Before I share the latest on eating veggies by the pound, I just wanted to say how thrilled I am to be attending the PCRM’s conference on Nutrition and the Brain this Friday and Saturday!
To be held in Washington, DC, this conference focuses on nutrition’s role in brain health and disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and MS. As a future RD—did I mention I’m returning to school this fall to finish my coursework?—I can’t wait to learn cutting-edge info from leaders in the field! Just a small sample of the expert speakers:
- Neal Barnard, MD (PCRM, George Washington University School of Medicine)
- Michael Greger, MD (NutritionFacts.org)
- John McDougall, MD (McDougall Health and Medical Center)
You can see why I’m so thrilled! But don’t worry, I’ll be taking plenty of notes and reporting back on the highlights next week.
Now, on to a day’s worth of veggies.
2 Pounds of veggies a day
As many of you know, one of the reasons I write this blog is to try to eat more vegetables: 2 pounds a day, to be exact. Sounds great, right?
Oh, if only you knew how far I’d fallen.
Not the liking vegetables part, of course—I’m really coming around to that! But 2 pounds a day? Lately, I’m nowhere close. Instead, I’m filling up on grains, nuts, and way more processed stuff than I care to admit. (Dear frozen treats: Why must you be so tasty?)
The unfortunate result, however, is that my weight is creeping up. My pants are fitting tighter. And I’ve been feeling draggy—I’ve even resorted to drinking coffee, which I’d completely nixed from my diet for months.
Needless to say, it’s time to get back on track. And what better way to do it than with a “What Lee Ate” post? Because knowing you’re reading this is great motivation to eat right. (Thanks!) So I tracked my food last Thursday, although I waited to post until now in honor of “What I Ate Wednesday.” (And my kickoff worked, because I’ve been eating a lot more vegetables since.)
So, what did my 2-pound day look like?
Breakfast: Ack attack smoothie
Pineapple, coconut milk, and romaine lettuce. Sounds tropical and refreshing, no? And it might have been, except that I got the bright idea to see if my new Vitamix could blend an entire intact romaine heart.
Will it blend?! (Almost makes me wish I had a BlendTec…)
Anyhoo, yes, it will blend! But alas, it will not taste very good. Apparently, putting a whole romaine heart in a single-serving smoothie makes it downright bitter, and no amount of stevia can rescue it. So I named the smoothie the Green Ack Attack—never to be made again.
The upside? I went ahead and drank it (waste not, right?), and downed 4 ounces (¼ pound) of veggies at breakfast. Go me!I also had a Brazil nut, not pictured, because a girl’s got to get her selenium, and a cup of half-caff, because I didn’t want a withdrawal headache. One diet overhaul at a time!
Lunch: Happy Herbivore pumpkin-cauliflower curry and salad
Lunch was where the veggies really kicked in. I treated myself to an entire 7-ounce container of salad greens—no sharing required! And on sale for $3.99, no less.)
I was having a busy day, so I ate right out of the container. I topped my salad simply with a carrot, a cucumber, adzuki beans, and my favorite non-homemade dressing, Bolthouse Farm’s Olive Oil Vinaigrette. Which is a total misnomer, because it has 0 grams of fat per serving. Luckily it still somehow manages to be delicious, and features pronounceable ingredients like pineapple juice and balsamic vinegar.
I also had leftover cauliflower-pumpkin curry (from Everyday Happy Herbivore) over brown rice, and topped it with sweetened dried cranberries.
Because dried cranberries are good on everything.
Between the lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and curried cauliflower, I netted another 1 pound 9 ounces of veggies. Which, in combo with my 4 ounces of romaine at breakfast meant I was almost to 2 pounds, and it wasn’t even snack time yet!Snacktime: Peas Pass the ApplesSnacks were simple and easy: 2 apples and a cup (3 ounces) of sugar snap peas (not pictured; you can use your imagination). That officially pushed me to the 2-pound mark for vegetables—yeah!
