Eating our 10-a-day thread

[Breathmiller]

I would like to try to start a project of getting my 10-a-day of fruit and veg in every day.

Anyone fancy joining me? I find groups on here of support so useful.

I know lentils and beans and chickpeas are part of it too so I will up them. I'm vegan so I'm hoping that should make things easier as I eat lentils as part of my diet anyway.

This thread is for everyone who would like to focus on 'eating the rainbow' as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Or anyone who does this already who has any hints and tips?

Done!

Lunch: tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, celery, beetroot, satsumas : 6

Snacks: Banana, strawberries, grapes: 3

Dinner: Broccoli and a ready meal paella that had 1 portion: 2

Total: 11! 😁

Satsuma, couple of dates 1
Red pepper 1
Tomatoes 1
Mushroom, carrot, lettuce 1

Melon > 1

5 and I'm not hungry this evening as I had a huge late lunch tbh.

If I snack later I will have olives.

Good news is we are getting though far more vegetables as I have been prepping or cooking more to use the following day. Now need to restock!

Cooked tomato is rich in lycopene which is maybe how spaghetti hoops make it.
It's comforting if you are catering to fussy eaters I think.
But in general I like Michael Pollan's quote "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

Ok, made it to ten! We had pea and cheddar risotto for tea but I had so many veg with mine I only had a tablespoon full!

Raw courgette
Celery
Tomato (2)
And grapes as a snack

Today's fruit and veggies
3 lots of pulses, so can't officially count them all, but yummy!
Avocado (breakfast with egg & 1 toast)
Left over chickpea curry (lunch)
Lentil & tomato sauce, including onion and courgette (3) with pasta & a salad of
Chicory
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber

Snacks
Peach
Hummus

I need to try making some other veggie dips!

Wow!! Everyone is doing so well.

I have been out for lunch and dinner for my son's 18th but chose well each meal so I made it to 10. Just.

I definitely need to go stock up for tomorrow. A long day at work but I will try to get out and get some veg at some point.

Here's today's list. Only on 17 varieties so far this week. I've noticed that I have eaten a lot of olives this last week of celebrations. I need to back off and eat lighter for the next few weeks. My belt is a bit tight.

1. Raisins
2. Kiwi
3. Sundried Tomatoes/Tomatoes
4. Chickpeas (houmous)
5. Rocket/salad leaves
6. Broccoli
7. Red pepper
8. Olives/onion
9. Satsuma

10. Mushrooms

Evening folks.
B: smoothie with kale, raspberries, pineapple. It was so thick I ate it with a spoon. (2)
L: salad bowl with mixed leaves, tomatoes, puy lentils, grapes, strawberries, pea pesto, Weighed in at 3.5 portions.
D: courgetti with chickpeas and sun dried tomato sauce, plus the usual hodge podge of steamed veg. 5 mighty portions.
Then pudding of blackberry and apple crumble which i don't think had enough fruit in to count as a portion but was ruddy nice
I think 10.5, yay!

Hope your son had a good celebration, "Breathmiller*. We've got an 18 year old too, it's not been the easiest year for young folks has it?

5 again yesterday
Grapefruit
Grapes
Fruit juice
Tomatoes
Peas
(Don’t think there was enough veg in the IKEA vegetable medallions to count 😄)!

Morning all

Is anyone feeling like they are over eating sometimes just to get your 10 in? I do sometimes.
I read a good article about someone who tried this for 7 days and said similar. That it isn't a weight reducing project in it's own right as you can still eat other stuff and some of the things can be calorific.

I get that I need to balance the more calorific olives, sundried tomatoes and the houmuss with cucumber and leafy greens so I do kind of know what I need to do.

I am still enjoying the fact its about eating 'more' rather than a restrictive way of thinking but I definitely need more balance.

It could be of course that I feel a bit tubby after a month of birthday celebrations and I have a few hormonal issues going on at the moment too.

I'm hoping that now I have done with all the birthdays for a few weeks that I can get my head down into catching up with work, study and healthy eating and maybe a bit more exercise. I feel I have been chasing my tail the last few weeks and need some time to catch up with myself. A bit of self care health wise and focusing on my work. And getting back to filling the fridge with healthy food. Probably not today or tomorrow though as I have 2 x 12 hour shifts.

I definitely need to find out the best way to eat my 10 a day when on the hop. It might not be til next week but I will hopefully get some time on Monday to buy in a whole load and fill the freezer again.

Having pea and cannelini soup in the freezer to take to work has been great. Just need more of that.

Morning, I don't usually find I'm overeating but I don't generally eat wheat, and only occasional portions of rice or potatoes. It's like a very lax low carb diet!

I started limiting wheat because it makes me bloat, then I realised if I don't eat wheat or grains during the day I find it much easier to manage hunger / blood sugar etc. I still eat lots of fruit and I love a bit of chocolate in the evenings so it's not proper low carb in any way but it works for me.

