Day 12: One of the most important changes in how I eat and what I eat . . .
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet, Fruit and Vegetables
Today’s task in 31 Days to a Better Diet is a from another guest writer.
I’m very pleased to welcome Cassie of Veggie Meal Plans to Limes & Lycopene. Cassie’s post reveals a useful way to increase the variety of foods you eat.
One of the most important changes in how I eat and what I eat started one night when I was at friend’s home heating a diet frozen dinner in the microwave. I was planning to eat it straight from the box, the way I always did. But my friend had something else in mind: she took the frozen meal from me, transferred the contents onto a warm plate, added extra veggies, and set it all out on the table for me. Well gosh, that was all lovely, but all that extra work for a frozen dinner?
This seemed to contradict the very reasons to have a frozen dinner to begin with - simplicity and convenience. It hardly seemed worth it to me to dirty an extra dish when I was willing to eat out of the box. And adding vegetables was nice, but I didn’t want to fuss or to be fussed over. I just wanted to eat!
Even though that was all twenty years ago, I still think back on it often. What my friend did for me wasn’t anything that took much effort on her part, but the effort she did make transformed my meal, and more than anything, it ultimately transformed my mindset.
What started out as a simple plate of food became something I wanted to sit and savor, not wolf down over the kitchen sink, or eat mindlessly in front of a television from a soggy box. It was something my friend thoughtfully put together for me to help me with my diet. It wasn’t about making a fuss or just putting food on a pretty plate. It was about doing something good for me. And she showed me it wasn’t inconvenient, it wasn’t fussy and it certainly wasn’t hard. Why wasn’t I doing that for myself?
I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I just want to eat.
Whether you’ve got a lot on the go or just need a break, sometimes putting a meal together feels like a chore. These are the times you could probably benefit most from a good meal.
To help me out on these occasions I’ve learned to keep convenient vegetables and fruits on hand so I can add them to my plate with minimal effort. I don’t always have the energy to tackle fresh artichokes, but usually manage ten seconds to slice a cucumber to put on the side of a bowl of chilli. Or I can slice an apple to go with my sandwich. The key is having the cucumber or apple on hand.
Easy ways to add veggies and fruits to your plate
To make this all work for me I keep no-fuss vegetables and fruits on hand: things I can add to my breakfast, lunch or dinner or grab with an afternoon snack. Cucumbers, carrots, celery, pears, oranges, grapes and berries are all very easy. And while I could plunk a whole apple on my plate, or tell myself I’ll eat it later, I know if I did that, the apple might go uneaten. Yet if I take the ten extra seconds to slice it up, I’ll eat it - and I’ll enjoy it!
Because I don’t always feel like having apple wedges or cucumber spears, I like to vary the preparation to keep things exciting. These are just some of my favorite no-cook ways to add easy-to-prep veggies and fruits to my daily meals:
- grate apple and carrot into oatmeal
- take a handful of berries or chopped mango, mash or puree with oil and vinegar and pour over salad
- slice tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and herbs
- mix shredded carrots with orange segments, lemon, cinnamon and agave nectar
- slice cucumbers and sprinkle with rice vinegar, dill and black pepper
- chop apples and celery and toss with walnuts and a mustardy dressing
- make a salsa with fruit or cucumbers instead of tomatoes
- add something new to a salad - sliced jicama, cubed dragonfruit, raw grated beets, shredded daikon
The possibilities are endless and it’s all as easy or as complicated as I make it!
It’s not just about eating off a plate and getting your veggies
Adding fruits and veggies to my plate isn’t about making things fancy but about adding a little more variety, flavor, colors and texture. Of course this contributes to my daily veggie servings but I also find that meals are tastier and more enjoyable as well as more nutritious. And as a person who could be quite content filling up on potatoes, pasta and bread, which is not at all that good for me, adding veggies and fruits is extremely helpful as it keeps me from going back for a second helping.
Having my food on a plate keeps me aware of my portion sizes, whether it’s too much or too little. Sitting at the table with my plate slows me down and helps me savor my food. I’m not inhaling it then forgetting two hours later that I even had dinner at all.
