We have heard it once we have heard it a thousand time. `Eat your
veggies'. Most of us heard this more than anything during our
childhood. All you could think of as a child was when you get older
you will never eat another one again. Who needs those things anyway? I
hate to break the news to you, but fruits and veggies are a very
important part of our diets. You can't live without them. Oh you can,
but you will either gain weight or feel like shit in the long run. Go
a week without eating any, you will see what I mean. I guess the
problem is, we tend to over cook veggies. We cook them to the point
that they are either mush or they don't have the taste they once had.
This is the worst thing that you can do to them. When you over cook a
veggie, you rob of it of everything that makes it good for you. This
is very foolish and a waste of money. A person should eat 5-10
servings of veggies per day. I know you have had that pounded into
your head while you were at school. It sucks to learn they were
actually telling the truth doesn't it?

Before you get all bent out of shape, lets talk about how big a
serving really is. A medium sized fruit or veggie is one serving. A
medium sized apple, carrot or banana is one serving. 5-10 of those
doesn't sound too hard does it?

There are easy ways of getting the amount of veggies that you need.
One is by preparing them the night before. Before you go to bed, peel
and slice anything that you would want to eat the next day. This won't
take much time. You might want to invest in a peeler. They don't cost
very much. You can buy them at any shop that sells cookware. Also your
grocery store might have one. If you can't find it, ask one of the
stock boys. They will know if they carry them. One easy way to consume
more fruits and veggies is to cut them up and put them in small
sandwich baggies. Cut up a variety of things and store them in the
small bags. You might cut up an apple, some carrots and some celery.

Keep these on hand at work. When you have a coffee break, eat these
instead of rushing over to the vending machine to get a bag of snack
chips. Keep a salt shaker in your desk or in your locker at work. A
little salt will bring out the natural flavor of the veggie and make
them more appealing. Think of these as snacks to go. You can keep them
on hand if you are going to take a long trip. You can keep them at
work, in the ice box for when you get the munchies, or if you want a
late night snack. Soups are a great way to get a serving of veggies.
You need to watch though, some of the canned soups will have a lot of
salt in them. That is the downfall of buying soups that are already
prepared. If you can make your own soup, that is great. Also you will
cut out any unneeded fat.

A small salad is also one serving of veggies. When you go out to eat,
order a salad. Make sure that you don't load it up with bad salad
dressing. Go for a oil and vinegar. If you are at a place that you can
put on how much oil and vinegar you want, that is even better. Just
put enough oil on your salad to counter act the acidity of the vinegar.

You need to make sure that you are getting as many fresh fruits and
veggies as possible. When they are raw, they are the best for your
body. Some times during the canning or freezing process, they might
cook them slightly. Eat a can of raw green beans straight from the
can. Compare that to a raw green bean, you will see what I mean.

I would suggest to you that you eat as many raw veggies as possible.
If you must cook them, blanch them slightly. Just cook them long
enough so that they starchy feeling of a raw veggie is gone. Certainly
don't cook them until they are limp and colorless. That robs them from
anything that is worth eating. You are eating these to be healthy,
that is a choice you make. Cooking them to the point that they are
worthless might be an easier way to force yourself to eat them, but
your efforts are being wasted.

Here are some ways to increase your fruit and veggie consumption. For
breakfast put some fruit in with your cereal. This is great, I love
doing this. This gives your cereal a sweet zing without adding a bunch
of sugar. Also you can drink a glass of juice along with your
breakfast. Juice is a great way of `eating' your fruit. Make sure to
get juice with the pulp in it, it is also good fiber.

Lunch. Eat salads. Make sure not to load them with bad dressing. Have
veggie sticks along with your meal, this will also fill you up. For
desert you can have a piece of fruit. This is a better desert than
having a ice cream or something you will regret.

For dinner I would suggest that you try vegetarian pizza or meals
based around veggies. Why not eat some fish and a plate full of greens
and corn? You can mix and match things how ever you like it.

The key thing to understand is, you need to make fruits and veggies
fun. If you keep it bland, you won't want to eat them. So, get a cook
book or a favorite cooking site and learn how to eat your fruits and
veggies. You will notice a big difference in how you feel.

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