I sometimes track my intake on the app Cronometer so I can check I'm getting enough protein, iron etc and can keep an eye on calorie intake too if I want to.

Yes , Iagree. I am wheat intolerant and haven't eaten it for over 15 years. My intake of gf breads has gone up in thr last few years as they have become better but I have noticed the difference in my sugar intake in relation to how much 'bread' I am eating. I've also been finding this way of eating low carb by stealth.

I think it does work, I'm just tired and hormonal which always affects me. I have a good amount of things I found in the house for today.

And now the birthdays are over I can go back to focusing on a healthier diet.

I should have clarified - I do overeat sometimes but it's when I eat bread, pasta, cake, etc and then the veg usually gets pushed out.
It's not the f and v part's fault in my case ☺️

Being tired and hormonal is really rough. I hope you have a peaceful day full of fresh things to eat and feel a bit better.

Yes me too. I have to watch my intake of other things. I've noticed that if I really focus on the 10 a day (and not eating til I'm overfull) then the fruit and veg push out the other things.

But when I eat the other things more then it pushes out the fruit and veg.

So focusing on it is key. For me anyway. I needed to be reminded of that actually.

We just had a really nice kale, courgette, asparagus risotto, made from one of those recipe box schemes. I've tried a few different companies but this one is all plant-based and the meal was a big hit. It was made with oat cream and tasted quite luxurious. They sent me a referral code if anyone wants to try it; you get £10 off your first two boxes and I get a credit on my account. Please ignore if not of interest but I thought it was quite appropriate for our aims!

grubby.co.uk/order?code=GRUBBY-LEHTECL

Thanks again for the thread @Breathmiller. I did a FD yesterday and reached 7 which is more than I would normally. FD again today and I'm aiming for 8 😇 😂

Peach
Moroccan lentil pot from M&S (2, even thought the packaging claimed it was 3 I’m as sceptical about that as I am about spaghetti hoops counting 😂)
Cannellini beans (1)
Tomatoes (1)
Cucumber (1)
Celery/shallot (1)

And I'll definitely take a look at the link @TheNarwhalBalloon 😊

So great to hear how everyone is doing! I wasn’t very hungry today and struggled to get my ten in. Also skipped breakfast which didn’t help!

Courgette
Orange pepper
Celery
Mango
Banana
Beetroot
More celery
Grapes

Eight in total
But this morning I had lost four pounds in four days!

I'm impressed at the high veg counts even on FDs and without breakfast!

My total for the day was
B: peach, melon (1 in total)
L: salad leaves, carrot, beetroot, puy lentils, pea pesto, avocado, tomato (4 portions)
D: courgette, asparagus, kale risotto, with bean salad, plus carrots and brussels sprouts (probably 4)
Snack: an orange (1)

I think that's 10. I am really full, the dinner was enormous (and carby with the rice)

B: Avocado & warm tomato toast 1.5
L: Mackerel with broad beans, edamame, peas, radish, grated carrot salad. Grapes 2.8
D: Peri chicken with romaine salad, cucumber, onion 1

So 5.3 portions

1 Melon
2 Blueberries
3 Red pepper, onion
4 Mushroom
5 Tomatoes
6 Avocado
7 Peas
8 Olives

Dinner wasn't very veg heavy, someone else was cooking! So I took a small portion and added some raw tomato and an avocado.

Not a great day for leafy greens which I try to focus on eating. But successful on volume, which is purely down to this thread!

1. Apple & Ginger (juiced)
2. Raisins
3. Peas
4. Cannelini beans
5. Mango
6. Mushrooms/kidney beans
7. Tomatoes

A busy day at work and I didn't want to overeat so I'm pleased with what I had.
I also had a small home made chilli out of the freezer that I thought was lentils but was with a fake mince thing. It was delicious but meant dinner didn't have a huge veg input to my day. But I've just finished it and am full so no need for anything else at this time of night.

Well done everyone.

That recipe box looks great.

I had zoats this morning, porridge with grated zucchini cooked in. Plus a portion of blueberries, very filling!

Salad lunch
Chicory
Mixed leaves
Avocado
Carrot
Small amount celery & few olives
Cucumber

Steak dinner with
sweet potato wedges
peas
broccoli
mushrooms
Small amount red slaw
Peach

Zoats sounds an interesting concept.

Made me realise how much I love courgetti. Might have that soon. That's going to be a good way to get more veg in.

Oats with finely grated carrot is another option, "coats" Good with cinnamon! I love courgetti too, and spirilized butternut squash "noodles". I must buy some butternut squash, that's a veg I haven't had for a while.

Zoats! I love courgetti but zoats is a new one on me. I can't get to grips with porridge, sadly, I think it's a hang up from being made to eat rice pudding at school as a very fussy child. Anything sloppy with warm milk in alarms me. But I love the name zoats and may suggest it to the kids!

Wildernesstips you have reminded me I bought frozen edamame beans and keep meaning to have some with my salad bowl at lunch. I'll do it today.