Are You Eating Your Veggies?
When teaching my clients about proper nutrition, they are often surprised when I tell them that according to the most recent Food Pyramid they should be eating 2 to 2 1/2 cups of vegetables every single day. And on the flip side of that, I have been extremely surprised by the number of people who get absolutely ZERO vegetables per day! Imagine that! NO VEGETABLES!
If you think about it, it makes complete sense as to why our bodies need vegetables.They are packed with vitamins, nutrients and fiber, and by eating vegetables we are replenishing our bodies with LIFE. The cells in our body are always regenerating… and because we are always growing new skin, new hair, new fingernails, etc. doesn’t it make sense to fill our living bodies with living foods? I am completely convinced that we need to replenish LIFE, with LIFE.
By filling our bodies with foods that are void of nutrients – or what I like to call “dead” foods – (think: twinkies, pastries, greasy french fries, etc.) we are not providing our living, breathing, growing bodies with what it needs to grow efficiently.
These are some things we do at my house to make sure we are getting enough veggies each day:
1. We drink our veggies.
A good friend of mine and long time client, Kelly Anderson, gave me a recipe for a spinach shake a few years ago that is now a family favorite! Since then, I have added my own twist to it by adding some cucumber slices and a tablespoon of Flax Oil, and I literally CRAVE this shake at times!
2. We have freshly cut veggies available at all times.
If our veggies aren’t washed, chopped and stored in see-through containers in our refrigerator, they are often found weeks later at the bottom of the crisper drawer in a wet and soggy produce bag. Not only is that nasty, but it’s frustrating! I hate spending money on fresh produce, just to forget about it until it starts to stink up the fridge! By having veggies ready-to-eat and stored in clear containers, you are reminded about them every time you open the refrigerator and much more likely to grab them for a snack instead of an unhealthy alternative.
3. We make veggie-eating fun.
My son has always loved veggies and eats them all the time without a fight. However, my daughter isn’t quite so fond of foods that grow in dirt, and we have to get really creative with our veggie-eating methods. We’ve used the method that most parents do when it comes to eating broccoli and had her pretend she was a giant who was eating the teeny, tiny trees. That one worked like a charm and broccoli is now among her favorites! To get her to eat sugar snap peas by the handful, we have contests to see who can guess how many peas are in each pod. After we all make a guess, we snap it open, see who won and then eat the entire pod.
A long time ago, I made it a goal of mine to eat 2 1/2 cups of vegetables each day. Since then, I have noticed a few wonderful things. First of all, it is so much easier to stay away from junk food when you are getting such a large amount of vegetables in your diet because you simply don’t have room for the junk! Second, I’ve noticed that the more veggies I eat, the more I want them! I know it’s hard to believe, but you DO actually start to crave your veggies! And finally, I’ve noticed that by eating so many vegetables in a day, my taste buds have adjusted to really enjoy and appreciate the clean and simple taste of them. Now, whenever I taste foods that are sweet and sugary, they often seem to be TOO sweet and sugary for my liking.
So how many vegetables do YOU get in a day? This question often surprises people because when they really stop and think of what their answer would be, they are usually eating much less than they think they are eating.
What are some of YOUR methods for getting your kids (or yourself) to eat more veggies? How do you make sure you are eating enough? I’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions on this topic, so leave a comment and share with everybody what you do! And if you happen to be one who is NOT getting at least two cups of veggies per day, make it a goal to do so! Try it for a week and see how great you feel! I promise – if you do so, your body will love you for it!
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11 Responses to “Are You Eating Your Veggies?”
Super Healthy Kids
January 31st, 2009
Hi Liz,
I love my veggies too! I have made it a habit to take a container of them with me each day – usually broccoli, cauliflower, and green peppers. After reading hear, I want some of those peapods too!! I need to look next time I’m at the store.
Getting our kids to eat them…well, they will. But they like to complain about it! I like how you’re making it fun to eat them – something else for me to try. We occassionally let them use a ranch dressing to dip in. I’d like to see them not use this – so it’s not all the time – and it does make veggie time easier (and funner for them).
I’m loving what I’ve read here – a couple of great ideas for me to try! Thanks much Liz!!
