Maximizing Daily Fruit and Vegetables Challenge

[Amaranth]

Rosemary suggested:


How about a challenge to maximize the servings of fruits and vegetables in a day? For ease of discussion, rather than estimating actual serving size, we could just report the produce items that were used in quantities larger than seasoning (e.g. not the 1/2 c of carrots that goes into a soup, but roasted carrots as a side).

That sounds like a good one. As bench marks there's:
1) 5 a Day Challenge
2) Furman recommends 4 servings fresh greens, 4 servings cooked greens plus more vegetables/fruits in addition. Anyone know the total?

Usually 1/2 a cup is a serving of an item, but fluffier or watery foods like salad mix or melon are often 1 cup.

[Tussiemussies]

I find this so important jas part of my Heath care is to eat raw fruits and veggies and no sugar. I rarely ever get sick!!!

[Rosemary]

From what I found,
serving size of salad greens = 2c; of cooked or raw veg, 1/2 c.
USDA recommends 2-3 cups/day depending on gender and age.
Dr Weil recommends 4-5/day servings of veggies plus 2-3/day of fruit minimum.
Dr Fuhrman recommends that veg make up 30-60% of calories, fruits 10-40%.

What I had in mind was just maximizing the produce content of one's diet, and also the diversity of produce. So not focusing on serving size so much as just eating produce, and a variety of it.

For instance, today I ate:
breakfast - leftover broccoli/carrot stir-fry with some roasted butternut squash
lunch - zucchini, pea, and potato soup with fresh basil
snacks - pear and banana
dinner - will be a stew of red beans, onions, pork, and green chiles with salad on the side

I'll count this as an "8" item day: broccoli, carrots, squash, zucchini, pea, pear, banana, salad.

[Amaranth]

Rosemary, you also got a good rainbow selection with that collection.

[Tussiemussies]

PS I think I wasn't clear in my post, I am not on a raw food diet, just include them as a large part of my diet..,

[awakenedsoul]

Now that I'm growing most of my own produce, I find I eat a glut of the same foods at once. I just ate through my pineapple guava harvest this month. I'm still finishing up the persimmons. I've also got pomegranates and pumpkins. When I was buying my fruits and vegetables, I selected more of a variety. Now I eat what's ripe in the yard. I think eating in season helps, too. Next in line is lettuce, kale, citrus, and winter veggies...

[Rosemary]

Today - count = 7
breakfast, winter squash and avocado (=2)
lunch, homemade minestrone soup plus some walnuts - estimate 2 servings of veg (carrot, celery, zucchini, kale) in the soup
snack, salad of apple/banana/pomegranate - estimate 2 servings of fruit
dinner, roasted chicken, potatoes, and steamed broccoli (=1)

[Rosemary]

Although I did not stick 100% to my usual clean diet, I did do better this holiday season than any other to date.
Still, I feel better when I DO stick 100% to my usual clean diet. So here I am again...
Today I had a salad with spring mix, apple, and pear for breakfast. (+3)
It's DH's birthday so we're going out to lunch - Indian food. It will be rich but there will be vegetables, and I won't have rice or bread. (+2)
For dinner we'll have the leftover Cuban pork with salad and broccoli. (+2)
So today gets a 7. Not bad considering it's a birthday.

[Sparrow]

I'll join in as well. I've been trying to follow Fuhrman's ETL diet since November and I've managed to follow it about 75% of the time which is not bad for the holidays. Now, though, I'd like to buckle down and lose a little weight as well.

Today's planned meals:

Breakfast: smoothie made in blender from unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 2 big handfuls of kale, 1 tbs grd. flaxseed, and 1/3 cup frozen berries. Plus one egg on the side (not diet approved!)
Lunch: Salad- baby spinach, spring mix lettuce, raw pumpkin seeds, creamy dressing I made with silken tofu. Also white bean, cabbage and potato soup
Dinner: leftover roasted butternut squash, apple and onion with toasted pecans.

