7 Easy Ways To Eat Fruits And Vegetables (Hint - No Steamed Broccoli)
“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.”
Key Takeaways
An apple a day does NOT keep the doctor away. In truth, 2 fruits (they can be apples if you like) and 3 vegetables daily is the magic number. In other words, it’s 5 that keeps you alive.
With the abundance of ultra-processed, foods available in the modern food environment, ignoring fruits and vegetables is easier than ever. We must go out of our way to consume them.
The 7 easy ways to include more fruits and vegetables in your diet include:
Blend them in your smoothies
Make them tasty
Find ones you enjoy
Play “hide but don’t seek”
Prioritize convenience
Get ahead of it
Don’t discriminate - frozen is just as good
The researchers of the five-a-day study found that starchy vegetables were not associated with the same life-preserving and disease-reducing effects as non-starchy vegetables
Fruits and vegetables offer us the most valuable gift anyone (or any plant) can offer - more time to enjoy life.
Full Story
We’ve been lied to. An apple a day does NOT keep the doctor away. In truth, 2 fruits (they can be apples if you like) and 3 vegetables daily is the magic number. In other words, it’s 5 that keeps you alive.
Easy enough, right? Not so fast. If you’re one of the 90% of Americans that you don’t eat enough, you’re sacrificing a lot of health and years (1).
Missing out on more life simply because you don’t know how to fit enough bananas and broccoli into your daily routine? I won’t stand for it.
I’m here to help. If you’ve ever struggled to consume enough produce due to:
Taste Aversion
Prep Time
Lack of Variety
Intimidation
Fear (it’s just a plant, I’ll show you it’s nothing to be afraid of! Unless it’s a Venus Fly Trap - be afraid of those (2).
...You’ll want to keep reading. Not to sound extreme, but your life depends on it.
If you’re somebody that wants an expert in your corner to help you with your nutrition and guide you through the highs and lows of your fitness journey, I’m here for you with personal fitness coaching!
A judgement-free zone. Just somebody to give you the support and guidance you need to succeed.
How To Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
Eating fruits and vegetables is unnatural. After enduring millions of years of near-starvation, we are hardwired to go for the foods with the highest calorie bang-for-your-buck and ignore the rest (I’m talking about you, chewy stalk of broccoli).
With the abundance of ultra-processed, foods available in the modern food environment, ignoring fruits and vegetables is easier than ever. The foods we crave, evolutionarily speaking, are the ones that keep us alive in the short term (ones full of calories, fat, and sugar). Though they contain carbs and a little bit of sugar, fruits and vegetables don’t stand a chance against pizza or peanut butter cups.
Biting into a double chocolate peanut butter brownie releases an overflow of reward chemicals in the brain. A 10/10, “GIVE ME MORE RIGHT NOW!” response. Fruits and vegetables don’t, so we must go out of our way to include them in our diet.
Eating “five-a-day” fruits and vegetables requires time, a resource in limited supply for most, as well as effort and compromise. I understand, it’s a tough ask. But as you can see from the benefits, the reward is well worth the trouble. And with a few tips and tricks, eating enough fruits and vegetables can even become easy.
Finding it difficult to chow down on enough carrots or swallow enough squash?
Here’s 7 easy ways to include more fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Blend Them In Your Smoothies
For you vegetable haters out there, two of the most difficult barriers to overcome are:
Taste
Chewing (I’m talking about you again, chewy stalk of broccoli)
Don’t like the taste or texture of vegetables? Fine, don’t taste or chew them! Disguise their texture by liquifying them, and mask their flavor with:
Fruit (bananas or frozen berries are great options)
Flavored protein powder (can’t go wrong with chocolate)
Nuts/nut butters and seeds
Sweeteners such as honey, cinnamon, or Stevia
A little sweetness is an effective way to overcome your aversion and get your foot in the door of a life full of fruits and vegetables.
2. Make Them Tasty
You don’t have to rely on soggy, steamed peas or carrots. For many, your first exposure to vegetables was your parents heating up a frozen bag and serving them without any seasoning, spices, or sauces.
It doesn’t have to be so painful or boring!
If you don’t enjoy plain, steamed vegetables, I don’t blame you - nobody does. Instead, try:
Baking with salt, pepper, garlic powder and drizzling with olive oil
Roasting with salt and Stevia to satisfy your sweet' n’ salty tooth
Drizzling with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Frying in a pan with a healthy oil (avocado, coconut, olive all work) or butter and soy sauce, stir fry style
Grilling after covering them with your favorite spices
There are plenty of options - find ones you enjoy! Please, I’m begging you, stop eating steamed vegetables.
A little salt, pepper, and olive oil will change your life.
3. Find Ones You Enjoy
Again, your fruit and vegetable intake does not need to consist of mushy apples and squishy green beans. One positive aspect of the modern food environment is the luxury of having access to any fruit or vegetable you can imagine all year long (unfortunately, Mallomars not included (3).
