I’ve always been fascinated by blog posts that chronicle what people eat in the course of a day. So here’s my first contribution to that particular breed of post, from this past weekend. Since I didn’t decide to start until lunchtime on Saturday (I was inspired by a trip to the farmer’s market!), breakfast is actually from Sunday, but who’s counting? And while I normally don’t weigh my vegetables–in fact, this is the first time I’ve done it for an entire day–this post is an answer to everyone who’s asked, “Two pounds of vegetables a day? What does that even look like?”
Breakfast
Okay, no vegetables here (although I have been known to eat salads for breakfast). But juicy cantaloupe, sweet-tart kiwi, and millet with almond milk, cinnamon, and currants made for a satisfying start to the day. (Went back for seconds–yum!)
Lunch
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| Fresh green salad |
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| Cauliflower-pumpkin curry over quinoa |
Now for the veg! The salad weighed in at 12 ounces, not counting the beans or the tahini dressing I added after the picture was taken. For all you sticklers out there, here’s the weight breakdown:
- Lettuce – 3 oz
- 1/4 Cucumber – 3 oz
- 1/2 Tomato – 3 oz
- 2 Radishes – 1.5 oz
- 1/2 Carrot – 1.5 oz
The curried cauliflower (leftovers from earlier in the week), not counting the quinoa, was 13 ounces. So I’m already close to a pound of raw and a pound of cooked vegetables, and it’s not even dinner yet.
Later in the afternoon, I had a tasty (though not photogenic) snack of an apple, a little Ethiopian injera bread, and a handful of cashews.
Dinner
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| Fall comfort food – delicious and nutritious! |
Dinner was all about the southern fall comfort food! We had my parents over and enjoyed acorn squash stuffed with apples and raisins, lima beans, collard greens, salad, and mashed sweet potatoes with pineapple. Since I try not to count starchy veg towards my two pounds a day, I weighed only the collards (5 ounces) and the salad (3 ounces).
Dessert was fresh figs and a divine no-bake brownie. No picture, because I don’t have that much self-control. (Did I mention I have a sweet tooth?)
Here’s my non-starchy veggie total for the day:
About a pound of raw and a pound of cooked, without counting the sidekick veggies like acorn squash and sweet potato. Looking back, all it takes is a big salad, a small salad, a veggie entree for one meal, and a substantive veggie side at another. Not so bad, right?
That said, I don’t think I make my 2-pound goal every day. But just having a number in my head helps me keep my personal food pyramid centered squarely on health-promoting veggies. And in a world filled with french fries and cupcakes, I need all the help I can get.
Two pounds of veggies a day: awesome or crazy? Can you see yourself eating that many vegetables? Do you already?
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I'm Lee, an RD thriving on a healthy plant based diet.
Your food looks so delicious! And healthy! I don't measure my vegetables but I do eat A LOT. I bet if you made a smoothie as a snack you could reach your two pound goal– tossing in raw carrots, celery, greens or whatever you have. And I say count that starchy squash! Soooo nutritious and yummy.
If you're eating lots of veg, I bet you easily get to 2 pounds a day! I'm still debating counting the starchy squash–because you're right, it's full of nutritional goodies. And I do have green smoothies occasionally, but I could definitely do more of them. I never thought of tossing in carrots or celery–does it still blend?