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Who manages to eat 5 a day? Please give me ideas...

22 replies

MerryMarigold · 01/06/2007 12:48

Been trying this - can't believe so many people manage to do it. Got up to about 3-4 (on good days) slipped back to 1-2 now - basically my evening meal.

Please give me a 'sample day' - what you eat and when, to give me some ideas on how to do this.

ps. do potatoes count? parsnips? bananas? beans like kidney beans, baked beans or are they carbohydrate?

OP posts:
Nbg · 01/06/2007 12:50

I seem to do mine via breakfast.
For example I have a banana and another piece of fruit.
An apple mid morning, virtually always salad for lunch and then whatever I have for dinner is a bonus.

haggisaggis · 01/06/2007 12:51

Breakfast - porridge with strawberries & banana & glass grapefruit juice (so that's 3)

Lunch at moment is a sandwich & 2 pieces of fruit (but used to supplement with chopped carrot and celery too)

Dinner - usually manage to have 2 portions veg

That's all quite easy to achieve.

Potatoes don't count - I think the rest all do.

lucykate · 01/06/2007 12:51

we all average about 3 a day, kids do better than dh & i as they eat more fruit

ChipButty · 01/06/2007 12:51

Smoothie/fruit juice for breakfast; banana midmorning; apple with lunch; at least 2 veggies for tea. Potatoes do not count. Beans can be counted. Could you try making your own veg soup? Stir fries also good for upping veg.

PinkMartini · 01/06/2007 12:53

You need Frannyandzooey's 10/10 threads
here

Carmenere · 01/06/2007 12:53

I had a veggie curry for lunch(leftover from last night) and that had about ten different types in it so I suppose it had about three portions. I will eat an apple or a couple of satsumas as a snack and then I will have veggies with my dinner.

Rosa · 01/06/2007 12:53

Cereal with banana or blueberries/cranberries.
Lunch - salad toms/ cucumber/ lettuce/
Pm bit of fruit but if colder then stuff that its a cuppa and a biscuit!
Dinner - Meat and veg usually one or 2 types. Then if in season strawberries or maybe melon.
In colder weather make own minestrone.

I make Bananas count but not potatoes. Not sure about beans as I don't eat them !

seamonster · 01/06/2007 12:53

I find it tricky too! I eat a piece of fruit with each meal, dried apricots and bananas as snacks, but I'm pregnant so I eat regularly and top up iron and fibre. dinner is with salad or veg. Fruit juice can count (depends on which ones) as can smoothies, not sure about parsnips but NOT potatoes. Beans yes, and tinned tomatoes. So pasta with tomato sauce would be a portion.

MerryMarigold · 01/06/2007 12:56

Thanks for tips. Think I prob need to get more in breakfast, but so half asleep then! Do stir fry about once a week but that would prob be all I have in a day. Am shocked at the quantities required by 1 portion though - eg. 2 mandarins is 1 portion!

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 01/06/2007 13:02

Do join us on 10 / 10 thread if you think it would help, we are trying to eat plenty of fruit and veg every day

I usually have aim to have about 4 or 5 portions of fruit for breakfast, beans or small salad with lunch and then a vegetable / pulse based meal for dinner.

Of course if you have fruit for snacks as well then that makes your total even higher.

Of the things you asked about in your OP, they all count except potatoes.

haggisaggis · 01/06/2007 13:03

We eat a lot of soups too as main meals - you can smooth ones with a couple of veg or make a chunky veg one incorporating loads of different stuff.
Get in teh habit of always serving a bit of salad or some sliced fruit with a sandwich.
Never just make a ham sanwich - add some lettuce and tomato.
Add frozen peas and sweetcorn to curries.
Make sure you put 2 or 3 veg. in stews.

It all starts to mount up!

littleolwinedrinkerme · 01/06/2007 13:05

Like this thread - my DH is trying to convince me his fried tomatoes @ breakfast count as 1 portion! hmmm

katherinez · 01/06/2007 13:11

breakfast- cereal and fruit
lunch- sandwich with salad in it
dinner- meat/fish with loads of veg. or vegetarian meal at least 3/4 times a week.

tend to live on apples as far as snacks go, and try to put fruit in when baking, cakes puddings etc.