Lance
January 31st, 2009
Have you ever had turnips?? Sounds crazy I know…I buy them at the store ALL the time….I cut them in half and peel off the outer part and cut them into little bite size square pieces. In fact, I cut up radishes, turnips, celery, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, broccoli, and whatever vegetable I have bought…I cut them all up in small pieces….Make a big bowl so I have it on hand for a few days…Get my helping of veggies and add low fat or fat free ranch and a handful of slivered almonds on the top…it’s so true Liz that your taste buds start to CRAVE those foods…
I’ll sit down for lunch and eat a bowl full of veggies with a little bit of dressing…There is something about the texture of it all that really satisfies you..and…if I’m needing to add protein..I will open a can of shredded chicken (I stock up at Costco on this) add in the chicken and fat free italian and add in all the ingredients..PLUS red grapes or even cut up apples….and it becomes my whole meal…add a little pepper, onion salt or garlic and your sliced almonds…aaahhh yummy…All those textures and on a multi grain piece of bread…Sometimes I will even top if with sprouts..SO GOOD and refreshing..
For my sons lunch I always send carrots and light or fat free dressing and he eats it every day..Broccoli becomes a green tree and cauliflower becomes snow trees and we make up a game..he eats them every time and manages to steal the cooked carrots off my plate..It’s GREAT..whatever game I can get to work…
Krista
January 31st, 2009
I’m a big fan of veggies. I think always having them available is key!
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Blake
February 1st, 2009
Hey Liz
I’ve never really been a vegetable fan.
I think most of my vegetables come from whatever lands on my pizza 
I did my best when I did living foods for a month.
I also did pretty well when I took the Zone for a test drive.
I don’t mind drinking vegetables though. In fact, I can drink some nasty stuff pretty well, when I know it’s good for me, such as wheat grass.
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J.D. Meier
February 2nd, 2009
We are working hard in our house to eat more veggies. My kids are addicted to those grape tomatoes. Any other raw veggies you can forget about it though. they have to be cooked, even for me. I don’t mind bell peppers raw of tomatoe and onion as long as it is on a sandwich. We do have fresh cooked ones every night at dinner though!
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Autumn
February 3rd, 2009
My daughter loves to “dip” her veggies –
so I mix ranch dressing with plain non-fat
yogurt (50/50). Also, I let her eat lots of
her favorite veggies – mushrooms are #1. I use
my green smoothie to sneak in extra spinach.
Eileen
February 3rd, 2009
I think I get around 2 1/2 Cups a day, or I try to. For some reason I tend to eat more veggies than fruit, and I need to add more fruit to my diet as well.
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Jen
February 3rd, 2009
Turnips? LOL! No, Krista, that is a veggie I have yet to try. I’m not quite sure why, but it just sounds gross to me. 
ha ha! J.D. – It makes me laugh that you can drink nasty healthy stuff, but you can’t eat decent tasting healthy stuff! Too funny! Although, if you try that spinach shake recipe, you will see that it actually tastes divine! I promise! Autumn – I love grape tomatoes too! Although I wish they were cheaper… at my local grocery store, it’s almost $4 for a tiny little carton of them! Augh! Eileen – I have never in my life heard of a child whose favorite veggies are mushrooms! How crazy is that? I’ve never been a mushroom fan myself – so I think it’s cool that your daughter eats them! Jen – That’s awesome that you have more veggies than fruit! Most people that I have worked with have no problem adding the fruit – it’s the veggies that present a problem. I’m impressed that you eat that many veggies a day! It makes you feel so good doesn’t it?
Liz Rosenbaum
February 4th, 2009
[...] of the greatest ways to teach kids how to love and appreciate exercise, is to make it fun for them! {Just like you can make eating fruits and veggies fun!} Here’s a picture my husband snapped of my daughter and me as we were having a [...]
Liz Rosenbaum Fitness » Blog Archive » Strength Training Party
April 11th, 2009
I have a binder exclusively for collecting vegetable recipes. I have at least 50 different salads alone and then of course cooked vegetable recipe. All I have to do is flip through the binder and see the delicious pictures and I start craving the veggies.
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