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?

@TheNarwhalBalloon but you still managed 5 yesterday, even with dinner out and without your veg snack plate 😊

I managed 10 yesterday, but that would have been 6 if I hadn't had a massive salad with my dinner

Kiwi, blueberries (2)
Lentil and root veg curry (2)
Big salad -lettuce, tomato, cucumber, beetroot, avocado, artichoke hearts - (4 est.)
Mushrooms/spinach, broccoli (2)

1. Strawberries
2. Raw carrot & hummus
3. Apple
4. Patty pan squash “pasta”
5. Tomatoes
6. Satsuma
7. Grapes

Think I need to tip the fruit:veg ratio the other way. The squash pasta was surprisingly okay and actually just as filling.

PTDG thank you, that's a positive spin on it!I love the sound of your food yesterday, there are a lot of my favourite veg in there and the combinations sound gorgeous.

Wilderness I like those patty pan squash too. Have you tried courgette pasta or butternut squash? I love the names, courgetti and squoodles

Today went quite well for me:
B: strawberries, grapes with yogurt and seeds -(1)
L: veg soup with chickpeas, broccoli, leeks, cauli, carrots, parsnips and spinach. I left it very chunky and there were 3 portions of veg quantity wise.
D: meatballs with hummus, corn, peas, and cauli, (2 veg and 1 hummus if that counts) )
S: a large satsuma (1)
8 portions

Loving that you're all still posting. I would have given up by now but it keeps me thinking about it.

Only 5 yesterday. Went out for lunch then had a bean stew for dinner.

1. Houmous
2. Rocket
3. Tomatoes
4. 3 kinds of Beans in a bean stew
5. Celery

Half a pear (in a cake )

Oh wait. It will only be 4 as the beans and the chickpeas in the houmous only count as one. Hey ho. It was all delicious.

I need to go to the fruit and veg shop, we've been a bit lacking here trying to use stuff up as I hate waste. It is so much easier when you have lots in and at hand.

I also love courgetti. Got my own little spiraliser and it's so fun to make too. I might have that for dinner one day this week.

I think as we're aiming for 10 rather than 5, that we're allowed two portions of beans/ chickpeas etc. I'm quite flexible on the scoring

Hello all. Yes this thread brings f and v back into focus!
Yesterday I wasn't really thinking about it but did do an automatic salad at lunch as I had it all to hand. Plums have to be eaten, though nearly finished now. They've been an easy win.

1 Plums, fresh and cooked
2 Tomatoes, olives
3 Lettuce, spinach, spring onions
4 Red and green peppers, courgette
5 Mixed beans (from tin, very handy last minute addition) red onion, kale.

I don't think I'd ever eat a full portion of kale!

Yes, i agree. Although I felt I was pushing it when I only got to 5 anyway.
But it's all good food.

Woops that was meant in reply to the beans and pulses comment

So yesterday was a bit lean…

1. Strawberries
2. Cucumber
3. Clementine, onion
4. Baby carrots

…however have just been to greengrocer and bought some beetroot juice and a lovely big field mushroom as well as other fruit & veg so should be better stocked for next few days. Also scored a bag of sweet potatoes reduced to 33p in Asda. I love a healthy bargain!

Oh yes, here's to a healthy bargain!
Yesterday:
1 Plums, naturally..
2 Blueberries
3 Lettuce, cucumber
4 Aubergine, courgette, mushroom
5 tomato passata
6 Lentils, garlic, herbs

Variety is fine as we are feeding a family
but it's the volumes I'm missing. Need to swap my snacking habit.
(Must buy carrots..)

Yes, carrots are a great snack. If calories are an issue then the wad of houmous I have with them not so much. Much healthier of course though than the crisps and crap I ate yesterday as snacks. I really need to get my head out of the habit of - a weekend off or even a day off equals stuffing my face full of unhealthy food. It used to be wine on a Friday night but I haven't had a drink for over a year. If I can stop that how on earth can I not stop this binge eating. Anyway, I'm not beating myself up. On another thread about not drinking, I talked about what we practice we get better at. And that resonated with this thread too. The more we practice eating veg and fruit then the better get at it.

I have reintroduced wheat to my diet after 15 years of without. And I got excited yesterday about all the things I could eat again. But it turns out (vegan) double chocolate cookies aren't the lowest in calories.

On the exercise bike as I write this. Which is quite a good way to relieve any guilt over mumsnetting.

I'm on 7 so far today. Having nachos for dinner so we will see how many more I can add with that.

I'm here for the health benefits. I have a couple of degenerative issues that may be helped by a lot of f & v. It makes me feel positive to be doing something!
My former style of eating is home cooked dinners with a fair bit of UPF as snacks and I include in that my toast habit! So more often than proper amounts of veg only at dinner plus maybe fruit once a day.

What's UPF?

I made it to 10 today...

