Fill Half or More of Your Plate with Fruits & Veggies

  • A diet high in fruits and vegetables can help prevent type 2 diabetes, lower blood pressure, help you maintain a healthy weight, and even make your skin glow!
  • Check IN after each meal you’ve filled at least 50% of your plate with fruits and veggies. Try not to wait till the end of the day - it’s much more effective to check in right after you eat. Use a free pass if you had less than half your plate with fruits and veggies.

What’s Inside

What’s IN

  • Cover at least half your plate with fruits and veggies at two meals and/or snacks each day.
  • While fresh fruits and vegetables are best, preserving produce at its freshest is a great way to preserve its nutrients, so frozen and canned produce are a-okay if fresh isn’t an option.
  • You may include dried fruit in limited quantities, but look for the kind without sulfites or added sugar. Dried fruit has more concentrated sugar than fresh fruit, so choose dried figs, pears, peaches and currants, as they have the most fiber, and don’t eat too much.

What’s OUT

  • Deep fried vegetables do not count. Deep frying alters a vegetable’s nutrient content, and adds unhealthy fats to your plate (stick with healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and olives). Sorry french fries, you’re out of luck.
  • Jam, jelly, preserves and marmalade don’t count. They contain a lot of added sugar, and your body doesn’t differentiate these from a handful of candy.

Why This Is A Good Idea

The Federal Dietary Guidelines recommend 1.5 - 2 cups of fruit and 2-3 cups of vegetables daily (about 5 servings)—giving you the vital vitamins, nutrients and fiber your body needs to thrive. A diet high in fruits and vegetables can help prevent type 2 diabetes, lower blood pressure, help you maintain a healthy weight, and even make your skin glow! And by filling at least half your plate with fruits and veggies, you’ll be well on your way to meeting (or even exceeding!) these guidelines.

Over 70% of strokes and colon cancer can be avoided, as can at least 80% of heart disease and 90% of type 2 diabetes, and diet is a significant factor. Along with exercise and not smoking, developing good eating habits (less animal products, less processed food and more veggies and fruit) can help cut your risk of diabetes by 95%, your risk of heart attack by 80% and risk of a stroke by half.

Basic Tips

  • Be sure to check in after each meal at which you’ve filled at least 50% of your plate with fruits and veggies. You can check in multiple times in a day. Try not to wait till the end of the day - it’s much more effective to check in right after you eat.
  • Succeed before you even walk out the door in the morning by making a veggie-centric breakfast. Use 2 eggs (or 1/2 block sauteed tofu) and a pile of sautéed veggies–an omelette loaded with spinach, mushrooms, and onions.
  • Keep fresh veggies cut up in separate containers in the fridge. Every few days, slice up onions, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery (cukes and tomatoes don’t keep well after being sliced – save those for later). When it’s time for a meal, it’ll be quick easy to whip up a loaded salad or a colorful stir fry. When you’re hungry between meals, these are the best foods to snack on.
  • Use snack time to your advantage and replace crackers or cookies with a plate full of raw crunchy vegetables and a side of hummus dip.
  • After you’ve filled at least half your plate with veggies, fill the rest with whole grains and protein such as sustainably-raised Alaskan Salmon, organic tofu, free-range organic chicken, or grass-fed meat.
  • Eat your veggies with healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil to maximize nutrient absorption.
  • Certain vitamins and minerals are best absorbed when paired together. For example, eating iron and vitamin C-rich foods together can maximize the nutritional benefit. Think spinach with tomato, or oatmeal with strawberries.
  • Eat the rainbow—a variety of colors of produce in your diet guarantees you’ll be getting a wide range of nutrients.
  • The darker and more vibrant the vegetable, the better (except cauliflower, the pale powerhouse).

Shopping List

  • Farmers markets, farm stands, your garden, and the produce section at the grocery store are your new best friends. The more locally grown the better, as the produce will be fresher and have less of an environmental impact if it comes from nearby.
  • The frozen section is good too—being able to keep produce on hand is the best way to ensure you eat it!
  • Berries are the queen of the fruit category, containing less sugar and more antioxidants and fiber than others.
  • Be sure to stock up on leafy greens like kale, swiss chard, spinach, and broccoli—these guys are the kings of nutrition, and they are easy to cook. If you don’t have time to chop during the week you can chop all at once over the weekend and store your produce in a vented or perforated bag in your fridge. Or buy pre-chopped in a pinch, and let the grocery store do the heavy lifting for you.
  • Keep veggies that can be eaten raw as a snack, dipped in something, or cooked for dinner on hand—like zucchini, cauliflower, green beans, bell peppers and carrots. Their versatility increases the likelihood that you’ll eat them!

Recipes

“Trash” Hash by Newgent
Trash Hash

Roasted Root Vegetable, Avocado and Buckwheat Salad with Pistou by gingerandchorizo Roasted Root Vegetable, Avocado and Buckwheat Salad with Pistou

Winter Vegetable Salad by annefood Winter Vegetable Salad

Smoked Paprika Cauliflower by HealthyHarlequin Smoked Paprika Cauliflower

Kale chips by annefood Kale Chips

Roasted butternut squash skewers by Newgent Roasted butternut squash skewers

Simple Green Salad with Lemon Dressing by JamieOliversFoodRevolution Simple Green Salad with Lemon Dressing

Rainbow Vegetable Tian by SarahPhillips Rainbow vegetable tian

Brown Rice Bowls by gingerandchorizo Brown Rice Bowls

Fennel Roasted Garbanzo Beans by annefood Fennel Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Smart Things To Read And Watch

Note: Diet ID is not focused on the number on the scale. Weight loss can be a byproduct of developing healthier eating habits, but if you have questions about your weight, please contact your physician.

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