Six strategies to increase your daily intake

"Eat like an adult"
Heathy habits are learned just as unhealthy habits are. They're learned through practice.
I like to approach fruit and vegetable intake, and overall eating habits with the mantra "eat like an adult".
Although it may seem patronising at first for me to say this to you, when we lay out food behaviour inline with the different stages of life, it becomes a good tool for reflection and course correction.
Ask yourself, am I eating like an adult?
Here are the food behaviours of someone over the life course:

New Born
Does not have a concept of food or health;
Regardless of preferences, eats what they are fed.

Child
Starts to understand different types of food and concept of healthful/junk foods;
Develops preferences and, as a result, potential fussy eating.

Teenager
Understands in more detail the role food plays on health;
Common to avoid healthier foods due to "coolness" and thrill to defy authorities;
Has likely accumulated poor experiences with healthier foods.

Adult
Has full responsibility for their lifestyle behaviours;
Knows that fruit & veg are the cornerstone of a healthy diet;
Actively attempts to eat 5+ portions of fruit & veg per day;
Orders sides of vegetables when eating out;
Learns to cook them properly to have good food experiences;
Enjoys the odd treat within a balanced diet.
Eating like an adult means acknowledging the above points and planning steps to move in this direction. For some, it may be a few simple tweaks. For others it may take some time, with small incremental steps, to make the habits stick.
Check out more about habit building here.
Let's have a look at six great strategies to boost your fruit and vegetable intake.
1. Make a soup
Soups are a delicious way to pack in a whole lot of vegetables into your diet. The trick here, as it is with any meal, is the method of cooking and the herbs and spices you add that make it enjoyable.

Some people hate onions. Lentils. Pumpkin. Blend them into a soup, though, and you get a varied intake of vegetables in one hit. Preparing it couldn't be easier. Throw it in a pot, add flavouring and blend it all up.
If preparing it isn't possible (or not of interest), nice soups can be found at the supermarket or some small grocers. Just keep an eye on the salt content, as they can tend to be on the higher side. Generally seek out labels with less than 400mg of sodium.
If you're not much of a cook, I encourage you to give soups a go, as it's a a great way to get some kitchen confidence. Try this recipe out to start.
A soup is a great food prep option. It'll hold in the fridge for a couple of days and freeze for as long as you like. Prepare one dish & get your 5 veggie servings for days.
2. Pack out your dish
It may seem like a no brainer, but do you actively seek out where you can add vegetables into your meals? It's ok of you didn't until now. We often go through the motions eating meals we've always eaten. No reason to think of variations or additions....

What ever the meal, pack it out with veggies. Ok, bread, wraps, or a burger bun may not be the most nutrient rich foods, but what you put in it is what counts. Pack out your sandwich with all sorts of good stuff. Lettuce, grated carrot, pickles, hummus, sprouts. You name it. Go for it!
Many meals are sauce based. Pastas and curries, for example. These meals are great family favourites to pack in a bunch of vegetables. Why not add white beans and chopped carrots to a pasta sauce, like Nonna used to do it?! Or add broccoli into a classic butter chicken dish?
If these don't sound appealing, thats ok. A quick google search of a specific meal should bring up a whole lot of ideas. Searching for vegetarian specific option, may being some new inspiration too.
3. Make them Visible
One of the things I talk about regarding creating your food environment is the visibility of food. When we see a food, we're more likely to eat it. This goes for healthful foods or "treats"

I encourage everyone to have a visible fruit bowl in the kitchen or dining area. It needs to be something seen in plain sight every day, ideally early in the day.
Capitalise on our brain's natural tendency to be drawn to bright, contrasting colours. Try to have a variety of fruit of different colours in your fruit bowl.
If you pack a piece of fruit for work, where possible, unpack it and keep it at your desk or anywhere else you'll see it.
If you work in an environment that tends to have lots of treats brought in & lying around, think of discussing with management or colleagues about having a fruit bowl available. Or why not fill a fruit bowl one day, out of the blue, and I bet you'll have others ranting about what a great idea it was. It may catch on.
4. Substitute
We previously discussed performance plates, where the total carbohydrate intake is tailored for the amount of activity/intensity of the day.

On days of rest or lower intensity activity, carbohydrate needs are lower, particularly traditional starchy carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes and bread.
Substituting these with creative vegetable alternatives is a great way to bump up your overall intake.

Try things like Zoodles (Zucchini noodles) in place of pasta, cauliflower rice in place of...ahhh rice, or sheets of lettuce or cabbage as a wrap.
Substituting puts veg into your diet in places where it normally wouldn't, and as a byproduct, often lowers the calorie content of your meal, whilst still being filling and satisfying.
Again, methods of cooking and added spices matter.
If using Zoodles, just boil/steam them for 1-2 mins. Overcooking will make them soggy. Alternatively, just lightly fry them up for added crunch.
If making cauliflower rice, fry the rice in some spices and a dash of olive oil to bring about flavour and mouth feel.
No illusions
Before you say it, i'm under no illusion that these substitutes are not as "comforting" as dishes like pasta or rice. The trick is to not view it this way. If you expect it to be "just like the original", you'll likely not want to eat it again. You can the comforting dishes, just save it for the times where you really want it, or for days where higher training outputs are required.
5. Liven them up
Think of a vegetable that you don't like. Is it the veggie itself, or is it the way it was prepared? I'd hazard a guess that it's often the latter. I've discovered so many foods that I thought I hated, but it ended up being the way it was done.
If you know how to make your vegetables taste nice, you're more likely to put them on your shopping list, buy them and enjoy preparing a meal with them.
How do you liven up your vegetables?
Learn to cook specific vegetables in the right way. Trial and error and stick with what you like. Roast, stream or fry can all work, but timing and temperature matter. Over cooking veggies, not only depletes some nutrients, but kills the texture.
Use spices and herbs to enhance the taste, texture and nutrients. One example is frying up chick peas with olive oil and cumin spice. This simple touch can make a world of difference.
Finely chop course, fibrous veggies. Kale & cabbage - two extremely healthful crucifers, but can feel like punishment to eat. Chop or grate them finely, massage it with a little olive oil, and the experience is so much better.
Use cooking sauces like honey, balsamic vinegar, lime or olive oil for taste and mouth feel. Better yet, think of some of your favourite sauces or dips, google a recipe and make it yourself.
6. Disguise them
Use smoothies to as a way to pack more fruit and vegetables into your diet. In my opinion a quality blender is a staple for any kitchen.

Smoothies can help disguise the taste and texture of some vegetables. Fruit sweetens it up, and now you have both fruit & veg in one meal.
Leafy green vegetables like spinach are a great options as they're pretty tasteless and not too fibrous. Kale is another good option, however it does have a stronger taste is quite fibrous - start with small amounts.
Avocado is a great ingredient to create a creamy mouth feel.
Check out some of the options in the recipes section of the blog.
To improve taste further, use a flavoured protein powder. This of course adds in the very beneficial protein to the smoothie. A breakfast protein smoothie is strongly encouraged, as its a meal that is typically low in protein, and it's efficient for most of us who are often in a rush.
Summing Up
Follow these six strategies, make them your own and use them as a launching pad to think up new strategies to bring more fruit and vegetables into your life. For optimal health, fruit and vegetables are not a nice to have, but rather a MUST.
Remember, you don't have to go from Okay to Perfect overnight. In fact, perfect doesn't exist. Start with one of the strategies and go from there. Start with one meal. One Food. Enjoy the process, relish in the success, and expand.
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