This is all about eating more mindfully. I eat better. I feel better. Then I leave the table feeling satisfied and with a sense that I’ve done something good for myself. And I deserve that. Everyone does!
What fruit and vegetables are you going to add to your plate today?
Cassie Young can be found at her blog, Veggie Meal Plans, where she shares simple recipes and meal ideas.
Cereal photograph by Sanja Gjenero. Chili with avocado, carrot, cucumber, celery sticks & whole grain bread photograph by Cassie Young.
12 August, 2008
Comments
Cassie, what a great friend yours was/is! And what a warm, caring gesture to teach you something so incredibly invaluable.
I am guilty of not always eating so mindfully. Will do so, as of this evening. Even if you do go back for second helpings, if those helpings are extra fruit and veg (not starchy staples), then you’ll feel far better, too.
Love the berry/mango dressig idea. Noting it down as I write!
yum, such great ideas Cassie! i especially like the sound of apples + celery with walnuts and mustard dressing. i imagine this would be quite nice (and crunchy!) on a fresh bread roll.
great post, thanks Cassie! I too could fall for the trap of eating lots of carbs but there is something about eating lots of fruit and veg that just feels so good – although some days I need to try more than others. One of my easiest ways to pep up vegetables on the side whether salad or steamed is to squeeze a bit of lemon juice and grind some black pepper over them.
I also read a write up on a book with a name like Read the Label on the weekend where the author was saying that making a cake from a box of cake mix is just as easy as making a cake from scratch but the former involves much more salt and sugar. We just have too many mixed-up messages out there messing with our common sense.
The more I think about this strategy, the more I realise how powerful it is. Since we talked about it, I’ve been experimenting with adding more fruit and vegetable bits to my plate. A few sticks of celery and some dried apricots to a snack; some carrot slices, orange and walnuts to a lunch-time sandwich.
Makes the food into a more satisfying meal, it’s easy to eat because the food is already cut up. Plus having some fruit on there seems to reduce the after meal sweet itch.
Thanks so much for your post Cassie. I love the story of your friend’s kindness as well. These small acts of care can have such a profound impact.
Good post, thanks – this is for me probably the hardest thing to do – eat well when you are ‘so hungry you could eat the cat’. Another element to the problem is that when I am stressed/busy I often want to eat comforting foods which take a while to cook. Part of the answer is to make my own ‘ready meals’ for quick microwaving, and this works as long as the freezer is full! But I like this idea of actively introducing fruits and veg to an otherwise unremarkable plate, not least because it maintains that sense of continuity – we needn’t feel we’ve ‘lost it’ just because we had a wheat bread sandwich (as I have just done!) or a bowl of cereal. Thanks for the encouragement!
To make slicing apples all the more easy, I have one of those circular apple slicers. One push and the whole apple is cored and sliced. It’s ridiculously easy to grab some almond or peanut butter and make a healthy snack that way! Another weird way I’m getting more veggies is to use collard greens as “wraps” for sandwiches instead of tortillas. Try it!
Fab post Cassie! I try to employ this strategy of always having easy to eat fruit and veg to hand too.
I think there is a lot to be said for putting in a bit of preparation so that your fruit and veg is easy to eat. As you say, slicing up that apple, cutting up big, long straggly watercress leaves, having a napkin ready for dribbly nectarines. I always have peppers, cucumber and carrots in the fridge which are almost instant to get into stick form. Berries have to be the ultimate low preparation fruit – so easy just to eat alongside of/on top of most breakfasts.
Wow, I appreciate all of your wonderful thoughts, ideas and comments!
Sophie, great point with the napkins! I can remember a time I used to buy peaches with good intentions to eat them, but would then use the excuse that I didn’t want to dribble juice down my chin. (With apples I always had the excuse that I didn’t want to get bits of apple skin in my teeth!) I finally learned to just cut them up to help with that, but I think keeping a stash of cloth napkins in the basket next to all those juicy fruits would be a good idea – so no excuses either way.
Kathryn, you’re so right about these small acts and how they can have such a profound impact! Thanks so much for sharing my post here as part of your 31 Days series. :)
What a great post! You give some really good suggestions and point out common excuses. Thanks! P.S. I really like the name of your blog. Very clever. :)
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