MerryMarigold · 01/06/2007 13:12

Thanks for the link, Pinkmartini. I thought the carrot and stick thread was about discipline!!! never read it.

OP posts:
schneebly · 01/06/2007 13:16

a typical day for me (when I am being good)would be;

breakfast - porridge and dried fruit, banana, glass orange juice

lunch - homemade veg and lentil soup, bread
strawberries/melon

dinner - cottage pie with lots of onion plus carrots and broccoli

you could also substitute all my chocolate snacks for fruit

Anna8888 · 01/06/2007 13:18

breakfast - glass of Tropicana fruit juice (worst case scenario), piece of fruit (or left over fruit from previous night's supper - strawberries, raspberries, melon etc)

lunch - glass of Tropicana gazpacho (worst case scenario), cherry tomatoes, celery, piece of fruit

supper - vegetables with main course (eg home made tomato sauce including onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes on pasta)
fruit for pudding

tassis · 01/06/2007 13:27

breakfast - glass of fruit juice
mid morning - banana
soup for lunch in winter (that's 2), salads in summer
often eat veggie meals
chop up grapes, bananas, kiwis when ds gets in from nursery and we share

(I don't really see the point of smoothies as generally i'd prefer just to eat the fruit!)

jellyjelly · 01/06/2007 15:58

Beans and pulses do count as part of one a day.

You could try having a glass of orange or apple juice as one portion but it is still one portion even if you drink the whole litre carton!!

NannyL · 01/06/2007 18:56

I do it daily EASILY

with a cold meal ie sandwhiches i have

cucumber / carrot / tomatoes / pepper / lettuce / radish

always have fruit after lunch

with a hot meal i ALWAYS have at least 2 different vegetables (often 3+)

always add veg to bolognese type sauces, and mix veg in with pasta sauces

always have a pice of fruit afterwards as well

often snack on fruit

on most days i have a drink of fruit juice

i would say my daily average is 6 / 7 servings, but sometime i will have 10+ (different) fruit / veg per day!

foxinsocks · 01/06/2007 18:57

yes, snacking on fruit is key. ALso don't forget, I think one portion can be juice so that's easy.

If you have to make packed lunches for your children, make up a huge fruit salad and then pick at it over a few days.

FrannyandZooey · 01/06/2007 18:59

MerryMarigold a few of us find it it a great motivator to post about what we are eating each day on the 10 / 10 and the rest of the time we just chat about whatever, so it is a nice laid back thread

feel free to join in if you fancy it, and you could just be aiming to get your 5 if 10 seems like too much to aim for

portonovo · 01/06/2007 19:15

Breakfast - we often have dried or fresh fruit with cereal or porridge. Sometimes a glass of fruit juice. So that's 0-2 portions with breakfast, just depends.

Mid-morning (or break for kids at school) - piece of fruit.

Lunch - always one piece of fruit at least. Often some salad or veggies with lunch, even if it's just a handful of cherry tomatoes.
So that's usually 1-2 portions.

Evening meal - always have 2-3 portions of veg and/or salad. We eat veggie meals 4-6 times a week, so many of our meals are based around veg rather than the veg being an extra. So for example, last week I did a veggie crumble that used 1 kg veg, between the 5 of us, so that's the equivalent of over 12 adult portions of veg (roughly 80g per adult portion, children obviously less in proportion to their age/size/appetite). Home-made soups are a great way of getting some veg in, and you can always throw a few diced carrots in a pasta sauce or similar.

Nine times out of ten, pudding is fruit-based. So fresh fruit, stewed fruit (we grow and freeze lots of fruit!) either on it's own or with yoghurt or ice-cream or custard. Sometimes hot puddings like fruit crumble.
So evening meal would be 3-4 portions.

There might also be some dried fruit during the day - kids especially like a tub of dried fruit, seeds and nuts after school - and anyone who wants supper in the evening is usually directed to the fruit bowl as well as possibly some bread/crackers.

Kids probably average 6-7 portions a day, I manage about 8-9 and my husband about 10-11.

The key is just to take lots of opportunities throughout the day, rather than seeing it as a huge task to achieve at teatime. So a glass of juice with breakfast and a banana and salad sandwich at lunch is potentially 3 portions without having to put much effort in.

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