Hooray for returning to our house in Ocala!
Call me crazy, but even after only three days away from home, it feels incredibly good to be back.
I’m ready to get back into a normal routine and back into my groove. Plus, it feels good to have our little threesome reunited again.
I worked through the morning at my parents’ house before eating lunch and hitting the road back for Ocala around 2:30 p.m.
My lunch was quite random and completely lacking in veggies.
Shredded wheat cereal + pecans + milk
Cinnamon raisin toast + butter
Kiwi + an unpictured apple with a spoonful of peanut butter 30 minutes later
Vegetables, where are you!?
Vegetable Pact
I’ve made myself a veggie pact to incorporate more vegetables into my diet this week. I naturally gravitate toward fruit when I open the fridge to grab fresh produce and I’d like to make more of an effort to reach for leafy greens and nutritious vegetables more often. I like them, so I don’t know why I’ve been opting for fruit or other snacky foods over veggies 90 percent of the time for what seems like the past month.
For me, once I get into the habit of eating something, it often becomes my go-to food. When I’m eating vegetables regularly, I eat them constantly and don’t think much about it. When they start to fall to the wayside, I just try to remind myself that I really do love vegetables (especially when they’re roasted) and eating them truly does make me feel better physically. That should be motivation enough, right?
I’ve been pretty good about eating vegetables at dinnertime, but feel like I could amp up my lunchtime vegetable portions. I guess this post is serving as a little gut-check with myself to bump up vegetable servings in my meals.
Question of the Afternoon
- Do you ever struggle with incorporating lots of vegetables into your diet?
- How do you make sure to eat lots of veggies every day?
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I’ve been making your breakfast sammies w/ eggs, Kashi waffles, cheese, and jam and they’re my new favorite thing! As I’m frying the eggs, I dump a bunch of spinach or kale in the pan, so it wilts as the eggs are cooking. I then put the greens in the sammie. Quick way to get some veggies in with breakfast! Probably not so good in overnight oats, though, lol.
Oh, and I never knew you were supposed to eat the overnight oats cold until your post last week. I felt ridiculous as I’ve been heating up my oats before eating. Now I have to try them cold. I feel like such a dork!
During the winter, I heat my overnight oats up in the morning just a little! Don’t feel like a dork 🙂 It’s still a great way to eat them! They are really good cold though.
I always plan my meals around vegetables to ensure to fill up on nutrients but tend to snack on fruit!
I got a juicer for Christmas and although I usually eat lots of greens, the juicer has made it so much easier to get in lots and lots of fruits and veggies. I stick a ton in my morning juice so I’m good to go for the day!
I usually make sure if I am not having lots of veggies with supper that I either have a huge lunch salad or a bag of veggies and hummus as my afternoon snack. I have also been drinking green smoothies with lots of spinach!
every once in awhile i go through the same thing where i wonder where all the veggies in my life have gone! it’s easy for me to fit them into dinner, but like you said, i find myself having a harder time fitting them in at other times throughout the day. i make sure i always have our fridge stocked with veggies i enjoy a lot to help me out. i try to stuff them in my meals in whatever way i can (in eggs, in smoothies, on sandwiches, huge salads, etc.).
i agree; my veggie intake was seriously lacking for the past few months; come january 1st i decided to make a change and incorporate more salads and veggies; I like only certian veggies raw and certain veggies cooked; i can only eat cauliflower and broccoli if it is cooked! its too ruff raw! hehe so i’m with you and have felt so much better with the incorporation of vegetables! i love adding tilapia or a can of tuna or a boca burger right on top!
I don’t think I’ve ever commented on here before, but I have been reading for almost a year now! I think this is the perfect opportunity for my first comment, though.
All PBFingers readers (and Julie of course!) need to watch this clip from Friends! It’s from the 17th episode of the 7th season, and Joey references something very near and dear to our hearts in the opening scene!
http://www.yourtvseries.net/friends/season-07-episode-17-the-one-with-the-cheap-wedding-dress/
oh yes!! i love, love, love this! 🙂 friends is one of my all-time favorite shows.
I add spinach to my am smoothie. A smoothie is such a quick breakfast, and I’m almost always running late! Also, I eat a salad almost every night for dinner. I plop whatever I cooked on a bed of greens and call it a salad.
Combining them with fruit is always a winner, fresh raw beet, carrot, and orange..you could even through an apple in there! Also love big hearty meals with chickpeas, split peas, lentils or beans mixed with roasted veggies. You can’t go wrong with roasting!
