Fruit & Veg record - anybody care to join?

[Shoeshelpplease]

I have recently read How Not to Die (well, on Audible actually) and its absolutely fascinating. All the different benefits different veg have and the different benefits each has depending on raw v cooked.

It advocates a plant based diet, but that wont happen for me. I am however committed to reducing meat and increasing the amount of veg (mainly) and fruit in my diet.

Would anybody be interest in joining in recording the different veg they have managed to achieve each day and in what ways? I'm talking pretty hard core here - aiming for 9 a day with a big variety.

I'd find it really interesting to see how others are achieving it.

I am in awe of you lot! Yesterday was a write off. Today:
B: toast
S: raspberries and blueberries (2)
L: Hummus and lettuce sandwich, white grapes (3)
D: Chicken with roast red pepper, red onion, grains and purple sprouting (3)

These pictures are so appetitizing. I will get my act together and start taking some.

Today was:

B: yogurt, grapefruit, blackberries (2)
L: (out) fish soup (0), poor show.
D: chicken, corn tacos, tomato, red onion, red pepper, avocado (4), a pear (1)

7!!! Terrible! Back on it tomorrow as will have more time, am not eating out and will be doing a big food shop again!

Welcome Yumy and feel free to mention your low calorie goals, in fact shout about it.

We all have different aims and motivations and it's great to know what those are.

Most veg in particular are very lucky w in calorie so it's just the sauces and dressings that you need to be wary of.

I am not concerned about calories but more carbs, so I am trying to swerve the under the ground veg and fruits. Although, in the interests of variety (which is the spirit of this thread) I am including some.

Last nights dinner, the GP, recipe was lovely but I forgot to post. I had a small portion of soba noddles in the base and I passed it all off to my boys as a pot noodle!! Albeit it a v healthy, fishy one! They loved it which I was really pleased about.

Today I am gong doing a Pound class followed by a v long walk with the girls, followed by dinner out but I've pre checked the menu in advance and found the healthiest dish.

I do get a bit twitchy when eating out now which is strange as I used to love eating out! Just knowing it won't be organic or cooked in the healthiest way possible.

Breakfast is a smoothie with a base of homemade matcha yogurt, ginger, turmeric and spice mix plus

1. Carrot
2. Corriander

3, Celery

Flaxseed muffin with

1. Blueberries
2. Raspberries
3. Pecan and walnuts

I have made lunch to take on my walk a base of a home made dip made with

1. Half a can of mixed beans
2. Red pepper
3. Green pepper

10. Raddish 11. Punnet of cress 12. Red chicory 13. Red cabbage 14. Tomato 15. Wild garlic 16. Avocado Melon seeds 17. Pomegranate seeds

Dinner out will be salmon on a bed of

18. Roasted red onions and Roasted peppers

Have a great day all .... !

This is a picture of my lunch Pre mixing it all up. It's made me realise that today is really red and green, with the o lot exception being half a carrot on my smoothie.

A good range of veg, but not the rainbow I should be aiming for.

My objective for next week is to really try and range the colours.

So yellow peppers, butternut squash .... hmmmm, will get my thinking cap on. Any suggestions will be helpful ...

I don't know shoes I'm still a novice veg eater but I thought that the dark leafy veg offer a 'nutritional rainbow' ( made-up own term) which is masked by the chlorophyll pigment. So, so long as there is lots of green then you don't need to worry.

However, this is just a hazy memory from hours and hours of listening to Gregor's book and may be entirely fabricated misinformation.

Your lunch looks lovely.

Yes, the green leafy stuff seems to be nutritionally superior to other veg, but a rainbow is the best.

I went to the market this morning and had a good look at the spectrum of colours and got some fermented artichoke hearts (white), yellow courgettes and aubergine (purple) . As well as lot of parsley, corriander and cavolo nero at 1/3 of the price I buy it from Acado! Not organic, but I can use my Veggie Wash to give it a good soak.

I’ve not disappeared!

Will be back today with pics.

So far absolutely stunning good for the soul 12k run this morning.

Large bowl of 75g berry Moma porridge with water (1 portion)
3 large slices tomatos with pepper

Now bike ride with the children. Bit nervous as first ride of year, new bikes, on my own with them (they are 5&7). Wish me luck!

Ha ha, I've just seen the Cavolo Nero is from Watts Farm in Kent (originally from Spain) so exactly the same product as Ocado but half the price! I'm disturbingly very pleased with myself on that one!

Good one OP?

I meant ! Not ?

Have tried uploading my lunch pic but no go- having a gorgeous platr of broccoli, cherry tomatoes, feta and hazelnuts with rocket, grated carrot and beetroot and leftover roast courgette and mushrooms with tahini on the carrots and mixed seeds on top. (7)

Breakfast was banana, strawberries, blueberries with natural yoghurt, walnuts and mixed seeds (3))

B: Bagel, spinach and poached egg (1)
L: Tuna melt with cucumber, watermelon (2)
S: Homemade garlic dough balls with parsley (2)
D: Pizza with lettuce, tomatoes and homemade coleslaw made of red cabbage, red onion, carrot, Apple and toasted seeds (6)

11 - that feels like a record for me!

Today:

B: Greek yogurt, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries (3)
L: none, was in supermarket buying next week’s fruit & veg
D: chicken schnitzel with a mound of home-made slaw (red cabbage, white cabbage, carrot, red onion, fennel, radish, pecans, seeds - 6), plus a bit of leftover aubergine stew (aubergine, tomatoes, onion - 3), half a corn on the cob (1), then an orange (1)

14, but would have been better if I’d had lunch!

