Simple & easy tips to improve diet please....

[FrostyGlassSlipper]

DH and I would like to improve our diet. We have been meal planning our evening meals and this has helped ensure we eat more veg and also save money.

We have come up with the following:
Drink 1 litre of water each day.
Eat breakfast each day (and meal plan it)
Buy wholemeal bread instead of white
Have a fruit juice each day
Have at least one piece of fruit as a snack each day.

Any other ideas please. They need to be quite simple or we;ll lose motivation.

Thanks

I saw those in tesco today, resisted and got fruit n fibre instead (and then went to the choccie aisle!). Hmmm, what to cook tomorrow! Have you seen the 10 portions of fruit & veg a day thread btw? Course I can't find it now, but there's always one around. Anyone else?

I tried 10/10 a while ago AQ, and they were all lovely but knew each other so well and were there wasnt really much chat about food. I need to actually talk about what I'm doing and get ideas otherwise it wont work I think...

Btw, I had philadelphia on my toast instead of butter & marmalade. Not sure it is better but I figured less sugar was good

Does apricot yoghurt count? Feel so rubbish I don't want to eat anything, best go and come up with something good for lunch!

Most yogurt doesn't count - not enough fruit. Muller (I think) now do one with a separate portion of fruit though. Much nicer imo is to buy natural yogurt and stir in your own fresh or dried fruit. (Natural yogurt has no added sugar generally so better for you)

Mashed banana is nice. Or in the Summer lightly crushed raspberries or strawberries. We also like pineapple (buy it tinned in juice if no time to prepare real pineapple)

you're right, lollipop, I don't even like yoghurt that much these days just needed using up! I hate natural yoghurt though!

Quicker than cutting up carrot batons is taking a whole celery (bunch? Head?), cut the end where they join together, rinse off any dirt and put the sticks in a jug of water. Easy nibbling day after day. My kids like it stuffed with peanut butter and raisins on top, called 'bugs on logs'.

Another cheap meal I'm fond of is just open a can of butter/kidney/mixed beans/chickpeas, rinse the juice off and eat with a dollop of mayo or lemon juice or whatever. Of course if you're really organised you can soak the dried ones overnight and boil them up etc.

But I think accessorize is right it's time to let go till next year

Hmm, agree. I will start in earnest next week

Liking the ideas here!

Eat less meat and more pulses (counts as one veg portion) and fish.
Don't go overborad with the dairy, limit cheese and yogurts to one or 2 portions a day and drink skimmed milk instead of full fat.
Use olive oil in your cooking instead of butter.
Use peanut butter on your breakfast toast instead of butter and plonk some jam on top - I love peanut butter and marmalade toast on wholemeal or mixed grain bread. Yum yum.
I second the nuts and seeds, so handy to sprinkle on things, also if mixed with dried fruit it's a really healthy snack that will fill you up loads.
I second the rotating your cereals too. Millet is a good cereal, high in protein and iron and small enough to be insignificant in soups if need be. I use both millet and quinoa to make tabbouleh style salads (instead of the bulghur wheat) and spicy pilaffs (instead of rice).
Oh, and most importantly, good quality plain chocolate instead of milk

Have to admit, I just tend to bung a bit of butter into quinoa at the last minute and serve up like rice, but then also like rice I'll often add a few pine nuts or chickpeas just for textural interest. And pepper. And cooking it in low salt stock rather than water helps too.

With DD, 18mths, quinoa just gets bunged into the veggie chilli or casserole she's having, but she really enjoys the little curly tails and tries to fish them out - keeps her busy for ages - but she happily eats it mixed in. It's one of those things that doesn't have much flavour but combines well with other stuff.

Puy lentil are evry healthy and quite cheap and can be substituted for meat in lasagnes, chilli etc. A veg chilli with lentils couls have carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper & toms so you're easily getting your veg intake. I always sprinkle seeds on top. If you use wholemeal lasagne & semi-skimmed milk for your sauce you are sorted. eat with a green salad and you have ticked all the boxes. Makes loads and freeze half.

oops! Changed thoughts in the middle of the post and meant veg lasagne not chilli! Sorry. Must learn to preview!!

Haven't read all replies, so sorry if repetitive:

Have a really healthy, filling breakfast - porridge or eggs and wholemeal toast are good ones - as it reduces the likelihood of snacking during the day.

Smoothies! Invest in a smoothie maker.

Avoid jars of sauces - make your own. Those jars of pasta sauce are full of salt and other shit. A good tomato-based sauce for pasta is easy to make and you can make a big batch and freeze.

Eat fish a couple of times a week.

I'm still here.....thinking about it