Increase your veggie intake in just a few easy steps.
Do you struggle to get more vegetables into your diet?
One of the things I hear most often from clients during consultations is that they feel they struggle to get enough vegetables into their diet.
Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that we get about five standard serves of vegetables into our diet each day, but a lot of people find this really difficult.
Well, I’m here to help!
Here are four ways to get more vegetables into your diet…
1. Have vegetables more in your fridge
Long story short: if the vegetables are visible in your house, you will be more likely to eat them!
If you’re rummaging around in the fridge looking to make a meal you should be more inclined to include those fresh, tasty-looking veggies in the crisper.
It’s the same with fruit – have a bowl filled with fruit on the kitchen counter and chances are you’ll be encouraged to choose a banana when you walk past rather than head straight for the potato chips.
2. Find a good fresh food market or outlet that makes you feel happy inside.
It’s not just about the actual process of buying more vegetables – it’s about investing in the quality and appreciating where the produce has come from.
I really enjoy buying WA-grown fruit and vegetables: not only does it taste so much fresher due to the reduced field-to-table time, but I also know I’m helping support WA farmers and the Western Australian economy. And that tastes pretty sweet, too!
3. Plan, plan, plan!
I’ve mentioned many a time how important I think meal planning is to incorporating healthy eating practices – and this absolutely applies to getting more vegetables into your diet.
(Don’t forget that by signing up to my newsletter on the home page you’ll get a free eBook on meal planning!)
If you know you’re going to be at home for dinner six nights next week, choose six vegetable-rich recipes you like, list all the ingredients and make sure they’re in your fridge when you’re ready to cook.
Having all the vegetables close to hand gives you no “excuse” not to include them in your meal!
4. Keep rotating the variety of vegetables that you buy so that veggies are kept interesting.
While some people enjoy eating the same things over and over again, most of us prefer to have a little more variety in our diet.
Challenge yourself to trying a new vegetable one a month or so, and read up on the internet about how to cook and/or eat it.
Never made pesto with fresh basil? Give it a go. Once you’ve nailed it, you can start incorporating it into your regular diet.
If you have any other suggestions, tips or tricks for getting more veggies into your diet, I’d love to hear them!
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