Thursday, January 25, 2007

5 a day

The other day I thought that I would attempt to eat the five servings of fruit and vegetables recommended by the government. It turned out to be much harder then I thought it would be, because I also stop eating when I am full.

Breakfast: 1 banana, one small orange, a cup of tea, and 1/2 liter of water.

Lunch: 2 pita pockets in which I inserted half of an avocado into each pocket.

Dinner: About one cup mashed sweet potatoes, and about half a pizza that I cooked. Mr. M ate the other half. The toppings were fresh tomatoes and fresh chopped basil. So I had about half a tomato and some basil thrown in.

Note that I didn't even eat any meat that day. So how realistic do you think the 5 a day plan is? I really believe that Americans should eat more fresh produce, but a little overwhelming to someone just starting out. (I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, so this wasn't that hard for me.) Maybe we should start people out on the 3 a day plan, so that they wouldn't feel like failures and continue on the crazy x a day plan.

2 comments:

molly jean said...

Thanks for the word of encouragement!
In many ways my situation is improving. I am going to be a full time employee soon with benifits instead of just working full time. Also I have a part-time job tutoring one on one using the Barton Reading and Spelling System.(and I'm not even sure how to spell dislexia!
I have also been trying to increase my veg. consumption. Eating salad(baby lettuce, spinich, cabbage,tomatoes) without dressing - with my figers is one of my favorites. Also for easiness I buy bags of mixed vegetables and try to eat a lots of them with one protein at supper. Its easier to eat fruit but more expensive especially in the winter.

Liz said...

Well, one thing that may make getting your 5 a day a little easier is that we think of a serving of veggies as being bigger than it is. I read somewhere that 16 grapes is one serving. A 1/2 c of mashed potatoes is one serving. So you may be undercutting yourself. I'm sure you are getting way more than 5 in one day.