When it comes to eating more fruit and vegetables, people often struggle to eat enough on a daily basis. In the UK, we are advised to have at least 5 portions a day, in France it’s about 7 portions a day and last I heard, in Australia they aim for at least 9 portions a day.

Firstly, do you know what a portion is?

Well, it’s simple- a portion is anything that fits in the palm of your hand.  So, for example, one medium apple, a small orange, 3-4 chunks of melon, 6-10 grapes (depending on the size), is a portion. When it comes to vegetables, it’s approximately 3 heaped tablespoons.

Now, most poeple can’t seem to get more than about 3-4 portions of a mixture of fruit and vegetables a day.  Some people also don’t even include any fruit – not even one! Lots of excuses include; the fruit doesn’t look nice, it goes off quickly so I don’t buy them etc.

The good news is that nowadays there really aren’t any excuses left because we now have tinned, dried and frozen fruit and vegetables to choose from and use. And yes they are just as good as fresh versions. Just imagine this – fresh fruit and vegetables first have to be picked/harvested at the site they grow on, then they get boxed up and put onto trucks to then travel long distances to get to the supermarkets. Once there, they gat ofloaded and then stacked up, to then be placed onto the shelves of the shop on display by the time the shops open.  Then customers come along and pick what they want to purchase later in the day – usually lunchtime onwards. This is hours later. What you have to bear in mind is that nutrients start to deteriorate as soon as the fruit/vegetable is picked.

Now when it comes to tinned, dried and frozen foods, they get picked at their optimum nutritional state and usually immediately frozen, or go through a quick heating/drying process. The latter two processes will cause slight vitamin deterioration, but also increases other nutrients such as ?- carotene and iron levels. With the tinned fruit, however, you must buy those in natural fruit juices, and with dried fruits you have to be careful not to overeat on these (which is very easily done!).

So take a look at your intake, and find ways to increase it – no excuses now!

Until soon with more musings…

Loretta

I believe that life is all about enjoying it, and this also means when you are getting healthy.

It’s good to make sure that you have a balance of everything in your diet and so make sure you give yourself treat days.

Now when I say treat days, this literally means the occassional “treat” like chocolate cake, ice cream, take-aways or anything that you normally would consider unhealthy. But it’s important not to go overboard and then binge for 2-3 days. You must have self-control.

My suggestion is to choose 1-2 particular days of the week as your day to have that one treat.

Also, if you know that you’ll be going to a friends house, or a party at the weekend, then use that time to have your treat.

As soon as you’re finished, make sure you do go back to your usual healthy routine. Don’t just keep treating yourself everyday and all day long.

But even if you do end up binging, just take a step back, reassess your situation and then get back to your usual healthy routine. Don’t just give up because of 2 or 3 days of binging. It’s not going to be the end of the world! Trust me.

So go ahead and have a small bite of cake if you want to. Don’t deprive yourself.

Until soon with more musings…

Loretta

It’s true.

You know the story of the hare and the tortoise. Well being slow is the best thing to be when it comes to making changes in your lifestyle to get healthy and lose weight.

Basically, take things one step at a time and you’re more likely to succeed.

Think of one change you want to make to your lifestyle.  For example, it could be to have breakfast in the mornings.

Make this change and do it for about 1-2 weeks. Don’t make any other changes. Simply accomplish this one.

Once you manage to eat a healthy breakfast every morning, decide what the next change should be, and again do this step by step.

You get the picture?

By doing this, you are forming goof habits that you can then maintain forever!!! Hence you’ll be healthier and fitter forever!!!

Until soon with more musings…

Loretta