Fruits and vegetables

So after looking over my food diaries for the last few days, i think i'm doing ok calorie wise, but i'm a lil worried about how much fat content and sugar i'm taking in. So i think i need to start trying to add in more fruits and veggies. Anybody have any ideas on how to add more in?

Simplest solution: buy them, eat them :p

If you usually find yourself snacking on things like cookies and candy etc., it's time to curb the sugar cravings :) You don't have to cut out all treats, just have them once in a while instead of every time you grab for a snack. Things like pears, apples, tangerines, kiwifruit...are all still pretty sweet but they provide a lot of nutrients and healthy carbs that you simply can't get from a choc chip cookie.

If you don't eat fruit or veg with your meals, start incorporating them! You could have oatmeal for breakfast and throw in a banana, for lunch have a salad (doesn't have to be boring at all!) with your sandwich or whatever you're having, get a nice selection of veggies to go with your potatoes and meat for dinner. You can add lots of herbs and spices to liven things up a little, and fruit also makes for great desserts (banana in the oven, yum!).
You'll find that you can have a huge amount of veggies for few calories, they're great to fill out a meal :) Here's a real eye opener lalabanana posted a couple of days ago.

Fruit and veg are essential in getting enough nutrients daily. You could live on fajitas for a month (still sticking to your calorie target) and lose weight, but it isn't the smartest thing to do health wise.

I think the key is preparing most of your meals yourself instead of eating out - instead of going for a greasy burrito, make a healthy version at home :D It pays going to some food websites like taste.com.au (I love this one), bbcgoodfood.com etc. for some great ideas to start eating more fruit and veg :)

I've been eating a fruit in the morning, such as an orange or apple. Yogurt is also a  good way to get some fruit in, or adding a banana to my special K cereal. You could always make a smootie and for a frozen treat later make extra when you make your smoothie drink and put the rest in the freezer.

Vegetables- I like all kinds of vegetables so this really isn't so difficult for me. I would say if you don't like vegetables though, portion them out throughout the day so you aren't "suffering" by eating a big portion. Vegetables make good snacks, I usually eat 1/2 cup of a vegetable during my lunch and then again at dinner, then a veggie snack or two throughout the day. You can also puree them up for a nice veggie drink.

I hope I gave you some ideas! Good luck!

Kateveeoh -

Thanks for the suggestions, i appreciate it. it seems like every time i buy them, they just sit there, but i'll proably eat them mre if i do try new things w/ then like w/ ther herbs and everything that u suggested, and thanks for the links! i'm going to check those out now!

Beaker_317

Thank you for your suggestions too!! The smoothie drink, is definetly somethin i can do. I have the biggest problem w/ veggies, so maybe i'll hide a couple in the smoothie, Ha! Thanks again!!

You're welcome :D

Have fun experimenting, a roasted red pepper (so good in salads) tastes very different from a raw one; like you said, try to 'hide' some of them (savoy cabbage in mash, mmm!), do bakes, stews... If there are vegetables or fruits you really don't like, you don't have to force yourself to have them. Tastes do change over time, so if you hated cauliflower as a child, you might find yourself loving it now.

Good luck :D!

The smoothies are awesome! You can pack them with as many veggies or fruits as you like and you are getting your veggies and/or fruits in. I like them a lot. When I drink a fruit smootie I feel like I'm having a reward for all of my hard work when in reality I'm just get in some good nutrition :)

I have to agree with you on tastes change! When I was a child I HATED peas, brocholi, cauliflower, etc. but I love them now. And there are some that I prefer cooked over raw. I think it just takes some experimenting to find what you like.

Everyone gave pretty good suggestions so far, and fruit is the easiest thing to add so here are some vegetable suggestions:

• Try sweet potatoes. Make them into fry shapes, add spices,a and bake them. Or poke a few holes in them and microwave them for a few minutes for a quick baked potato.
• Make salads. There are tons of ways to dress these up and still end up with a healthy salad. There are MANY flavors of lighter dressings. You caneven add nuts, chickpeas, other vegetables, like broccoili, etc. I'd stay away from the croutons though...
• Eat baby carrots, which have a sweet flavor to them. Dip them in hummus, or light dressing, or eat them plain.
• Try vegetables that you have never heard of before. I recently tried jicama and edamame and I wish I had sooner :)
• "Sneak" vegetables into your food. Add peppers and spinach to your pasta sauce. Add peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc. to your omeletes. 

Buy some berries, bananas, melons, oranges, grapefruit whatever you like. Cut them up and put them in a Tupperware container in the frig. I also cut fruit and veggies up and put it in snack sized baggies. I take one of each to work everyday and that is how I get my daily servings of each. Do the same for veggies. Cut up peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower and keep it in the frig. I do a lot of cooking and planning ahead of Sunday for the week.

I really like to go for carrot sticks or carrot chips for snacking because they have a satisfying texture and they're full of vitamins

Also, raspberries and blue berries are full of anti-oxidants and are sweet and tangy just like my favorite sweets so they're easy to transition to. The only down side is they dont have a very long shelf life.

Try fruits and veggies in a variety of colors, because the colors can be indicitive of the nutrients they hold!