I love fruits & veggies! I’ve never had much of an issue getting them into my daily meals. Growing up, we always had a meat, a starch, and a veggie… that’s just… how it was!
Currently, I’m on a juice fast, so ALL I consume is fruits & veggies!
I’m a serious salad hater.
I know. BUT I make up for it by keeping the vegetables I love cut up and ready to go. My favorites are celery {with peanut butter, of course}, peppers, and mushrooms.
I hide my veggies into sauces and meals. I know that ‘s what they tell you to do with kids, but I don’t see why grown-ups can’t do it too.
I always default to fruit, too! Fruit just seems to much more tasty & satisfying. I usually tend to only get veggies at dinner OR if I’m having a salad for lunch. Another great way to sneak in veggies is by adding them to smoothies! I’ve mastered an amazing veggie smoothie that includes spinach, kale, ginger, apple, and pear. It’s delish! 🙂
I try to plan my meals/snacks around ’em so I know I will have them. I also get bored, so I HAVE to have options–this helps me!
I always have a big salad at dinner, so this is a must and where I get lots of greens 🙂 A smoothie usually helps mid-day too!
Julie!!!
I got a new blog, but its still the same Carrie!
I”m JOINING YOU ON THIS PACT! I only get like 1 serving a day these days… I need to eat more!
I definitely have a hard time getting my veggies in and I don’t know why because I love them! I find if I roast a big batch of veggies at the beginning of the week, I am more likely to add them to my lunches and dinners throughout the week. Let’s be honest, prepping the veggies is half the battle!
I only pack veggies and lean protein for lunch and purposely leave my purse at home. Then I have no choice but to get them in! I really don’t like veggies … Gotta force myself 😉
During the day, difficult to incorporate–so at night I make sure I go heavy on veggies–and if not enuff at night I make sure to weekly incorporate binges–i.e.–steamed broccoli is my go to. I’ll steam like 1.5-2 lbs frozen, add seasoned salt and top with ranch dressing after cooking (try it). Its delicious.
I don’t eat meat, besides fish sometimes, so I eat a lot of veggies usually. My favorite way to eat veggies is making a flatbread veggies pizza. So many possibilities!
i eat a salad with lunch and dinner every day and always add extra veggies to it–baby carrots, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes–and a lot of the times i’ll add some fruit too! best of both worlds 🙂
also, spinach in smoothies! tastes like fruit, but ya get your veggies too! whoever came up with that one=genius
Definitely! But, i just make sure to have at least one veg with lunch and dinner. Often I have more, but I make myself have at least one (even if its just lettuce/tomato on my sandwich or a small side salad). That is not likely as much as you should have in a day but I figure its better than nothing!
LL
I like to add a salad or veggie pack to my lunch. Or cut up veggies as an afternoon snack. I love veggies so it’s never difficult for me to get them in.
I really dislike cooked veggies. I only eat corn cooked, but I don’t even consider that a veggie. I’ve been adding spinach to my smoothies and I have been trying to eat some sort of veggie at lunch and dinner. Carrots are my go to veggie. I’ve been adding a salad to my diet at least 3 days a week to get in more greens and add radishes, onion and cucumbers. Slowly I am getting more and more into eating veggies…but only if they are raw.
Oh, I throw veggies into my meals like it’s my job. I dip veggies in hummus at lunch or have a big salad, I throw spinach into my smoothies, etc etc. Like you, I lean towards fruit, but I do make a concerted effort to fit leafy greens in there, too!
I made my first comment on your blog two nights ago but thought i would comment today as well. Been reading your blog for a year – its so much fun to read! I am a raw vegan, so incorporating veggies into my daily life is pretty simple actually…it’s ALL veggies! 🙂
found one of your wedding pics on another blog today!
http://www.aphroditesweddingblog.com/blog/2011/12/01/wedding-photography-must-have-images-for-the-shot-list/
very cool!!
I honestly am a freak who craves veggies on a daily basis. I just have always liked em- since I was a little freak, er, kid.
I’m in Phase One of the South Beach Diet this week (it’s my second week so I am close to being done with phase one. Woo Hoo!), so I am eating lots of veggies. I struggle eating them, though, because I get to sick of the approved veggies – namely broccoli.
I try to sneak as many veggies in as I can. For example – lots of veggies in my morning egg scramble. I did force myself to eat raw broccoli yesterday on the way to the gym. Raw is not my favorite. Steamed or sauteed or roasted please!
