Five a day?! What you say, lolol !!!!

Hello All,

As you know (or not) it is recommended (by the American Dietetic Association) that we eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, use whole grains, eat calcium rich foods, low fat proteins and limit our use of sugar.  This is wonderful news to help us all optimize our health!  Now I know from experience that as much as I love most fruits and most vegetables that five a day is not an easy task, but let me share with you how I do it.

I start with breakfast.  If I'm having cold cereal, such as Kashi Heart to Heart ( I call them Kashi Cheerios)  I add a banana, or some cut up strawberries and blueberries.  It depends on what is in season (cause you should respect the seasons) and what is on sale at the market that week.  So if it's bananas, that is one fruit down.  If it's the berries, then its two fruits down.

Because I'm hypoglycemic I need to keep my blood sugar level constant, so I munch fruit throughout the day.  What works for me is to cut up my apple and peel my orange, put a small container of berries in my lunch bag and munch to my hearts content as I go about my day.

Let me digress here for a second.  We are told that for optimum weight loss we should eat small meals throughout the day, and I think the term  "small meals" confuses people.  A meal is considered a meat, starch and vegetable by many people, when in fact what I think they mean to say is have an apple or orange or some carrots during the day when you have an urge to munch something.

Okay so what I think is a good schedule is if you have breakfast around 7AM or so, by about 10 you should be looking around for a snack.  I suggest an apple or orange or whatever your favorite fruit is.  I'm a late lunch kinda girl, so about 12 I may be looking around for another snack, at which time I'll have another piece of fruit or a handful of nuts ( this is really hard for me, because unless I've pre-measured the nuts I'm gonna eat more than a handful as I love crunchy foods).  Now it's time for lunch at about 1-1:30 and depending on the time of year, if its winter I want something hot, if its summer I want salad. 

Of course you will do what works for you, and the ADA just makes suggestions on how we should eat, but if your goal is to eat healthier, just think of the joy you'll feel when you've accomplished 5 servings a day of fruit.  I know on the days when I do, I give myself a pat on the back, do the happy dance and then try to work in 5 servings of vegetables. LOLOL

We'll talk about that another day, so for now, set your goal for 5 servings of fruit and give yourself a pat on the back when you've reached your goal.  Take it one day at a time, and soon it will be part of your normal routine.  If you have children you'll be setting a good example for them, and you'll feel lighter and healthier in the long run!

Ciao for now and have a wonderful day!

Much love,

J