Coconuts in January, go nuts. Beets in summer, can’t beat it.
Did you know that there are hundreds of edible fruits and vegetables? The possibilities are endless.
Be bold
Experiment with different combinations
Mix it up and keep it exciting
Most importantly, find the ones that you enjoy (a recurring theme here)
4. Play “Hide But Don’t Seek”
If you don’t enjoy vegetables and “never will!”, calm down, unclench your jaw, and just fool yourself. “Hiding” fruits and vegetables is an effective strategy to mask the taste and add a nutrient dense punch to your favorite dishes. For instance:
Add canned pumpkin or squash to your oatmeal or protein pudding
Sub out pasta for spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, or mix it in with classic spaghetti
Blend up frozen cauliflower, spinach, or any other veggie and add it to a soup, sauce, or frozen dessert
There’s no shame in sneaking fruits and vegetables into your diet. Remember, hide but DON'’T seek. Once you throw in the hidden fruit or vegetable, try to forget it’s even there.
Your brain doesn’t have to know, but your body will thank you. Creativity is key - the better you hide fruits and vegetables, especially if you don’t enjoy the taste, the more likely you’ll be to keep eating them.
5. Prioritize Convenience
Reese’s are more popular than rutabagas because:
1. You can pick up the former at any gas station or food store
2. You’ve probably never even heard of the latter and think that “rutabagas” is a crazy typo or Spanish word.
Unconventional vegetables aside, another reason ultra-processed junk food is extremely attractive is because it’s available and humans are lazy.
To combat our slothful snacking, make it easy to eat fruit and vegetables:
Chop, dice, and slice them up beforehand
Load up the fridge/fruit bowl with them. Fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter!
Pack them and bring to work or school
Find ones that travel well, if needed (we don’t want a ziplock bag full of crushed tomatoes)
Choose combinations you enjoy (if I repeat it enough, the message is sure to sink in. Right?)
6. Get Ahead Of It
If it’s dessert time and you’re trying to figure out how to add 3 fruits and 2 vegetables to your bowl of ice cream, you’re in trouble (unless you’re into some strange ice cream flavors). Instead of waiting, start your day strong by:
Getting creative and mixing cauliflower rice, pumpkin, or squash into oatmeal
Going bananas and throwing your entire vegetable bin into your omelette (more on that later)
Blending every fruit and vegetable you can find into a super smoothie (more on that later, too)
The more you can get in before dinner, the more likely you are to hit your daily 5 without trouble.
Plus, we don’t want you resorting to a bowl of spinach and onion ice cream at the end of the day.
7. Don’t Discriminate - Frozen Is Just As Good
Worried about fresh produce turning into a smushy, moldy mess before you muster up the strength to eat it? Don’t be.
Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious, more convenient, and often cheaper than fresh.
Canned is also a suitable option, just beware of the three S’s:
Sugar - opt for fruits and vegetables packed in water as opposed to juice, a harmless-sounding “preservation technique” that translates to “more added sugar than a bag of skittles.”
Salt - if you’re consuming a diet that consists primarily of whole foods, sodium from canned vegetables will likely not be a problem. But if you consume a diet high in ultra-processed, ultra-salty foods and/or have been told by your doctor to limit your sodium intake, fresh may be the better option.
Some BPA- BPA, the most notorious endocrine disruptor, has been shown to migrate from a can’s lining into the food it contains. If you choose canned over fresh, look for the “BPA free” label on the can.
Sample “5-A-Day” Meal Planning Ideas
Now that you know how to eat more vegetables, here’s some inspiration. Having go-to meals and snacks in your arsenal for when you’re in a pinch is key to hitting your 5-A-Day, every day.
To get your ball (or, in this case, apple, orange, or head of lettuce rolling, here are some of my favorite produce-packed meals.
Breakfast
Overflowing With Vegetables Omelette
Breakfast is an especially inconvenient time to fit in vegetables.
You want to wake up to waffles or cereal, not broccoli or onions. I get it!
But in an omelette, vegetables suddenly seem a lot more appealing. By throwing in mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, onions, whatever you enjoy/tolerate, you can get a jumpstart on your target for the day and take the pressure off for later meals.
The Great Pumpkin Oatmeal
Canned pumpkin tastes like baby food, I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise.
But it’s Gerber’s-esque texture and weak flavor makes it a perfect hidden addition to oatmeal. If you load up the bowl up with cinnamon, stevia, and/or flavored protein powder, you won’t even know it’s there.
Top with some banana, apple, and/or berries and you’ll be well on your way to your daily 5.
Lunch
HUGE Salad
I know, if you enjoyed salad you wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place!