Like you, I tend to gravitate towards the same foods. Right now I am retraining myself to gravitate towards healthy foods and just enjoy the unhealthy foods once in a while instead of depending on them.
i just made a veggie egg scramble this morning! YUM!
Yes especially at lunch! Random question… Do you eat the skin of kiwis?
yes! i had no idea that you could until i saw it on another blogger’s blog!
Each morning I blend up a whole bunch of produce in my vita mix to have along side my breakfast…I get at least 5 different fruits and veggies just in my first meal. I love it!
I have had the most intense and random craving for cinnamon raisin toast for weeks! I need some.
it was fantastic. not to rub it in. 🙂
I definitely gravitate towards fruit, too. I try to snack on baby carrots daily.. sometimes other fruits like cucumbers and raw squash depending on what I pick up at the store. I always have the carrots, though!
Dinner is usually my spot for most of my veggies. If I have a salad or a sandwich at lunch I try to pack as many I can in there too! Also, if I am eating a soup somewhere for lunch, I try to go with the most nutrient dense.
I was just thinking about this very thing today – I packed carrots to eat as a snack at work this afternoon but didn’t eat them. I eat a lot of veggies but tend to pack them in at the end of the day/during dinner, so I’m trying to be more balanced about veggies at lunch and dinner.
I’m sure you probably eat them but green smoothies are a good way to get some veggies in the mornings or during lunch. I just starting drinking this one chocolate green smoothie that is incredible!! I feel like it is an indulgence. Other than that I add spinach and/or peppers, onions, mushrooms to my eggs. However, eggs over medium with fresh blueberries – divine!!
I try to have AT LEAST ONE veggie with every meal… if I have a shake I use your tip and put a bit of spinach in it, Egg white omelettes get LOADED with veggies.. sandwiches, pastas, soups of course almost all have veggies so they work… but I don’t kill myself if I miss out once, I just try harder the next day 🙂
I use to eat edamame already out of the pod everyday for lunch but sadly my Trader Joe’s has been out of it recently. I loved it because it was healthy and high in protein so I am hoping they get it back soon.
I’m working on it!! I especially love the broccoli steamer bags!! And I stick spinach in everything!
It’s funny, sometimes eating veggies is no trouble at all, and other times it seems like so much work to incorporate them into my meals.
Lately I’ve been on a pureed soup kick (winter is cold in Canada! Soup helps 😛 ), which makes it pretty easy to get veggies in. And so tasty!
I eat way more fruit than veggies because I graze all day rather than eat substantial meals, but I try to eat veggies every night for dinner…and a lot of them! I like every veggie, so it’s pretty easy for me to get my greens for the day 🙂 My favorite is probably fresh asparagus!
I am the total opposite- I always go for veggies, but never the fruit. I wish I could get into the whole ‘fruit thing’.
It always feels so good to be back at your own home after a trip away!
I often don’t get enough veggies until dinner, but at that point its usually not a problem, since both the bf and I tend to like to have a dinner that revolves around veggies!
I do hate most fruit, so that makes it easier to go for the veggies too 🙂
I am the exact opposite when it comes to veggies! I am a veggie-aholic! I love vegetables but I am not a big fruit person. I often don’t eat any fruit! I need ways to get fruit into my diet!
Veggies are a constant struggle for me. But, I notice quickly if I don’t add them in because I am a lot hungrier eating the same amount of calories with a lot less volume! It isn’t too long at all before I add them back in out of pure starvation! 🙂
I think the hardest thing about vegetables is they are harder to just grab and eat. Like I’m not going to grab a bell pepper, take a bite and think, hmm crunchy and delicious like I would with an apple. For me, it’s all about prepping them and making them accesible. Like roasted broccoli – if I pre-roast it and store it in the fridge i eat them like chips!
exaaaactly!
Im like you, I am much more likely to grab an apple than a carrot from the fridge. Supper is sadly that only time I’m sure to get vegetables too! I want to join this pact!
I don’t think I struggle with getting too many vegetables but I do struggles with eating too much fruit. It’s funny that even such a healthy food group can be too much.
I eat a huge salad everyday for either lunch or dinner. I include all kinds of vegetables and change up the proteins. For dinner tonight I have mixed greens, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, grilled salmon burger, dallops of hummus, sliced almonds and craisins…all mixed in. Random, yes? Delicious, yes? Veggie overload, yes!
i love this idea!
I like fruit way more the veggies.. i have a sweet tooth that enjoys it! I have also been doing my best to up the veggies!