1. Prune juice
2. Pea, potato& mint salad
3. Tomatoes
4. Celery
5. Peach
6. Carrots
7. Houmous
8. Corn on the cob
9. Refried beans

10. Avocado

Ahh..UPF - Ultra Processed Foods?

1. Strawberries
2. Clementine
3. Sugar snap peas, cucumber
4. Hummus
5. Beetroot juice ( not a big fan actually)
6. Leeks
7. Plum tomatoes

Loved my lunch of lots of raw veg with hummus. I’m finding that the healthy stuff outweighs the unhealthy… most of the time 😄.

That's great wilderness

I also find myself snacking on veg. A little bowl with carrot sticks or celery. Dh has grown the most delicious cherry tomatoes and I eat them warm and sweet from the greenhouse. It's definitely creeping in.

Yes! UPF, it's the very processed stuff with no redeeming features!
Today:
1 Plums
2 Blueberries
3 Lettuce, cucumber, radish
4 Tomatoes
5 aubergine mix (leftovers!)
6 onion
7 mushroom, kale
8 cannellini beans

I do like your new name AGreenerShade

Why did you decide to start eating wheat again Breathniller? I can eat wheat and often do but I try to limit it as it makes me bloated and gassy, also makes me crave carbs and feel constantly hungry if I eat a lot of it!

B: strawberries, grapes, apple, with yogurt and seeds (2)
L: lots of salads, 3 portions by weight
D: split pea and chickpea dahl with carrot, broccoli and Brussels sprouts (4)
I'll have a satsuma before bed to make 10.

Why did you decide to start eating wheat again Breathniller?

I have quite a few restrictions on my diet, some by choice, like being vegan or not drinking alcohol and some not as in allergies (oranges, grapefruit, edamame beans and a couple of others - it can mean anything from going into an anaphylaxis type reaction and need to go to a&e or just lose everything out of my body in a few hours). I have IBS and found that wheat affected me most of all. I would get very bloated and constipated and gut ache with it.

Over the years I have had other reactions to things such as migraines have changed and I no longer react in the same way or to the same things and I don't get migraines anymore.

The one thing that I have not given up is a white pudding supper from the chippy, maybe once or twice a year, it's my guilty pleasure. And I just accepted I would feel rotten after it for a few days like someone who drank too much accepts a hangover. For some reason or another (it may be a healthier diet all round and/or a yoga digestion practice I do daily, or it may just be that I've grown out of it, but the last twice I have eaten it I have had no reaction. So I thought I would try it out and lessen my restrictions. It has been interesting to say the least. But I seem to be, on the main, being able to process it. It has made me feel a little sick if I over do it. And tired, oh my goodness , it was like I was drugged one of the first times. It definitely is worse if it comes along with sugar. So, a lovely slice of wholemeal seeded bread is easier than a slice of cake for instance. We'll see. It's an experience in progress and my digestion is still working it out.

Although after saying all that I am feeling very sick today. So we will see how far I take it. I probably should step back on it a bit.

Hope you feel better @Breathmiller. I also suffer with some IBS type symptoms but I've never done the elimination thing to find my triggers. I tend to approach it sarah millican style (ignore it and eat what I want, suffering any resulting symptoms!) Having said that I do an excellent middle aged woman face when explaining I have to watch my bread intake as I find too much can sit very heavily for me 😂

Yesterday was better than I thought when I wrote it down...
Kiwi (1)
Mango (1)
Tomatoes (1)
Avocado (1)
Onion/salad/mixed veg curry (1)
Lentils (1)

I hope you feel better Breathmiller. I love homegrown tomatoes. My homegrown ones (outdoors) haven’t cropped very well but I did get 2 delicious San Marzano tomatoes.

So, what do we think about popcorn if you make it yourself from kernels? Taking it one step too far? 😄

Homegrown tomatoes are wonderful. I take my supermarket ones and leave them on the windowsill to improve!

Home popped Popcorn sounds good to me but maybe falls into the potato trap of being considered a starchy staple. (It's unfair I tell you!😄)
However I think if you were desperately trying to get kids to five a day and were at the stage of counting spaghetti hoops, why not popcorn? It's apparently full of antioxidants.

I hope you're feeling better Breathmiller, and that you can find a balance where you can enjoy the things you like to eat without ill effects. I only have mild effects from wheat but I'm familiar with the experience of pushing it a bit too far... I don't tend to be good with the concept of moderation, which is why I'm vegan and teetotal.

Wilderness I googled popcorn and some sources do include as 1 of your 5, so why not, indeed?

B: apple, mango, grapes with yogurt and seeds (2)
L: baked potato with avo and hummus (2)
D: DP and I were out and we bought food at M and S. I had a very unvegetably sandwich but I also had a big pot of fruit : kiwi, grapes, melon and mango (2)

6 in total. Eating away from home is often harder isn't it? We're having a picnic today but it's going to be quite carby. I'll try to have a very vegetable based dinner.

Happy veg munching everyone.