One thing I think all Americans agree on is they need more fruits and vegtables in their diet. So how do we get them?
Fruits and vegtables have so many health benefits that we need to consume 5 servings of them each day, or more! Addind fruit and vegtables can be hard when dieting because you may not like they way they taste, here are some easy ways to add them into your diet easily.
Throw away all your junk food and pack easy veggie or fruit snacks. Make baggies of fruits and vegtables to take with you to work, school or running errangs. When you feel hungry you will have a healthy snack. Some great snack vegtables are celery and carrots. Really any fruit is good on the go because its all so sweet. If you cant stand just vegtables bring a small amount of ranch dressing, peanut butter or hummus.
Get some use out of your blending. A fruit smoothie or vegtable juice is a great meal replacement or snack. Try not to get smoothies with ice cream or sherbet in them because these usually are high in calories and low in actually fruit. Pure fruit smoothies are the best for a diet but there are some healthy additives, talk to a nutritionist if you are interested in these. Some places do sell healthy smoothies but the best ones are made at home. At home you can also try adding vegtables or vegtable juice to your smoothies to mask the taste of the vegtables.
Try canned vegtables or dried fruit. Dried fruit is often very sweet and easier to pack in school lunches or take to work. These options keep the vegtables and fruit longer so you have more of a chance to eat then becfore they go bad.
Once a week make a huge container of basic salad that you can use through out the week. Everyday you can add things to make the salad match your entree. Tortilla strips and chipotle dressing are great with mexican and ceaser is great with italian food. If you don’t want to chop lettuce and spiniach look for a big salad mix at the grocery store. Having this prepared will make is easier to eat.
If you dont mind paying a little more for healthy food you can find packaged fruit and veggies at cafes or delis. They often have fruit salads or snacks that you can sub out for chips or candy.
