3 Effortless Ways to Eat More Fruits and Veggies Daily

Everywhere you turn wellness experts are telling you to eat more fruits and veggies.

You totally get it.

Yes, fruits and veggies are full, and I mean FULL, of nutrition (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, etc.).

Yes, people who eat more fruits and veggies live longer, healthier lives, not to mention protect their bodies and minds from just about every chronic disease out there.

Yes, eating more veggies can help you maintain a healthy body weight, and even lose some fat (as long as you don’t bread and fry them, or cover them with cream sauce).

Your question is not

“Should I eat more fruits and vegetables?” 

but

“How can I actually do it?”

Believe me, as a Wellness Coach I’m chock full of amazing, creative and delicious ways to help you eat more fruits and veggies.

Before we dive in, always start from where you are. If you’re not used to any fruits or veggies (like I was), try for just two per day. Build up from there. Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you need to overhaul your entire diet I one day. Wherever you’re at now, I challenge you to increase it by two per day.

Now, let’s dive into my 3 helpful ideas on exactly HOW to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet!

Sneak Fruits & Veggies into Other Dishes

OK, this one may be, shall we say, “sneaky,” but I’m all about your health, so hear me out.

Some dishes are super-easy to enhance with a bit of strategically placed produce. What do you think of these ideas?

• Add ½ apple, a small handful of spinach, or extra berries into your smoothie.
• Dice or shred up an extra bit of carrot, broccoli, zucchini or pepper into your soup.
• Love sandwiches? Why not add an extra slice of tomato, lettuce or cucumber to it?
• How about chicken, tuna, or salmon salad? Dice up a stalk of celery and throw it in.
• Love to bake? How about substituting ¼ cup of the sugar for ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce?
• Used to having a small salad? Why not try a larger one?
• Making tomato sauce? Add in some extra mushrooms or peppers.

Make Fruits & Veggies Taste Delicious with a Meal

• Steam some frozen corn and add a touch of olive oil and your favorite herb or spice.
• Use veggies as your sandwich “bread” by making a lettuce wrap.
• Don’t be afraid to spice them up! Try sautéing them for 10 minutes with a drizzle of oil and flavor them with pepper, garlic, ginger or cumin.

Opting for Fruits & Veggies as Snacks

• Why not throw a banana, apple or a couple of clementines into your lunch bag?
• Ditch the chips and dip - Instead try some carrot, celery, broccoli, cucumber or cauliflower with a dip like hummus, guacamole, or even your favorite salad dressing?
• Love sweetened yogurt? Buy plain, and immerse it with fresh or frozen berries.

YOUR CHALLENGE

Take two of these suggestions and try them tomorrow. Just add two more fruits and veggies to the number you’re at today. Two more.

And if you’re not an instant fan, well, try again. Research shows that sometimes it takes our taste buds several tries before actually beginning to like a new flavor. Try it; you might just find some new faves.

You can do it!

Let me know your favorite ideas in the comments below.

REFERENCES

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/dont-like-vegetables
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-fruits-vegetables

3 Fruits That Can Help With Weight Loss

When you start a weight loss journey, one of the first things you will probably do is look to your diet and make changes. When you do this, you may think of removing foods, but you may overlook the importance of adding certain foods. There are certain fruits that can help you drop weight and reach the goals you have a little faster. The major benefit of adding many of these fruits is the ability to have as much of them as you would like without taking on too many unnecessary or empty calories.

Watermelon

Watermelon is a go to for weight loss. There are a few reasons why. The first is the hydration benefit of the fruit. It is over 90 percent water. This means that you are keeping yourself hydrated while delivering the second benefit that watermelon has to offer to your body, amino acids. This combination comes in at less than 40 calories per serving. This means you are getting nutrients, vitamins, hydration, and a filling bowl of fruit at very little cost to your weight. In fact, you are releasing the hydration into your body which helps move toxins out. This means that the toxins are no longer stored and neither are any blocks that may be preventing you from dropping weight.

Apples

It may surprise you to find out that apples can help you drop unwanted weight. Apples also do have a high content of water and can be a good hydration option. Apples also help boost your metabolism and help to regulate your hormones and your blood sugar. Therefore, it is used as part of a cinnamon and apple infused water for people who are trying to drop weight quickly. Apples can be added to juices as well as to water infusions. They are also available in most areas year-round.

Bananas

If you are looking for a fruit that helps you drop weight, but can also give you a post workout energy boost then your answer is bananas. They pack energy into just a bit over 100 calories. They are quick to eat, easy to carry with you, and they can also help with inflammation. Inflammation can prevent you from dropping weight since it can retain water and can cause pain in the joints and blockages in your system, especially your digestive tract. Keep that in mind when you grab your next banana for a post workout boost.

These are only three of the fruits that can help you with weight loss and how they can help. You can also consider superfoods mixed with these fruits, having these fruits as juices, and keeping some dried fruits on hand as well. This will help give you quick on the go snacks and ensure you are getting as many fruits as you can during the day.

Eating Fruits and Vegetables for a Healthier You

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that we eat between five and nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily. When you first hear that number, it may seem like a lot, but it is much easier than you think to fit that many servings of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. For one thing, the shelves of the grocery stores are bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, vegetables and fruits are some of the least expensive, most nutrient rich, foods in the supermarket. With all these fruits and vegetables to choose from, it can be simple to make these nutritious, delicious foods part of your daily meals and snacks.

When you consider how much a serving really is, it is quite painless to get five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. For instance, the recommended daily amount equates to a quite reasonable two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day. When you consider how many fruits and vegetables are available, and how low the prices usually are, reaching this daily goal is pretty easy.

One great way to get the nutrients you need from fruits and vegetables every day is to take full advantage of the variety of these foods available. Eating the same thing every day quickly becomes boring, so why not pick a variety of fruits and vegetables, in every color of the rainbow and in every conceivable shape, size and texture, to give yourself a varied diet every day.

When shopping for fruits and vegetables, it is important to choose a variety of different colors. This is for more than purely artistic reasons. Different color fruits and vegetables have different types of nutrients, and choosing a variety of colors will help ensure you get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day.

Finding new recipes is another great way to ensure you get those five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Almost everyone likes to try out new recipes, and these new recipes may just provide the stimulus you need to eat all those fruits and veggies.

New recipes can also provide you the opportunity to try out some fruits and vegetables you have never tried before. For instance, everyone has eaten oranges, but have you tried kiwi fruit or mangoes? How about spinach or kale? Trying new things is a great way to find new favorites while getting the best nutrition available.

Many people mistakenly think that they do not need to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day if they just take a vitamin supplement. Nothing could be further from the truth. That is because fruits and vegetables contain far more than the micronutrients identified by science and synthesized in vitamin supplements. While these micronutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E are important to good health, so too are the hundreds of other elements that are contained in healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. These elements are not available in any pill, they must be ingested through a healthy, balanced diet that contains plenty of fruits and vegetables.

In addition, fruits and vegetables are much less costly than vitamin pills. Fruits and vegetables are very inexpensive, especially when purchased in season and grown locally. In the long run, getting the nutrition you need from the food you eat is much less expensive, and much better for you, than popping those vitamin supplements every day.

So, don’t forget to get your five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It may seem like a lot, but you can meet this quite reasonable goal simply by including fruits and vegetables as snacks, as garnishes, as side dishes and as meals.