Have you made a resolution to eat better and lose weight? Follow our month-long program of daily nutrition tips, created by dietitian Leslie Beck to change your lifestyle for January - and beyond. And to get your fitness on track, try our personal trainer-designed Boot Camp 2012 program .
DAY 5: Increase your vegetable intake today with at least four servings
Increase your vegetable intake today – get at least 4 servings each day
Despite the overwhelming evidence that eating plenty of produce is good for us, most Canadians fall short of the recommended 7 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables (combined) a day. (1 serving = ½ cup cooked or raw vegetables, 1 cup salad greens, or ½ cup of 100 per cent vegetable juice)
Work toward this target by adding more vegetables to your diet today. Try these tips:
- Drink low-sodium vegetable or tomato juice with lunch instead of a diet soft drink or coffee.
- Add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and dark green lettuce or spinach leaves to your sandwich.
- Pack leftover grilled or roasted vegetables in your lunch.
- Add a handful of baby carrots or strips of red and green peppers to your brown-bag lunch.
- Add quick-cooking greens such as spinach, kale, rapini or Swiss chard to soups and pasta sauces.
- Bake, microwave or boil a sweet potato for a change from white potatoes or rice.
- Snack on carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, red or green pepper strips, broccoli florets and mushroom caps with hummus.
Want more information related to today's tip? Read on:
To live longer, pick your vegetables - and their colour - carefully
Eat more salads – your brain will thank you
Go ahead, nuke those carrots
Missed earlier days? It's easy to get caught up.
DAY 4: Practise eating slowly
DAY 3: Boost fibre at breakfast
