servings on other days. Once you get used to enjoying vegetables more, the transition to 5-10 daily servinges will be much easier.
2. Get your servings from juice. The key here is convenience. Juice is easy to access and easy to enjoy. I am talking about real juice, not the fake stuff. My personal favourites are PC Cranberry Cocktail and any brand of real orange juice. Ceres brand juices are pure as well. I usually mix my orange juice with the cranberry and it's a treat and a real easy way to get 2 servings a day.
3. Develop A Berry Strategy. When you get home from grocery shopping, wash all of your berries and and and cut and hull the strawberries. Berries are laced with antioxidants and are some of the best fruits you can eat. Once you have them in an accessbile bowl in your fridge you will be surprised at how quickly you can go through them. Toss them on cereal or snack on them throughout the day.
4. Invest in Proper Tools: Buy a veggie steamer, a good blender for smoothies and a good quality chopping knife. There are also some fun fruit slicers and peelers on the market. Creating different shapes like Julienne sliced cucumber or curly carrots. makes them more fun to enjoy.
5. Improve the delivery method: Don't be afraid of having some fat accompany the vegetables you eat. Eating fat when you intake fruits and vegtables (good fat) ie: nuts, dressings and cheeses helps the body absorb the nutrients in fruits and vegetables. It can also add fun and flavour to the icky taste of some vegetables. Avoid non-fat dressing it is actually counter productive.
6. Test Your plate. Its actually not hard to get two servings of vegetables with every meal:
Breakfast: Juice + blueberies on cereal
Lunch: Side Salad
Dinner: Steamed broccolli, tomato slices, roasted sweet potatos, stir fry.
Focus on the really good for you vegetables. Brocolli, sweet potatoes and tomotoes are at the top of many healthy food lists. You can't go wrong with deep greens and deep oranges.
7. Try different recipes and combos. Your real veggie tipping point will arrive when you find you'd rather have a vegetable/fruit dish than a sugary dessert or salty snack.
8. Supplements: Greens+ brand supplements are a good place to start.
9. Try Dried Fruits: Dried fruits are high in fibre and a tasty alternative. Prunes are actually pretty tasty.
10. Tempt Your Palate: Try some international Vegetarian cuisine next time you are out for Indian, Thai or Vietnamese. Try something new...you might be surprised.
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posted by aforward @ 1:20 PM,
1 Comments:
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At 9:01 AM,
Bren said...
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Juice is fine, just make sure its not carrot juice. That stuff will kill ya!
