Do you really get your five a day?

[chessica]

YABU - yes
YANBU - no

I aim to eat healthily where I can but realistically I probably only have 3 portions of fruit or veg most days. Some days more and some days I only have one.
In a normal day, I’ll have an apple, a bowl of berries/some grapes and then possibly a chickpea curry. Sometimes I add spinach to this and sometimes I don’t. Obviously that’s only 3 a day really as I’m not having that many berries or chickpeas.

Yes. More, in fact - I aim for at least 8 portions, 10 on a good day; most of that being veg as I don't eat much fruit for blood glucose reasons.

I usually eat 10-15 different fruit and veg a day but definitely not 10-15 "portions".

I'm think variety is supposed to be good for the biome although truthfully that doesn't motivate me, I just enjoy most foods and like variety.

No, not every day. But you can see from this thread most people overestimate whether they're hitting it. A portion is 80g - a handful of raw spinach or a tablespoon of blueberries don't fully count.

Vegetables form the basis of both my lunch and dinner, so hitting portions target is fairly straightforward. But if it's a choice between eating loads of one thing to get an official portion or eating smaller amounts of greater variety I'd choose the latter - the wider the range the better your nutrient intake (generally).

Your smoothie sounds nice - I must try it!

I don't think I always hit 5 a day, but I'm pretty sure I typically manage 30 a week plant based things or more, if I were to count the nuts and seeds, spices and herbs that I use in my meals.

Generally my dinner plate is 50% veg, 25% each of potato and meat. We usually have fish at least once a week if we can, and I've been introducing a veggie once a week as well.

My lunch is usually a tuna salad sandwich and some sort of veggie soup, or a substantial salad - I add mango and butternut squash to that along with pumpkin seeds. So I think that most days I come close to my 5 a day.

For snacking I'm more likely to get out the crackers and cheese with chutney than a bar of chocolate. Crisps though are my downfall.

I never used to. We had a terrible diet and I knew it, but neither hubby or son liked veg or salads. But a couple of years ago I went on the Fast 800 diet and lost lots of weight and my constant indigestion and IBS symptoms pretty much disappeared.. Hubby was impressed and joined me on it. and lost over 3 stone.

Previously my diet consisted of toast for breakfast and lunch, then something out of a packet from the freezer, with chips or pasta or rice.

Now I don't recognise myself... I have Chia seed water for breakfast. Berries and greek yoghurt for lunch with walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and sunflowerr seeds and a bit of cinnamon and honey. Then for dinner we usually have leafy greens with a randomly created stir fry concoction which tends to includes mushrooms, onions, peppers, baby corn, pak choy. I often marinate some meat in the morning (chicken mainly, but we do eat pork and beef too) using the marinades from the Fast 800 diet, really easy marinades and very very tasty.

I am not sure if I actually eat a "portion" of everything, but I am happy I am getting a good all-round selection of healthy things most days.

Having said that, we were in the West Country on holiday recently and we had takeaways, chips, cream teas, ice creams, cooked breakfasts etc., and thorough enjoyed every morsel. But it was good to get back to "normal" as I was getting bad indigestion by the end of the holiday.

Lasagna contained tomatoes. If you make it yourself you can also add onions, mushrooms, garlic, peppers maybe carrots, lentils and use chopped tomatoes instead of a blended sauce.

No I hardly ever have fruit. I did eat 3 strawberries yesterday though

I often have 5 different types of fruit and veg but as a portion is 80g there is no way I eat 400g worth unless it's winter when I make big pots of veggie soup.

Always. If I do a chickpea curry, it has onions, peppers, mushrooms and spinach. Bolagnaise has tomatoes onions, peppers, mushrooms, courgette and occasionally aubergine. I always use salad and put veg in a omelette. Once you get in the habit it's easy to hit the target.

Do Terry's Chocolate Oranges count?

If they don't, then no.

There might be the odd day when I don't, but generally yes, I have at least 5 portions. Today I had melon, strawberries and a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, radish and rocket. I'll have a couple of veg types with dinner and at least a satsuma as a snack.

some on here eating 10-15 different fruits and veg each day must have a healthy wallet along with a healthy body. If a family or couple have a tight weekly budget, their priority will be good, solid food that goes a long way, they won’t be buying expensive punnets of soft fruit or ‘posh’ salads. There’s a certain degree of snobbery with this ‘we eat at least 10 portions each a day’ compared to someone who might only be able to afford a bunch of bananas, a packet of 6 apples and a tin of pears each week for their family.

I'm vegetarian and I hate fake meat so all my protein comes from vegetables, so yes, I would imagine I go over the 5 a day. My food varies but on an average day I have blueberry porridge with mango pieces and nuts for breakfast/lunch (I only eat two meals a day), afternoon snack is a glass of green juice and a boiled egg, evening meal is usually some kind of vegetable stew/curry/patties with bulgur or vegetable pasta. I think that would take me to 6-7 a day.

