Ch ch ch changes...those little goals we make

[alcina]

2. To eat 5 portions of fruit and veg each day. Does anyone else struggle with this? I don't ever feel like THAT much fruit and veg. It's pretty expensive too when you consider that it amounts to 35 portions a week. McDonalds is much cheaper ;-)
Becky

I aim for nine serves of fruit/veg a day I find it's not actually that hard.

Most days I have a piece of fruit or two throughout the day as snacks. If not fruit, I'll have a salad or munch on celery or peppers or snow pea pods or something. I think red/orange/yellow capsicum (peppers) are exactly the right thing for snacking - sweet, crispy, satisfying on so many levels! They travel well in plastic bags, too.

For lunch I either have at least a serve on a sandwich and then I try to have a salad or veggies on the side, too, or I make a salad or quickie stirfry leftovers for about 2+ cups of food. Depending on what you've got in the mix, that can be four serves of veg right there.

At dinner, at least half of my plate is veggies and I'll get between 3-5 serves there.

I love veggies so I try to have a ton of different colours and textures through the day. Right now I'm digging purple cabbage, spinach and snow pea pods in addition to all the time favs capsicums (except green - ours are almost always bitter). Ooo, and radishes when we get good ones in.

Dang it, now you have me thinking about lunch and I haven't even had breakky yet!

Here's a little guideline I found, you might be surprised at how many serves you're actually getting:

A serving of fruit is:
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) fruit juice
- 1 medium whole fruit (banana, apple, peach, orange, etc.)
- 1/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, apricots, prunes, etc.)
- 1/2 cup fresh, frozen, or canned fruit (berries, melon, grapes, etc.)

A serving of vegetables is:
- 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables
- 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
- 6 oz vegetable juice

heheheh - i havent been to maccas for ages (how good to say that)

I couldn't tell you the last time I ate at McD's or similar! Not even while we're in Perth or I'm on holiday. I think I tried to eat a burger from Burger King (Hungry Jack's) while I was in the US last October (it might have been the trip before that) - but I took one bite and it sucked so bad I tossed it out LOL Never have liked BK/HJ, though...

 

[almitywife]

hehehe - when we were in guam a few years ago, hubby made us go to burger king as he had to have the triple whopper! he survived... just

 

[BeckyN]

Oh My Goodness... thank you so much! Lots of fantastic tips.

Tha's a whole heap of fruit and veg you're getting through... you must have great skin and lots of energy!

It's funny, where I lived in the UK, which ever direction you travelled in you could get to a MacD's within 2kms. Now I have to go 30kms! And the thing is.. the food is never as good as you build it up to be in your head. Needless to say MacD's is the easiest thing to quit. I wish I could quit weighing myself though. It's midday and I've already weighed 3 times! I know, I know.....

Becky

 

[BeckyN]

McD's or MacD's??? Sorry

 

[alcina]

Becky - maybe you have to tough love yourself for the scale. Pack it up, put in the deepest recess of your closet or in the shed and LEAVE it alone for two weeks.

If you get obsessed with it once you take it out, back it goes for three weeks.

I weigh myself in the morning, after my walk and before my shower. Then I'm done done done.

 

[alcina]

McDonald's so McD

 

[almitywife]

I once abused my scales so much (ie, weighed myself) that one day i stood on the scales and heard a very very bad crunching sound

i decided i hate my new scales - they are digital and give me a different weight ever time i stand on them - even if i stand 3 times in 30 secs!

on monday im going to do my measurements with the trainer - working hard for good news

 

[alcina]

I've heard that about digital scales. My current, really crappy scale with a needle is really funky.

I reset it this morning to zero but usually it starts at 1 or 1.5 kgs and I just subtract LOL I know it's not accurate for absolute weight, but I think it's close enough to see change...maybe...

 

[Wayward Son]

I have digital scales that are fairly consistent in weight, but flaky in measuring body fat percentage. Need to use calipers for that.

Weight is often misleading when you're trying to "lose weight". Often, you're really trying to "lose fat" and if you're exercising & putting on muscle, your body composition changes but teh scale doesn't move much. You can stay about the same weight but see your body fat % drop substantially.

The way your clothes fit is a better indicator than weight. If they're getting loose, you're getting leaner. More muscle, less fat. So who cares what number the scale reads?

 

[fairybasslet]

gotta remember that Stu next time my scale says I gained a lb. My clothes are loser so I gotta keep that in mind.