Getting your fruits and veggies
Why more fruits and veggies?
Fruits and veggies are a great source of nutrients that the body needs to function optimally. Calcium, fiber, folate, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C just to name a few. Water soluble vitamins (vitamin C, B vitamins, folic acid) are contained in fruits and veggies. Water soluble vitamins are not stored in the body as fat soluble vitamins are which make daily and consistent intake even more important. Not to mention, they play a huge role in decreasing disease risk! When we prioritize fruits and veggies in our meals, we leave less room for poorer food choices.
How should I implement?
The best place to start is 1 cupped handful of fruit or veggies at EACH meal. If you are already achieving that then you can build to 400 grams of fruits and veggies per day. Then working up to 800g of fruits and veggies per day.
One of the most important facets of increasing your fruits and vegetables is accessibility. Getting your fruits and veggies prepped and ready to go so you can decrease as many barriers to include fruits and veggies in your meals. That can be washing and chopping at the start of the week, purchasing pre-chopped, or using steam in bag frozen veggies.
What if I don’t like fruits and vegetables?
There is a long long list of fruits and veggies to try (you probably haven’t tried all of them!) and some things you might need to try more than once and try different ways. Maybe you don’t like a certain cooking method or seasoning and just need to try a different recipe. You can eat fruits and veggies raw like cold salads! There are so many cooking styles: marinate, grill, sauté, boil, or steam.
Pinterest and Instagram are full of inspirations and recipes. Watching cooking shows while cooking and prepping can give you some ideas as well! We have included some examples:
https://diethood.com/easy-oven-roasted-vegetables/
http://www.sevengracesblog.com/recipe-fashion-organization/
We have included a list of fruits and veggies that you can take with you on your next grocery trip.
