Easy Ways to Eat More Greens

I know I get all my veggies -- love 'em!!!

My idea--- get those steam in the container frozen veggies. They can come with you to work, or be sitting at home...
I used to only buy fresh veggies, but sometimes I've be too lazy to eat them... but now whenever I want a snack, they're so easy, they're the first thing I go for. And delicious at that!

My DH's intake has gone up by me sending a bag of carrots or broccoli/cauliflower with him to work for "mindless" munching - replacing some worse stuff too... he'll eat it if it's most convenient though he'd never have chosen it if he had a whole thing of options.
Mainly-- if it's there, you'll probably eat it.

Never thought about having fruit smoothie after dinner. I'll give it a try!

Growing up as a kid I was told this (in a cool song that I remember to this day watching after school and on Saturday mornings): Five a day is the magic rule, more is okay, less is uncool!

I think they were referring to both fruit and veggie servings.

I love the idea of dividing the plate into 2 to "measure" your intake - especially since I have an obsessive personality - measuring is fun for me! I know that mine would be totally lacking! My mom and I were just comparing our veggie intake - she makes 2 cans of veggies for herself and my dad (with a few leftovers) and I make 1 can for my family of 4. I think veggies are probably about 1/4 of our plates at dinner. Ouch!

Oh gosh, this is me. I always think I eat more vegetables and fruit that I do. I love this idea of 1/2 the plate. My daughter will revolt, but that's okay.

A few months ago, I started recording how many fruits and veggies I was eating. That alone has helped me up my intake. A day with only 2-3 servings is not enough!

I love the plate trick. My other trick is to always have a big salad with mixed greens or spinach for either lunch or dinner. That way I know I'm getting in most of my servings. Then I always have a piece of fruit for breakfast and another as a snack later in the day. That gives me two fruit servings, which is just right for me. :)

Oh, and I try to always choose whole fruit over juice! You get more food for the cals!

I also use the half plate method,and when I grab a snack or meal I try to have some type of fruit or veggie first, I also love my fruit smoothie for dessert.

I eat veggie's and/or fruit with every meal that I eat. Just to make sure I am always ahead of the game when it comes to getting all the vegtables I need in a day, I also have a greens drink with my breakfast and one just before I go to bed.

Asian stir fry is really a great way to go. If you stir fry up an entire bell pepper, an entire onion, and a cup of mushrooms, with your pork/chicken/tofu, you've got quite a huge meal. You don't even need the rice!

I love me some veggies, I guess being a vegetarian adds to that, seeing as most of what I eat are vegetables! But I also love some fruit. I think I get plenty of both...probably more fruit then I should.

But, I have been working though on trying to get more veggies then fruit. Instead of reaching for say an apple for a snack...I have been trying to reach for say some squash!

Oh, I love the little line of Simply Steam veggies by..I think green giant. They are yummy and such an easy thing to fix to have as a snack or lunch!

I know I definitely get plenty of veggies and fruit every day...I LOVE THEM!!! I usually make myself a big salad for dinner with various lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., and I'll eat that with a small serving of the main entree. And instead of snacking on chips or pretzels when I'm watching TV, I eat carrots, celery, broccoli, and jicama pieces that I dip into salsa. It's kind of like eating chips and dip, but way healthier.

If you are one of those people that really hates to eat veggies, try making things like spaghetti sauce and chili with LOTS of cut up veggies in it so you can't really taste them. Sometimes I make pasta "sauce" out of pureed cooked carrots, spinach, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, and onions...mostly spinach and just a little of everything else. Toss it with a little pasta and it'll fool ANY veggie hater.

Here's a tip: make yourself 'snack boles' of prepared bite-sized vegies and leave them around the house. Celery is good for it, as are carrots and spinach.

I tend to saute whatever veggies are in season and on hand. I always got a big kick out of having lots of different colors because they made such a beautiful entree. When I read that the different colors represented different phytonutrients that protect against different things, it became kind of a game to see how many different colors I could get into my veggie saute. My husband and daughter don't understand why I muck up a perfectly good saute with a few brussels sprouts, for example, but it's a great way to get veggies we wouldn't normally eat by themselves. When they're all sauteed together, they all taste good to me. And I definitely pile half of my plate full of veggies! Hard not to when they look so good....

I like the half plate idea. I know I probably don't get enough veggies.
But another person telling me to eat fewer fruit? Fruit sugars are different than just refined sugars, and I really don't care if I go over my calorie limit if it is by fruit. Though I usually don't go over because the fruits fill me up and keep me satisfied for quite a while.

Just for what it is worth, and as a tip, any time that I eat, -if it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I only eat or choose a plate if there is at least one or two servings of Vegetables included as a rule. If you make this two veggies as a minimum and get into the 'habit' that will always automatically be 6 + veggies per day.

What I do, since I feel like I have a crazy busy life between two jobs and grad school, is that I do all my shopping for the week on Sunday and then I start cleaning and storing my veggies for grab and go.

I eat breakfast on the train to work so an apple, orange, or banana are a great grab option. Then I try and eat a low carb/no sugar yogurt.

Then my veggies I cut up and put in reusable glad/ziplock storage containers. That way each day I just grab it and shove it in my bag. I buy a container of hummus and take it in on Monday and leave it at work.

Since I am a vegetarian (ok, ok I eat eggs and fish) I usually eat one of those two at lunch with the veggies.

Then dinner also has a non-starchy (best if it's a dark green) vegetable and a little bit of carbs and a good serving of protein.

To make sure you can eat fresh veggies each night, if you can't make them for dinner each night, then on Saturday or Sunday I roast up several mixed veggies and eat that throughout the week (1 squash, 1 zuchini, 1 eggplant, 1 red pepper, 8 baby carrots, 1 green pepper, and tomaotes).

That way I can just warm them up for dinner on crazy weeks or combine them with pasta. Pre-planning is the BEST way to succeed.

I just have to think about EVERY possible excuse that could run in my way and plan for it NOT to happen. I really make sure to utilize Saturday or Sunday to do all the planning, shopping, and prepping.

Oh thank goodness you added that line about fruit in breakfast. I couldn't imagine eating my oatmeal and adding squash or broccoli to it. Now berries... yes! So maybe change the line to say that 1/2 a plate should be veggies or fruit?

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I loooove broccoli! But I can't eat it because I'm allergic to it. But after I tried the smoothie, I wasn't allergic anymore. Talk about a miracle. Yummy!