Five portions a day?

BAGGY

I never do 5 a day. To be honest I don't know what size a five a day is. Do onions count? They're in most meals I make. How much is one portion for a 5 yr old?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid but I lose track of what i have.

cutestkids

A portion of fruit or veg is 80 grams to be honest it really is not that hard to get 5 a day the problem most people have is variety it should be at least 5 a day from a wide range of fruits and veg as many colours as poss to ensure the correct vitamins and nutrients.

5 a day is really a minimum 8 or 9 a day is more ideal.

sonastin

I have a handful of raisins, sultanas or dried cranberries on my porridge for breakfast.
Dried or tinned fruit with yoghurt plus an apple at lunch.
Dinner usually involves at least 2 or 3 different veg - tonight is moroccan chicken which will have onion, mushroom, courgette, tinned tomatoes, spinach if we've got any. Last night was pizza so a bit poor on veg - still had onion, mushroom, olives but not in enough volume to count as a portion each. But I had a banana mid afternoon because I was hungry. Tuesday we had bacon, leek, onion & mushroom roly poly with carrots and sprouts on the side. Monday's curry used the same veg as we're having tonight but the recipe for basic curry sauce (takeaway secret) uses carrots, onions and peppers. Again, not enough for a portion in each serving but adds to the veg that went into the curry. Sunday's roast was served with roast carrots, parsnips and sprouts.

You just need to get used to putting more veg into the main meals if you don't think your portion sizes are big enough. My mum hates veg and her idea of a "serving" is about a quarter of what I put on my plate. For her, bolognaise is mince, tomatoes, onions and seasoning. For me, it includes mushrooms, peppers, maybe some spinach, courgette, lentils, whatever happens to be lying around. A pound of mince can make a lot more bolognaise-based meals in my house than it ever did when I was growing up! She forces her 5 down by having lots of fruit, juices and soups but I don't see it as hard work.

Ken68

I grow most of the food,do a big cook once a week in the steamer, then portion up and freeze.
Then each day, say, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, leeks or onions plus whatever small portion of meat or fish, again ex the freezer.
Put out overnight to defrost and for breakfast, porridge and whatever cheap fruit I buy. Plus home made yogurt and 1 litre of milk per day (made up from re-constituted powder.) Aim is for it not to cost more than 50p per day for all. So def. 5 a day.

CCP

Like the OP, I tend to go in fits and starts - some days I'll have 6 or 7 portions (I find that any more than that gives me... erm... digestive difficulties ), and others I'll struggle to get more than 2 or 3. My main problem is that I love fruit but don't care much for most veggies, so I'll often have 3 or 4 portions of fruit and only 1 or 2 portions of veg, when it should of course be the other way round.

My new year's resolution for this year was to get 5 a day every day, but it only lasted a few weeks, so maybe this thread will encourage me to stick to it this time.

Today's portions are / will be:

Breakfast - a few raisins, but probably not enough to make up a portion (particularly as they were part of the last slice of bread pudding )

Lunch - mushroom soup; apple - 2 portions

Dinner - mixed veggies in cheese sauce as a side dish: I'll probably have carrot, broccoli and some chard, which might make 2 portions

If I drink the bottle of fruit juice that's sitting in the fridge that will just about be 5 - it's not great though, is it?

maman

I'm hoping that improving on uptake of (at least) 5 a day will be the silver lining to this horsemeat affair. If we all bought quality meat but less of it to keep the cost low then we could fill the 'gap' in our plates with more veg.

Also, lots of people are having a couple of veggie days a week, again to keep costs down.

Dont forget that frozen and canned veg counts and can be healthier than fresh (that's not really fresh IYSWIM).

I've been doing Slimming World and you need to have at least a third of your food as fruit and veg and that doesn't include any pulses. So no problem for me.

attentionseeker1

I've been tracking my 5 a day since January as it one of my NY resolutions. I agree it is hard to do if you are making sure the portion sizes are large enough and trying to eat 5 different things. I thought my fruit/veg intake was good before but actually my portion sizes definitely weren't big enough.

To help, I have a glass of fruit juice, some dried apricots (only need 3/4) and veggie soup rather than a sandwich for lunch. I can't eat fruit for breakfast as bad for my IBS. Smoothies count as 2 if have 80g of two diff fruits in them if you have a blender as well.

It can be q expensive though I find. I do Aldi Super 6 but sometimes find the fruit a bit lacking in flavour. I use a bit of frozen and canned too- not as nice IMO but it all counts! Frozen berries are very good for smoothies.

pink_princess

Homemade coleslaw, soups and stirfries are great ways to eat more veggies.

BAGGY

What does 80g physically look like?
I am a lbs and oz person.

cutestkids

BAGGY wrote: »

What does 80g physically look like?
I am a lbs and oz person.

For fruit a portion would be any of the following

1 apple, 1 orange, 1 pear, 1banana, 1peach or nectarine, 2 plums, 2 tangerines, 2 kiwi, 3 apricots, 10 strawberries, a large handfull of berries, a thick slice of pineapple or melon.

For veg you would be looking at the following

2-3 spears of brocolli or cauliflower, 3 tablespoons of peas, corn or diced root veg,
1 medium carrot
about 1/4 of an average cabbage, 1 medium onion.

For salad type stuff generally a mixed soup bowl size side salad will be one portion.

or if individually then about half a pepper, a 4 inch chunk cucumber, 2-3 sticks celery, a handfull of cherry tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes.

For children a portion is what fits in the palm of their hand approximately .

Tinned and frozen fruit and veg count.

Potatoes do not count towards your 5 a day.

For dried fruit a portion would be about 30 grams so a small handfull of raisins, or 3 apricots or prunes.

Beans and pulses can count for 1 portion a day.