Fruits and vegetables are low in calories while simultaneously loaded with vitamins, minerals and fibre which our bodies need to function properly. However, many of us still struggle to include enough of these nutritious foods in our diet. Outlined below are ten easy and effective ways you can use to start adding more fruits and vegetables to your weekly diet so you can enjoy the numerous benefits these healthy foods provide:
1) Start Your Day With Some Fruit
Instead of having a pastry or cereal for breakfast, start your day with a piece of fruit. You can have an apple, banana, orange, or any other fruit of your choice. Add some greek yoghurt to ramp up protein intake and you have a tasty breakfast which can be prepared in seconds.
2) Follow The 20% Rule
As recommended in the book Mindless Eating. The 20% rule implies you should decrease your serving size of energy dense foods like pasta by 20% whilst increasing the serving size of veggies by the same 20%. Same quantity of food. But with more nutrition and fewer calories.
3) Follow The Half Plate Rule
At each meal occupy half your plate with veggies. This leaves less room on your plate for higher calorie foods. Similar end result to the 20% rule above.
4) Snack On Plants
If you snack between meals then veer away from processed snacks and eat some fruits or veggies instead. This will allow you to fend off hunger with fewer calories and simultaneously increases the nutrient-density of your diet. You can cut up some carrots, celery, or peppers and dip them in hummus or guacamole or have some sliced apples or berries as examples.
5) Set A Fruit And Veggie Target
The classic government recommendation (5 portions of fruit and veg per day) has the added advantage of being less nebulous and more trackable than some of the previous examples. Good if you are motivated by stats and numbers! Set the target even higher if you want
6) Take The Colourful Plate Challenge
Staring at a plate of beige food? Chances are it’s not particularly good for you. Enhance the health of each meal by adding some colour in the form of fruit or veg. Turn it into a challenge. How many colourful meals can you eat in a row?
7) Eat The Rainbow
Over the course of a week see if you can eat some fruits or veggies from all the main colour groups. Green e.g. brocolli, spinach, kale. Red e.g. raspberries, cherries, tomatoes. Orange e.g. butternut squash, carrots, pineapple. White e.g. garlic, parsnip, apples. Purple e.g. beets, blueberries, blackberries. This will give your body a wide range of vitamins and minerals over the course of a week.
8) Make A Smoothie
Smoothies are a great way to include more fruit and vegetables in your diet. You can blend together your favourite fruits like bananas, berries, and mangoes, and add some spinach, kale or protein powder for an extra nutritional boost.
9) Batch Cook Your Favourite Soup
Similar to the smoothies suggestion above. Soups are a great way to pack lots of veggies and nutrition into a tasty and easily consumable meal. Batch cook to save a ton of time and simply reheat a portion when needed.
10) Eat A Salad Per Day
By consuming a salad every day you can quickly ramp up your intake of healthy veggies and boost your overall health and well-being. Salads are like a much more effective multi-vitamin pill! As an added bonus, salads are typically low in calories which makes them an excellent choice for those who are trying to manage their weight.
From starting your day with a piece of fruit, batch cooking soup, munching on a salad to snacking on sliced veggies there are many ways to add more fruits and vegetables to your day. Choose the ideas which resonate with you the most and get started today!