What else are you eating? You only mention fruit and then the chick pea curry. Easy way to uo it would be to chuck in more veg when you make that sort of thing. Presumably there was tomatoes and onions in there so they also count.

i easily get five a day in but I do eat a plant based diet. Today i had fruit with breakfast, a big salad with lunch and will be doing a stir fry for tea. With more fruit as a snack that is about 8 today.

This is very true. If I had just added more fruit and veg to my existing habits, it would have definitely cost much more.

I am trying to include far more healthy things in my diet, but it does come at a cost. Overall, I am probably not spending much more than I was before - but there is nothing left over for "treats". All the yummy snacky things are gone. And I buy more things in bulk to keep the costs down, and will travel to a much cheaper supermarket monthly to do so, which is further than I would go on a weekly basis. Although I eat berries everyday, I only buy one punnet of fresh a week, once that has gone (after about 3 days) I use frozen berries.

But yes, it is true, a "good" diet can be expensive. Previously a loaf of white bread and a pot of jam that would do me for breakfast and lunch for most of the week cost £2 max. My greek yoghurt costs me about £5 a week, plus the berries and nuts etc., that probably brings it us to £10 a week for my lunches. So my healthy lunch costs me about £8 a week more. But, I would have spent that on biscuits, crisps, snacks etc. and if I went into the office I would often pick up a meal deal from a supermarket, but that can be £3 - £5 each time. Now I take my yoghurt concoction and put it in the fridge. I

I am very aware that if we were on a very tight food budget we wouldn't be eating as we do now.

Not every day but if you plan some veggie days you naturally get a lot more that day to balance it out

Yup. Usually have a couple of portions of fruit with breakfast. Again as a mid morning snack. A couple of portions of veg at dinner and again at tea.

It takes a bit of thinking but is fairly easy if you get in to the swign of things.

So yesterday, fruit and veg wise, I had:

2 satsumas

1 apple

a handful of dried fruit

half an onion

Half a pepper

A portion of spinach

a portion of green beans

A salad made from lettuce, cucumber, olives and peppers

But yes, it is true, a "good" diet can be expensive

I would look at it that low quality diet will be obviously cheap. It's not given better diet is expensive. People can use lots of cheaper versions like frozen etc. Food in UK is still cheap and fresh veg and fruit on offer can get so ridiculously cheap I wonder how much the farmers get actually if anything.
Good diet doesn't have to be fresh berries and nuts. I think sometimes it's bit unhelpful when people talk about good diets in these terms because it just discourages people.
Good diet is balanced. Sometimes toast and jam, sometimes yogurt and available fruit.

Not always

Today I've had
Protein shake
Cinnamon bun
Apple with PB
Having a flatbread with chicken, tomatoes, onions and cucumber for tea
Might try and add a banana or some berries later

It can be bloody expensive all right. But it doesn't have to be?

Bananas apples, carrots and tinned stuff is still fruit and veg, and to my mind counts for a lot.

A veggie homemade soup costs fuck all with just normal carrots, celery, onions and a load of lentils or barley, served with potatos and bread for additional belly-filling. It's what my mother used to make when money was really tight and it's still our favourite comfort food. She got that recipe from her mother in the 40s when rationing was still in place.

Or a garden … I like growing leaves and veg from seed and also loads of different fruit trees have gone in (yes I know not everyone has a garden but people usually have space for trough or pots). So at lunch/supper time can gather up loads of different things for salads (in growing season obvs) inc herbs and weeds like dandelion as bitter leaves v nutritious. I aim for ten a day and that’s achievable with smoothies/soups/salads/stirfries/chillies etc.

I read interview with Michael Morpurgo where he said that he picks kale leaves from his garden every morning to chuck in breakfast smoothie so have planted kale outside front door in the hope of long healthy life and literary genius.

It's not necessarily super expensive to eat a good variety of fruit and veg. The average weekly spend on food in the UK for an adult, including eating out and takeaways is £45-50.

My weekly budget is in line with this and of this I usually spend around £15-£20 per adult on fruit and veg. I easily eat 10-20 different fruit/veg per day although not full "portions" of each. Definitely hit the target of 30 different fruit/veg/herbs each week.

I don't buy the expensive fruit/veg often - don't eat much fruit other than apples.
I do though have the luxury of time to cook from scratch which not everybody does, I don't like takeaways and don't eat out much so most of the weeks food money goes on ingredients.

I meal plan so there is not much wastage but my budget stretches to organic meat and dairy and we eat really well. If I had to cut back I'd spend less on fish and meat.

I think many people are short on time to cook from scratch or do not have easy access to shops selling fresh fruit and veg. Also kids can be fussy about vegetables which can throw a spanner in the works.

Not everyday but at least 3