So, I’ve been trying really hard to hit my 7 fruits and veggies every day and get a point in the HBBC. I’m making it most days, but it’s taking a lot of attention to what I eat. For example, today I had an egg with veggies for breakfast, an apple for snack, homemade veggie beef soup for lunch with a couple of handfuls of arugula, an orange for an afternoon snack and dinner will include a salad and baked acorn squash. If it weren’t for arugula, I’m not sure I’d make it. I have a serious addiction to the stuff. I eat it in salads, sandwiches, wrapped inside sandwich meat, wrapped around cheese sticks… Heck, I frequently eat it by the handfuls by itself. Yeah, I know I’m weird.
Let’s talk veggies
So, how are you getting your veggies and fruit in? I don’t do smoothies, but I’d love to hear what’s working for others. Either answer in the comments or blog about it and leave me a comment so I can go check it out.*
I had another wonderful run today. Five miles at a nine minute average pace, which was quite impressive considering mile 2 was 9:19 due to running uphill into the wind. Only 85 more miles to go in December.
*If you are a new follower or commenter, welcome and I will be by to visit soon. It’s health care choice season here and I’ve been spending every free moment trying to figure out which plan is best for our family (not the one we have apparently), whether dental insurance makes financial sense (it does, thanks to Shoo’s cavity prone teeth, sigh), and how much to put into our HCSA. I’m almost done, so pretty soon I can be back to my regular reading and commenting, just in time to start stressing about who’s getting what for Christmas…
HBBC
12/3
Walking – 3
Running – 5
F/V – 1 (dinner is cooking now, yum)
Toning (abs) – .5
Total – 9.5
Total for the week 29.8
Category: HBBC
I'm not sure what vegetables are exactly…are they like chocolate?
Nice work on the fruits and veggies. I don't know what arugula is…might have to check that out!
i'm not doing the challenge, but i know that it is VERY difficult to fit that many servings of fruits and veggies in.
I NEED to get more fruits and veggies in! I'm so concerned about making sure the boys get theirs, but neglect myself. Adding this to my 2010 list…
I definitely have to make a conscious effort if I'm going to get my daily fruits/veggies in. For me, it just takes planning and making sure that I always have them on hand and convenient.
I'm not in the challenge but I eat TONS of vegetables. Almost every day for lunch and often dinner I have a huge mixed green salad (often with spinach or arugula, I love it too), and lots of chopped veg, e.g. Onions, peppers, cuke, celery, tomato and any leftover cooked veg. I love all kinds of squash, squash soup, delicata oven fries, sweet potatoes, oven roasted broccoli and caulflower, green beans, asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms; oh I could go on! I also put veggies in other foods, e.g. Oatmeal with pumpkin, sweet potato oatmeal cookies, pumpkin loaf, pumpkin cake (recipes for most of these on my blog). I love fruit but eat less than I do the veggies due to the sugar and calories. (Yes I know the pumpkin desserts have plenty of both, but they are not my primary source of vegetables!:)
i am trying to eat more veggies and fruits, i do ok with veggies b/c i have a salad at lunch or turkey chili with bunch of veggies, but fruit i find hard to get. i do like smoothies and that seems to be the only way to get them.
I should probably make myself learn to like veggies someday. Maybe 2010. Maybe.
Do banana chocolate chip muffins count? They're homemade (and shaped like snowmen).
When I get home from the store, I go ahead and wash all of the fruit ahead of time. I'm waiting on some stainless steel bowls for Christmas, but right now they just go into Tupperware bowls or in a basket on the counter. This way they are ready to go and helps my laziness when I am starving.I'm not a big cooked vegetable eater, so I eat more raw veggies than anything. So, as it gets colder, it gets harder for me to eat veggies (hence the smoothies). I've also learned to like winter squash soup which freezes well.Good luck!
I'm doing a similar approach as you. Banana and a couple of clementines through the day, huge salad at some point, spinach stuffed into anything I can think of (i.e. pasta, on toast with an egg etc). The veggie part has been the easiest part of the challenge for me….luckily as the rest is tough!
Fruits are easy for me to get in, its the veggies that I struggle with. Now that its winter and fruit is more $$$ I'm not eating quite as much but that's a good thing bc I prob average 8-12 servings of JUST fruit a day over the summer! I can't help it and I gotta take advantage of the low prices :-)I squeeze in veggies in any dish I make- I chop onions, peppers, garlic and cilantro and baby spinach. I also add a corn salsa to my tuna sandwiches. If I have soup I double the size of it by adding a pepper and other veggies. I snack on red peppers and hummus almost every day. One of my fav wraps is salmon(I only buy ant .5lb) with chopped cucumbers, red peppers, red onions, cilantro and balsamic vin. I'm glad u posed this question, I'm curious to learn what others do!! Thanks!
Hi, I'm new :)I have to hide fruits & veggies in everything since my husband is picky about them. He likes white chicken chili with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, peppers, etc. – all chopped very small. And I add extra f & v to recipes – apple crisp with added rhubarb or raspberries or both! Asparagus with prosciutto & cheese is a favorite in our house too.
I definitely find it a challenge with the veggies. I just make sure to have a salad with every lunch and dinner and 3-4 fruits as snacks throughout the day. That's the only way I can get them in!Arugula by the handful?!? That's… unusual. Good for you, though!
I am the worst about getting my fruits and veggies. It really takes a lot of effort especially when on the road. Good for you making it work. And nice job on the run too!
To get 7 in, I have to really be conscious of it during the day. I'm hoping that some good pre-made fruit salad will help out.
Oh dear heavens! I'm TERRIBLE about getting my fruits & veggies in. Consequently, my kids are just as bad. We're such carnivores around here.
I just started making recipies for my daughter from Deceptively Delicious – a cookbook that "sneaks" veggies into a bunch of different stuff. I'm not a big veggie eater, so I have been eating what I make her. She doesnt seem to be liking any of the recipes, but my intake has increased eating all of her rejections 😉
I basically doubled my veggie intake about a year ago by building my meals around produce rather than adding fruits and veggies on the side. So rather than a snack of yogurt with a few berries, I eat a big bowl of berries with a little yogurt. Dinner last night: An acorn squash stuffed with apples, and a spinach salad with dates and pears. I also pack veggies into my breakfast, even adding canned pumpkin to my oatmeal (with some cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar-free maple syrup). Good job squeezing them in — I'm looking forward to checking out your tips!