I have felt sooo much better eating this way even though I haven't kept to it 100%. My skin is clearer and some uncomfortable digestive issues I had for years have completely gone away. I think in order to lose weight though, I'm going to have to cut down on the starchy vegetables. We'll see.

[Sparrow]

I did not do so well today. My breakfast and lunch were exactly the same as yesterday's (above), but I went out to eat with my husband tonight and totally lost it. I had chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with jalapeno cream gravy, fried okra and a roll. Egads. I might just as well had poured myself a cup of vegetable oil for dinner! The only "good" thing, since I am currently not used to fried food, is that I am now suffering from severe indigestion which should discourage me from doing that again for a long time. It sure tasted good while I was pigging out, though...

[Glo]

I have been eating badly for the past 3 weeks; you know holidays and all. Tomorrow I'm back to eating right--plenty of fruit and veggies, lean protein, low fat and carbs. I feel so much better when I eat those foods. Plus I have 21 pounds to lose and I'm determined to do it this year!

[Rosemary]

DD requested spinach with cheese for breakfast. I am thrilled that she loves spinach and that she has realized that any food can be breakfast.

[razz]

Ok, I am in. The holidays plus other important events have redirected my focus from eating properly. It is time to get back on track.
3 fruit so far and two cooked veggies so need some fresh veggies for supper.

[puglogic]

Yesterday was a banner day for f & v:
Breakfast smoothie: strawberries, blueberries, orange, banana, kale, coconut milk
Lunch: African peanut soup with sweet potatoes, red & green pepper, tofu, etc.
Snacks: A fresh pear, and homemade spicy tomato soup
Dinner: Sweet and spicy brussels sprouts with shiitake mushrooms/green onions/cilantro/tofu, huge salad, apple & cheese

Today I have leftovers of all of the above, a vegetarian chili, and will try to make a kale salad with parmesan cheese, and roasted beets/sweet potatoes. I'm feeling great even after just a few days of working hard at eating veggies!!

[Tussiemussies]

I remember when I was little. -- 50 years ago -- people in my family were from a small coal mining town, living in NJ and they would eat things like fish for breakfast with sides... :)

[Rosemary]

Yesterday was a good day for me, too.
Breakfast: sweet potato with kale and 1/2 avocado (3)
Lunch: Red lentil/carrot daal (1)
Snacks: 2 apples and some grapes (3)
Dinner: Roasted eggplant, roasted cauliflower, and turkey (2) = 9

Today
breakfast, sweet potato, apple, and 1/2 avocado (3)
lunch, spring mix salad with salmon filet and roasted red peppers (1)
dinner, chicken coconut curry with mushrooms and carrots, and roasted cauliflower on the side (3) = 7

[Gina]

I've been following my version of Dr Fuhrman's 'diet' for almost a year and a half. I still eat some meat, and sometimes don't eat as many fruits and veggies as I would like. But I do tend to have a very large pot of veggie/bean soup on hand all the time. Over December I was able to do relatively OK and although I enjoyed goodies that crossed my path, I got to the end of the month without gaining anything, which is great.

I recommitted on Dec 26 to 'get back to it' in order to keep the previously earned health benefits, and to lose some more weight.

So, starting tomorrow, when I can, I'll list the fruits and veggies I've eaten.
No minimum amounts, just a list. :)

[larknm]

As for vegs, I'd gotten into eating just sweet potatoes and one kind of greens every day. This has to do with hating to cook, particularly if I have to combine things, so these would be steamed. I woul go to the grocery store and not recognize anything I wanted. This has been going on for months or more.

Now thanks to you all I have a list, taken from above here, of 16 vegetables, none seem hard to cook. I'm going to branch out--thanks for the help.

[Rosemary]

Today:
Breakfast - roasted eggplant and sauteed mushrooms topped with some veg chili (3); apple (1)
Lunch - salad (2)
Dinner - tacos, heavy on the veggies and light on the meat (2)
total, 8 (9 if I need a snack this afternoon, as it will be more fruit)