Shoes thanks so much! Your lunch veg looked amazing - did you blend it into a pate - what did it taste like?

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this book so far how to eat well it's really interesting if trying to get maximum bang for your buck from veg. Purple veg nearly always comes out as the healthiest so purple lettuce leaves, purple potatoes etc the darker the colour the better - so black grapes are better than red grapes etc.

I have done ok not amazing -
B: nuts, a slice of parma ham and coffee
L: tenderleaf mix, cucumber, red pepper and Mexican chicken (3)
D: chorizo burger pattie, half an avocado, tomato, more cucumber more tenderleaf salad (3)

Mikado, your lunch salad sounds really good, especially the feta / hazelnut combo.

Yumy, that book looks excellent and I think I am going to have to order, thank you for the tip.

I did over 40,000 steps yesterday, over 18 miles. That was a pound class plus a mega walk with the girls. We just kept on walking, a set route but we were planning to walk into the city centre and get the bus back ... but it was such a nice day we decided to walk back again!

Top tip for upping walking ... go with your girl friends you dont see that often. You spend all the time catching up and wittering away that you genuinely dont notice the miles fly by.

Todays exercise is a squash game with my son, followed by a bodypump class, then a bodybalance class, some gardening and .... relax.

I haven't decided on food yet which is unlike me .... I might just wing it for a day but of course my focus being on variety and colour.

Morning

Yesterday was funny on.

Started so well. Amazing run.
Porridge and 3 v large toms (3 portions)

Lovely somewhat fraught (!) bike ride
Home for oven baked cod and salad and sauerkraut (excellent for digestion and I find quite addictive). with sugar free sweet chill sauce (pictured). It was ok. I find cod boring but try to eat regularly because very good source of omega 3. I went back for more salad than pictured. (4 portions)
Greek yoghurt with 2 punnets of raspberries and 1 punnet of blackcurrants (6 portions)
2 apples (2 portions)

Then I began to feel a bit “off”.

No appetite whatsoever for dinner but because trying not to lose anymore weight, I managed to forced down a marks microwaveable bag of veg with soy sauce and 3 raw carrots and punnet of blueberries. (7 portions)

In the night I woke up starving, appetite back! So got up and huge bowl of raisin and nut muesli with almond milk, Greek yoghurt and an apple. Went back to bed and just woken.(2 portions)

Don’t think I’ll have breakfast as still full from midnight munchies. Going to body pump at 9.30, Home to mow lawn and then I’ll have chicken and salad out in the garden. It’s already shaping up to be stunning.

24 total yesterday

Hope you all have lovely days.
Nice to be on a thread with like minded.
Nasty thread I saw the other day. Someone had said they liked to “binge” on healthy food - nuts, dried fruit, Greek yoghurt etc

And other posters laid in to her. Thinking she was smug because her binge wasn’t a Mac Donalds.

Tbh I would rather go without than have something like a Big Mac. Whereas give me a big bowl of dried fruit or a muesli and almond milk or multiple punnets of raspberries - and I don’t have a stop button!

Yesterday was ok.

Morning, green smoothie with spinach, an orange and strawberries (3)
And, porridge with raisins and an apple (2)

Lunch
Soup with carrots, bok choy, tomatoes, mushrooms, spring onions and threw in chickpeas for more fibre. (5)

Dinners
Sweet potato and beans (1)

Total 10.

I am sooo hungry because I can't get much volume of food in yet. I think I need to come off eating this way till I recover from surgery as I've lost 5lbs in as many days and it's not intended. I'll be back though.

Agreed element. I did weight gain shakes when got very low. Quick and easy and high in nutrients

No body pump here
Tummy feeling very off again :-(

@Elementree - have you tried something like fortisips? Very nutritious and was given to me in hospital when I was recovering from an illness.

Will post back later, but here's my lunch of leftovers.

Oh dear Elemnttree, I'm sorry your not feeling great. You can still aim to get the rainbow in but perhaps upping your carb content? But you obviously know your body best.

If you want to take a break posting that's fine too. Just come back when you are ready.

Sorry you are feeling ill as well Highhorse!

I missed my smoothie this morning, it can be hard going to get through it so might just have on week days.

Breakfast was flax muffin with

1. Hazelnuts
2. Blueberries
3. Raspberries

Lunch was a bit odd for today's heat, was curry made with

1. Assorted Asian mushrooms
2. Onions
3. Spinach
4. Tinned tomatoes
5. Copious amount of Corriander, the stalks in the base, leaves on top.

On a base of wild rice mixed with

1. Cauliflower rice

I prepped tea whilst I was in and out of the garden. It will be wild salmon with salad of

10. Red radicchio
11. Baby tomatoes Spinach leaves
12. Home sprouted broccoli seeds, the first batch ready
13. Raffish
14. Toasted yellow courgette
15. Roasted aubergine
16. Red cabbage
17. Celery

We are off to the beach tomorrow so I've also prepped our meals for the day. Hope the weather continues!

Thanks everyone. I might look at special drinks if I can't get on top of it. I just need to chill out with nutrition and think energy for now.

Home sprouted brocolli seeds shoes! That's a new level. I got the huff with mine, trying to do it in a useless jar and losing the little buggers down the sink when changing the water - so I ordered a special seeding jar and then I missed delivery of it. You have just reminded me on - if I don't get it from the depot soon, they'll get sent back.

B: Bacon sandwich, orange, mango and passion fruit smoothie (3)
L: Leftover garlic and parsley dough balls, hummus, lettuce, cucumber, coleslaw(red cabbage, red onion, carrot, Apple ) (9)
D: BBQ burger and chicken drumstick, same salad and coleslaw as above but also tomatoes (1)
Today = 13