Last week I set myself a challenge to have 7 days of eating 7 fruits or vegetables a day in the recommended portion sizes.
So I woke up at 4am this morning. This isn't a massively unusual occurrence for me, especially when I'm busy or stressed and 2am has been known. I don't think I can put that down to the vegetables.
Breakfast
As I woke so early and was intending to run, my body was saying to me "GIVE ME FOOD". Pre running you don't exactly want a fry up in your belly, so going for watermelon (as I did), which is high GI can actually be a great idea.
After my run I opted for a simple bowl of cereal. I was going to have scrambled eggs with mushrooms but I decided against it because after running nearly 6 miles, you don't really feel like whipping up a storm.
Lunch
I made an adaptation of my mushroom pasta bake recipe for lunch except adding an extra vegetable in the form of defrosted chopped spinach into the mix. To up the fruit and vegetable content more I also made some coleslaw on the side with red cabbage (see my photo above. I do love the colours.) The plate was all the colours of the rainbow and much more comforting than the light soup lunches I had been eating which helped me feel more sated. Home made coleslaw is a really accessible way towards your 7 a day because all of the ingredients are cheap and you can get them all year round. My son had double portions of both. Success!
Although there were 5 different vegetables and fruits in my lunch I think 4 is probably more realistic when considering portion size so with my melon this morning only two to go for teatime.
Tea
The real challenge. Resisting the thoughts of a takeaway when my house is in disarray being packed up ready to move (hopefully) on Friday. I could have chosen a better time to do this, I really could.
But, no matter. A challenge is a challenge and I'm more than half way. If I can stick to this when I'm time poor, it must be possible.
In the end as Thai or Chinese food is my takeaway of choice, always, I made my adaptation of Ken Homs Chicken with Chillis and Basil, except I added in some pepper (capsicum) and instead of just rice I cooked rice and added frozen peas in the last 2 minutes. This is something I do when serving rice to my son. It's a way I use to get an extra vegetable into an Asian style meal.
So my last two vegetable portions ticked off. Done!
How I'm feeling? Well apart from the early start this morning which isn't unusual for me, generally I'm sleeping better but I have found I'm a bit tired still. This might be due to the lower iron levels in my diet as I do enjoy red meat hence more spinach, a bit of meat and a multivitamin with iron today. That said though, I went for a run at 6:30am this morning and found despite only having watermelon beforehand, I lasted over 5 miles without feeling like my blood sugar was dropping.
The downside I've found and sorry to get graphic here, is my gastrointestinal system is used to vegetables, just not the quantity. I suspect if I continue with this I'd adapt but in the meantime I feel sorry for the other members of the household!
7 a day? Achieved. 7 portions of 9 different fruits and vegetables: Watermelon, mushrooms, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, apples, onions, peppers and peas.
My son also did pretty well today having had: Mushrooms, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, apples, watermelon (as a snack), peas and sweet potato (with fish fingers. We all have our lazy days.)
So I woke up at 4am this morning. This isn't a massively unusual occurrence for me, especially when I'm busy or stressed and 2am has been known. I don't think I can put that down to the vegetables.
Breakfast
As I woke so early and was intending to run, my body was saying to me "GIVE ME FOOD". Pre running you don't exactly want a fry up in your belly, so going for watermelon (as I did), which is high GI can actually be a great idea.
After my run I opted for a simple bowl of cereal. I was going to have scrambled eggs with mushrooms but I decided against it because after running nearly 6 miles, you don't really feel like whipping up a storm.
Lunch
I made an adaptation of my mushroom pasta bake recipe for lunch except adding an extra vegetable in the form of defrosted chopped spinach into the mix. To up the fruit and vegetable content more I also made some coleslaw on the side with red cabbage (see my photo above. I do love the colours.) The plate was all the colours of the rainbow and much more comforting than the light soup lunches I had been eating which helped me feel more sated. Home made coleslaw is a really accessible way towards your 7 a day because all of the ingredients are cheap and you can get them all year round. My son had double portions of both. Success!
Although there were 5 different vegetables and fruits in my lunch I think 4 is probably more realistic when considering portion size so with my melon this morning only two to go for teatime.
Tea
The real challenge. Resisting the thoughts of a takeaway when my house is in disarray being packed up ready to move (hopefully) on Friday. I could have chosen a better time to do this, I really could.
But, no matter. A challenge is a challenge and I'm more than half way. If I can stick to this when I'm time poor, it must be possible.
In the end as Thai or Chinese food is my takeaway of choice, always, I made my adaptation of Ken Homs Chicken with Chillis and Basil, except I added in some pepper (capsicum) and instead of just rice I cooked rice and added frozen peas in the last 2 minutes. This is something I do when serving rice to my son. It's a way I use to get an extra vegetable into an Asian style meal.
So my last two vegetable portions ticked off. Done!
How I'm feeling? Well apart from the early start this morning which isn't unusual for me, generally I'm sleeping better but I have found I'm a bit tired still. This might be due to the lower iron levels in my diet as I do enjoy red meat hence more spinach, a bit of meat and a multivitamin with iron today. That said though, I went for a run at 6:30am this morning and found despite only having watermelon beforehand, I lasted over 5 miles without feeling like my blood sugar was dropping.
The downside I've found and sorry to get graphic here, is my gastrointestinal system is used to vegetables, just not the quantity. I suspect if I continue with this I'd adapt but in the meantime I feel sorry for the other members of the household!
7 a day? Achieved. 7 portions of 9 different fruits and vegetables: Watermelon, mushrooms, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, apples, onions, peppers and peas.
My son also did pretty well today having had: Mushrooms, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, apples, watermelon (as a snack), peas and sweet potato (with fish fingers. We all have our lazy days.)
I would be absolutely honoured if you would consider nominating me in the Britmums BIB awards, especially the food category.
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