5 A Day - Progress Report

So far it's been a really interesting experience following the 5 A Day recommendations as my January goal, because what I've found is that eating the right amount of fruit and veg doesn't start when you open the fridge. It actually begins when you go food shopping because although I wouldn't say that it's tough getting all the portions in, it does require thought and meal planning. I've also found that the more that I can spread my portions out throughout the day, the easier it is.

A typical day and subsequently a typical way that I've managed to get my 5 fruit and veg serving in within the day is that I'd have a fresh orange juice with my breakfast, then for a mid-morning snack I might have something like melon and a portion of grapes. As it's quite cold at the moment I'm enjoying having tomato soup for lunch (which also counts), then I have a portion of vegetables with my tea to complete the day. Reading the food labels can be a helpful way to find out if what you're eating amounts to the right portion.

The other thing I've started doing on some days is making smoothies. We managed to find a really good smoothie maker for a reasonable price in a department store. I've never made smoothies at home myself before, but I knew I didn't want something where there was a lot of mess involved. And the one we found uses what I'd describe as gym bottles, to put the fruit and mix in. Then you just remove the blade once it's ready and then the smoothie is in the bottle to go. We've had a lot of fun trying our own recipes, and that's the thing about 5 a day- the fruit still counts even if it's frozen, which makes for a refreshing smoothie!

To help keep track of what I was putting in the smoothies, I used the Carbs and Cals app because you can add each portion of fruit as you go along, save it and get a total carb count at the end. The app also helps you with what a portion of each fruit looks like which is really helpful too.

My pineapple and banana smoothie with fat free frozen yoghurt