Fruit and Vegetable Anonymous
Whenever I stop and look around the supermarket, I’m always presentedwith a dilemma. One package says it haswhole grains that will help me live longer. Another package says it has a fullserving of fiber and omega-3’s that are “heart healthy,” or whateverthat means. Well, as a former marketer, I’mhere to say that I’ve had enough with all this scumbag marketing,and it’s time to get back to the actual content of real food.
Nelly and I probably differ in our meanings of a "dilemma," but I doubt there were 15 different fruits and vegetables on the set of this music video.
Awhile back, I posted this video showcasing how, throughdiet alone, one woman was able to fight and regain her life after being diagnosedand suffering from multiple sclerosis. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it made me very introspective and I startedtaking careful inventory of what I ate. What was “natural,” but still man made? What was synthetic? And mostimportantly, what was actually healthy? I never realized that figuring out the lattercan be a rather tricky task when it comes to processed foods (ahem, if you haveto think about whether or not something is healthy, it’s probably not).
So my solution was a simple experiment: try to eat acombination of 14-15 different fruits and vegetables a day, and it should alltake care of itself.
14 to 15different fruits and vegetables in one day.
I told one of my close friends about this experiment,and he said “I don’t know, 14-15 just seems really arbitrary.” I said, “why yes - that’s exactly the point!”
Huh?
Think about how many fruits and vegetables you eat inone day. I’m not talking about a sliceof tomato here or there on a sandwich. I’m talking about an actual palm size serving. Now think about eating 15 different fruitsand vegetables in one day – it’s extremely tough to do! It goes without saying that you’ll probablyhave double down on the salads, but most importantly, it saves you from all the other crap you’re not eating.
Want those wheat thins for an afternoon snack? Well, not if you’ve only consumed 8 fruitsand veggies and it’s after 4 PM. Youbetter get cracking to make your quota by the time you hit the hay.
Would you like proof that it can beaccomplished? Here’s a list of only thefruits and vegetables I ate in one day, next to the exact meal (all othercontents of that meal are left out for simplicity, and I neglected to put down a food twiceif I ate it with more than one meal)
(Breakfast) Sweet potato, black beans, spinach
(Pre-Workout aka Lunch #1) Strawberries, Blueberries,Mangoes, Banana, Kale
(Post Workout aka Lunch #2) Carrots, Grape Tomatoes,Sprouts, Chickpeas
(Late afternoon snacks) Apple, Pear, Clementine
(Dinner) Cauliflower
Eating like this will definitely have more of an impact on your wallet, but I look at it like this: you’re either going to pay for itnow or later. I’d much rather spendmoney eating quality food that will help me live longer than any otheralternative. Worst case, I'll be too full toeat the other crap in the cupboard. Best case? Maybe I'll realize that I like a few more foods than I thoughtI did.
I know I’m biased, but I think this method is a simpleway to eat well, and a really easy way to hold yourself accountable. Did you meet the goal or didn’t you? It really is that simple.