Red Fruits and Vegetables

Beets
Blood oranges
Cherries
Cranberries
Guava
Papaya
Pink grapefruit
Pink/Red grapefruit
Pomegranates
Radicchio
Radishes
Raspberries
Red apples
Red bell peppers
Red chili peppers
Red grapes
Red onions
Red pears
Red peppers
Red potatoes
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Watermelon

Contain nutrients such as lycopene, ellagic acid, Quercetin, and Hesperidin, to name a few. These nutrients reduce the risk of prostate cancer, lower blood pressure, reduce tumor growth and LDL cholesterol levels, scavenge harmful free-radicals, and support join tissue in arthritis cases.

Orange and Yellow fruits and vegetables

Apricots
Butternut squash
Cantaloupe
Cape Gooseberries
Carrots
Golden kiwifruit
Grapefruit
Lemon
Mangoes
Nectarines
Oranges
Papayas
Peaches
Persimmons
Pineapples
Pumpkin
Rutabagas
Sweet corn
Sweet potatoes
Tangerines
Yellow apples
Yellow beets
Yellow figs
Yellow pears
Yellow peppers
Yellow potatoes
Yellow summer squash
Yellow tomatoes
Yellow watermelon
Yellow winter squash

Contain beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, flavonoids, lycopene, potassium, and vitamin C. These nutrients reduce age-related macula degeneration and the risk of prostate cancer, lower LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, promote collagen formation and healthy joints, fight harmful free radicals, encourage alkaline balance, and work with magnesium and calcium to build healthy bones.

Green vegetables and Fruit

Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocados
Broccoflower
Broccoli
Broccoli rabe
Brussel sprouts
Celery
Chayote  squash
Chinese cabbage
Cucumbers
Endive
Green apples
Green beans
Green cabbage
Green grapes
Green onion
Green pears
Green peppers
Honeydew
Kiwifruit
Leafy greens
Leeks
Lettuce
Limes
Okra
Peas
Sno Peas
Spinach
Sugar snap peas
Watercress
Zucchini

Green vegetables contain chlorophyll, fiber, lutein, zeaxanthin, calcium, folate, vitamin C, calcium, and Beta-carotene. The nutrients found in these vegetables reduce cancer risks, lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels, normalize digestion time, support retinal health and vision, fight harmful free-radicals, and boost immune system activity.

Blue and purple fruits and vegetables

Black currants
Black salsify
Blackberries
Blueberries
Dried plums
Eggplant
Elderberries
Grapes
Plums
Pomegranates
Prunes
Purple Belgian endive
Purple Potatoes
Purple asparagus
Purple cabbage
Purple carrots
Purple figs
Purple grapes
Purple peppers

Contain nutrients which include lutein, zeaxanthin, resveratrol, vitamin C, fiber, flavonoids, ellagic acid, and quercetin. Similar to the previous nutrients, these nutrients support retinal health, lower LDL cholesterol, boost immune system activity, support healthy digestion, improve calcium and other mineral absorption, fight inflammation, reduce tumor growth, act as an anticarcinogens in the digestive tract, and limit the activity of cancer cells.

White fruits and vegetables

Bananas
Brown pears
Cauliflower
Dates
Garlic
Ginger
Jerusalem artickoke
Jicama
Kohlrabi
Mushrooms
Onions
Parsnips
Potatoes
Shallots
Turnips
White Corn
White nectarines
White peaches

Contain nutrients such as beta-glucans, EGCG, SDG, and lignans that provide powerful immune boosting activity. These nutrients also activate natural killer B and T cells, reduce the risk of colon, breast, and prostate cancers, and balance hormone levels, reducing the risk of hormone-related cancers.

I didnt mean to flood your post but I hope this helps 

- Jessica

I've recently discovered blueberries!  Very low cal for a good sized serving.  Good to just snack on, or I add it into my usually very dry sugar-free instant oatmeal or low fat yogurt.  An added bonus -- they seem to be pretty cheap, I'm talking $3/pint, not bad in my book.

Original Post by ttatwork:

I've recently discovered blueberries!  Very low cal for a good sized serving.  Good to just snack on, or I add it into my usually very dry sugar-free instant oatmeal or low fat yogurt.  An added bonus -- they seem to be pretty cheap, I'm talking $3/pint, not bad in my book.

 Blueberries are a super food. One of the best things you can eat. So are sweet potatoes. All berries are excellent for you.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/s uperfoods-everyone-needs

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/ chronicle/archive/2006/01/04/FDGQBGG57F1.DTL

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/10foods_bad.html

Hey everyone, thank you so much for all of your tips, i've been taking our advice and yesterday and today i did well w/ gettin mor fruits and veggies in. Thanks again!!!

You know if sugar was any other food than sugar, no one would eat it.  That is, if it wasn't sickeningly sweet it would have not a single redeeming quality.  It's horribly bad for your health, contains no nutritional content other than pure calories and is a highly refined and processed food, nothing like the package it came in from Mother Nature.  

A few years ago I decided to give up sugar, along with pretty much all processed foods.   It can be done and quite easily in fact, but it takes work and commitment.  Once you are off sugar, you will find a whole new world of taste sensation in all fruits and vegetables.  Everything tastes better.  Apples, pears, bananas, oranges are so sweet, you'll wonder why you ever ate sugar to begin with.  Your taste buds will adjust and your body will thank you.  You don't reallize how pervasive sugar is in packaged and processed foods until you start to give up foods with sugar and realize there is almost nothing you can eat in a box or bag that doesn't have it...