But trust me on this. If you can buckle down and figure out how to enjoy one huge salad each day, you won’t even need to worry about your vegetable intake for the rest of your day.
With one big salad, you won’t need to resort to pumpkin oatmeal, spinach smoothies, or cauliflower anything. In order to take the “one salad per day, and NO other vegetables” approach, it needs to follow two rules:
Contain at least 3 full servings of non-starchy vegetables
Contain at least 2 colors
That’s it. Find vegetables you enjoy, choose a tasty dressing (bonus points for extra virgin olive oil and vinegar), and go to town!
The best part is, the salad doesn’t even need to be your entire lunch. If you’re still hungry, feel free to have a sandwich, protein bar, or piece of fruit (double bonus points).
Vegetable Soup
Soup/stew/chilli, whatever you want to call it, is another easy, filling way to load on vegetables.
Throw vegetables in a pot along with some broth and spices, and presto! Or buy pre-packaged vegetable soups. It all counts.
Just be careful carrying it (4).
Dinner
Cauliflower Anything- “Steaks”, Rice, Pizza, Whatever!
If you could have any super power, what would it be? If you’re a piece of cauliflower, the answer is obvious - a shape-shifter!
Cauliflower has the ability to transform into any food you can imagine - pizza, pasta, and chips included (5).
Although the cauliflower-version of your favorite foods might not hit the same, taking advantage of the versatility of broccoli’s cousin is a fun way to get more vegetables in your life.
Spaghetti Squash
My favorite food in the world is spaghetti, so you can trust me when I say that spaghetti squash is the real deal. It’s easy to make, nutrient-dense, and tastes nearly the same as Angel Hair pasta.
Plus, if it’s covered in sauce and cheese I guarantee you won’t be able to tell the difference.
If you’re a fan of Italian food and hate vegetables, give it a shot.
Not All Fruits And Veggies Are Created Equal
Is Mayonnaise an instrument? Is a french fry a vegetable? (6).
Sorry to disappoint you, but even a french fry in its unprocessed and uncut form (a potato) doesn’t make the cut.
The researchers of the five-a-day study found that starchy vegetables were not associated with the same life-preserving and disease-reducing effects as non-starchy vegetables (7).
Here’s a quick breakdown of starchy vs. non starchy:
Starchy - peas, corn, fruit juices, potatoes. All of the “ehh that’s a stretch” fruits and vegetables.
Non-Starchy - green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, citrus fruits, berries, high beta-carotene veggies such as carrots and butternut squash, etc. All of the “yeah, that’s definitely a real fruit or vegetable.”
Most of the time, you know deep down which fruits and vegetables are more nutrient dense than others. Blueberries are better than “red berry blast” juice. Zucchini is better than corn. Peppers are better than potatoes. You get the picture.
For better health and less sickness, choose the “real” fruits and vegetables over ones of french fry-caliber, most of the time.
Wrap Up
Eating more fruits and vegetables takes practice. It will ALWAYS be more fun to eat pizza than peas or cookies instead of cauliflower.
It’s a battle of short term pleasure vs. long term fulfillment.
With Pizza Hut and Oreos on one side and pears and cucumbers on the other, at first glance it appears to be one-sided fight. But learning how to find, prepare, and enjoy fruits and vegetables, and creating habits to integrate them as a dietary staple, makes the fight a lot more manageable.
At the end of the day, eating more fruits and vegetables is just one tried and true, evidence-based tool we have in our toolkits to live a healthier life.
Do you need to eat produce to be healthy? No. Does it help? Absolutely!
Remember, we don’t eat fruits and vegetables because they taste better than a burger or donut. Nobody’s arguing that. That being said, I promise you this - after a while of including more produce in your diet, your taste buds will adapt and you will genuinely enjoy the taste.
We make the effort to include them in our diets because they:
Don’t taste half-bad, especially if you find the ones you enjoy (last time, I promise)
Give us more energy
Make us feel happier
Prevent us from succumbing to many horrible diseases
Help us live a longer life
Essentially, they offer us the most valuable gift anyone (or any plant) can offer, more time. More time with friends and family, exploring the world, or watching How I Met Your Mother. Whatever it means to you to truly live.
I never expected a discussion about produce to get so deep, but here we are! I hope these tips and ideas make it easier for you to not only eat more fruits and vegetables but, overall, take one step closer to a healthier life.
Next Steps If You Want To Go Further
If you’d like more hands-on guidance, we have two options:
Personal Fitness Coaching
If you’d like more personalized tips than “eat more vegetables!”, and you’re looking for guidance on your nutrition, individualized strength-training programs, and an accountability buddy, I’d love to hear your story!
Virtual Personal Training
If you want the experience of 1 on 1 coaching at a fraction of the cost of “in-person” training, this option’s for you. Custom strength training routines and the accountability you need to establish healthy habits. Schedule your free consult!
