Vegetables- How To Eat Enough Of Them

A question I get asked a lot in my nutrition work is ‘how can I eat all the vegetables I need in one day?’ and I have to admit that it isn’t a simple question to answer. I thought today I would provide some tips and tricks to getting all your serves of vegetables in (and enjoying them).

The Australian Guide to Health Eating outlines the number of serves of vegetables a day that is recommended

	19-50 years	51-70 years	70+ years
Men	6	5 ½	5
Women	5	5	5

 (source)

A serve of vegetables is different depending on the vegetable. A few examples include:

o   ½  a cup of cooked green or orange vegetables

o   1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables

o   ½ a medium potato

o   1 medium tomato

I'm sure this is obvious to everyone but the reason why it is important to eat such a large volume of vegetables daily is because they are packed full of nutrients and are really low in kilojoules (calories). 

Are you saying to yourself ‘This information is all well and good but how on earth can you eat all those serves of vegetables?’ here are some tips on how to get your 5-6 serves a day:

o   Try and include vegetables in all your meals and snacks.

o   Always bring fruit and vegetable snacks with you to work (then there is no need to search for the vending machine).

o   Be adventurous. Try new vegetables, recipes or cooking methods. This will stop you from getting bored

There are so many ways to incorporate vegetables into your meals. Below I have listed some of my favourite ideas as well as some links to delicious recipes.

-Tomato on toast wholegrain with salt and pepper

-spinach and poached eggs on whole grain toast

-zucchini slice

-Pizza’s stacked high with vegetables

-Vegetable sticks and dip

-pesto and chicken with zucchini noodles

-Salads (there are so many options! Have a look on Pinterest for inspiration)

-Add grated vegetables to your bolognese sauce (zucchini and carrot are good) 

-Frozen vegetables (obviously heat them up) with tinned tuna and sweet chilli sauce

-Add frozen vegetables to dinners and lunches

-Vegetable Lasagne

-Stir-fry vegetables with soy sauce and garlic

-Roasted vegetables

-Vegetable soup

-A simple salad sandwich
-Soba noodles with stirfried vegetables and honey soy dressing

At the end of the day all you can do is your best to get as many vegetables into your day as possible. I hope you try out some of the recipes linked.

Bridge xo

How To Make Yourself Want To Exercise

I promise there is a point to this blog post but I wanted to tell a story first. From the age of 8 till the age of 22 I danced and that was my exercise. I didn’t have to think about when I would fit it in or what I was going to do. I knew that I would have classes this many times a week and I would have to do my own practice on these days and there was no option not to do it. When I finished dancing it made me realise that it wasn’t so easy to exercise regularly when I didn’t have this structure. In the last year I wouldn’t say that I have been inactive I just haven’t exercised as much as I would like to. I have been going on runs and I joined a gym but nothing was consistent. I would be feeling enthusiastic for a week and then do nothing the next week.

In the last few weeks of being in the US my boyfriend organised a membership at the gym he was working for and he wrote up a program for me. Even with all of this it took an immense effort for him to actually get me into the gym. I would make excuses not to go, be sluggish and hard to get out of bed, convince him that it was too cold for us to go (granted it was -20°C outside) and just be a general pain in the butt. I think it was because I had in my mind that I didn’t like exercising in the gym. Them main reason for that I realise now is because I had no idea what to do with the majority of the machines and weights. Well when I was shown how to use the gym equipment and started working out I enjoyed it. It felt good to be doing something.

A similar thing happened when we got back to Australia. I resisted getting started back in the gym for the first week but since I have been back into routine exercise I feel happy with myself and I’m loving exercising again. I am excited to be getting stronger and fitter.

After that long winded story it brings me to why I wanted to write this post. I want to share what I have learnt about exercise over the last few months.

-The hardest part is getting there. Who hasn’t heard this? But it is so true. Once I was actually at the gym I was excited about exercising. A quote I have seen pop up on Pinterest sums this up.

- Exercising with a friend or having a trainer helps to keep you accountable and motivated. I didn’t realise how much I missed exercising with people around like friends or my dance teachers. They were the people who made me turn up to dance class.

-Have a goal. It doesn’t matter what it is but if you have a purpose to exercise for it gives you a reason to schedule it into your life.

-Work out a structure that works to you and stick to it. Try planning out what exercise you want to do a week ahead and write it down so you are expecting it.

-Remember that exercise doesn’t have to be in a gym. It could be walking, running, yoga, dance class, boxing, rowing. There are so many options I don’t think anyone can say they don’t like to exercise because exercise is such a broad category. One of my sayings is that it is better to do something than it is to do nothing. So if all the exercise you can fit in that particular day is a brisk 20 minute walk then that is better than sitting in front of the television for 20 minutes.

-Buy yourself some new exercise clothes something that you feel comfortable in and that makes you feel good. If you have exercise clothes that you love to wear maybe it will mean you put them on more often (I was lucky to get some new exercise clothes for Christmas).

I hope that I have actually given some valid points that aren’t just the same old things you hear every day. These are the things that have worked for me over the past few months so hopefully they can work for you too.

Bridge xo

How to Shop Healthy and Cheaply | Bites

Since arriving in Minneapolis it has occurred me that I can’t rely on my parents to make me dinner and buy groceries (I knew it was going to happen obviously but I didn’t think of the logistics). So after an unorganised shopping trip where we managed to squish the loaf of bread, I have decided to set myself the challenge to 1. Becoming better at grocery shopping and 2. Making healthy meals without spending a fortune (leaving more money for exciting adventures). As a newbie to fending for myself I have done a bit of research and together with everything I have learn about nutrition come up with a few tips I am going to try and stick to.

1.   Buy whole unprocessed foods. Most of the time it is less expensive. For example it is cheaper to buy a bag of oats and jazz them up yourself (with fruit, nuts, or cinnamon) than it is to buy a flavoured sachet of oats.
2.   Buy frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables where possible. For obvious reasons these last longer meaning you can buy them in bulk without the worry of spoilage (providing you have room in the freezer). A common misconception with frozen fruit and veg is that they have less nutrients compared to their fresh counter parts. This is not true they can actually have more nutrients because they have been frozen close to harvesting and haven’t been sitting on a shelf where nutrients can seep out. When choosing tinned products make sure there is no added salt in the vegetables and that fruit is canned in natural fruit juice or water to avoid excess sugar.
3.   Buy generic brands. A lot of the time the food product is the same without a fancy label. This doesn’t mean you have to buy everything generic even just getting the basics like rice and flour from these brands can make a difference.
4.  Drink tap water rather than buying beverages (I'm pretty good at this already but it is still a good tip).
5. Buy vegetables in season. They are less expensive and a lot of the time better quality because they are fresher.
6.  Look to buy cheaper proteins (meats, eggs, legumes) and make them more exciting by adding flavours yourself. Less expensive meats such as beef mince or tinned tuna. You can make mince go further by adding lentils or beans to bulk it out a bit.
7.  Making a shopping list and sticking to it. It is easy to impulse buy when shopping (I have found it especially tempting shopping in the US because of all the different products. I want to try everything). By doing this the shopping trip will be quick and more focused.

Something else to consider for us is that it can be cheaper to eat at a restaurant than it is to buy food at the grocery store. The aim is to find a healthy balance in life and just enjoy meal times.

There you have it the 7 little things to try and stick by over the next few months. I might do another post in the future about how practical these tips were and anything else I have learnt.

Hopefully this post is helpful for anyone who has recently started doing their own grocery shopping.

Enjoy!