As you can imagine, though, I’d planned oodles of veggies for the day (better safe than sorry), so there was more to come at dinner…
Dinner: Quinoa- and cranberry-stuffed sweet potatoes with gingery collards
The salad should be strangely familiar by now (you can tell what we have in the fridge). I also had a cup of leftover gingery collard greens, my take on Gomen Wat, a.k.a. Ethiopian collard greens. (Recipe to come—photo from the upcoming post!)
I hadn’t planned out the rest of dinner in advance, though, so I had to come up with something on the fly. I found some sweet potatoes that had been languishing and popped them in the oven. Then I sauteed an onion using a spritz of olive oil and splashes of white wine to prevent sticking. I added rubbed sage at the end, tossed said onions with cooked quinoa and cranberries, and stuffed the whole kit n’ caboodle in some sweet potatoes.
Not culinary perfection, but pretty tasty!
Grand total: 2 Pounds—and then some!
By the end of the day, the sweet potatoes weren’t the only things that were stuffed. (Heh…) Dinner added another 9 ounces of veggies, taking me to over 2 1/2 pounds.Here’s the breakdown:
Veggie | Ounces (raw) | Ounces (cooked) |
Breakfast | ||
Romaine heart | 4 | |
Lunch | ||
Salad greens | 7 | |
Carrot (large) | 2 | |
Cucumber | 8 | |
Curried cauliflower | 8 | |
Snack | ||
Sugar snap peas | 3 | |
Dinner | ||
Salad greens | 2 | |
Carrot (small) | 1 | |
Collard greens | 5 | |
Sautéed onion | 1 | |
TOTAL | 27 | 14 |
GRAND TOTAL | ~2½ lbs (41 oz) | |
The awesome part? Having so many veggies meant I got to eat lots of food, while only racking up 1570 calories. And I got 51 grams of protein, along with 276% of my daily value (DV) of fiber, 817% of my vitamin C, and 194% of my folate, amongst other things. (I’m pretty sure my cells were doing the cha-cha.)
How to work more veggies into your day
Here’s the formula I followed to get to the 2-pound mark with minimal effort:
- Big salads at lunch and dinner
- Vegetable-rich entree for at least one meal (think cauliflower curry or a fajita bowl)
- Vegetable side for at least one meal (like fast low-fat creamed spinach or gingery Ethiopian collards)
Click here to see another day of 2 pounds of vegetables.
So, what vegetables did you have today? Did you made it to the 2-pound mark?
Shared on What I Ate Wednesday.
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I'm Lee, an RD thriving on a healthy plant based diet.
The conference sounds great! I can't wait to hear all about it – what great speakers they have lined up. It'll be so interesting =)<br /><br />And oh my goodness… I know what you mean about getting out of lots of veggies and into other foods that promote weight gain. I've been struggling with that for awhile now. I'm feeling much more on track recently, I'm not eating 2
Hi Kimmy, the conference was fantastic! I learned a lot, the speakers were engaging, and the food was out of this world. I met some great people, too–so nice to get to know some nutrition-conscious health professionals!<br /><br />Anyway, I completely understand where you're coming from! It's so easy to slip into junky convenience foods and treats. Congrats on getting back to whole foods
Two pounds? Wow! What a great goal!! I've never tried weighing my veggies before, but you know I'm going to after reading this post! (And finding my food scale!) I definitely didn't make it to the 2 lb mark today. I started with a spinach packed smoothie and had a big salad for lunch. That was the end of my good intentions! 🙂 Thankfully there's always tomorrow!
Hey, spinach in a smoothie and a big salad for lunch? That's pretty good in my book! 😀 Especially since it sounds like you're in unpacking mode. Hope your move went well!
Thanks for the article – this is superb.<br /><br />Found this via google under "pound of greens a day".<br />I am trying to aim for a target of a "kilo of plants a day" mixing between greens and fruits depending on if I am in training or not.
Hi fuguez, I love your kilo of plants a day target. Please come back and share any tips you have for making eating fruits and veggies fast and easy!
Thanks for the article you are an inspiration to me!
Thanks Carla! I so appreciate your stopping by, and I hope your holiday season is off to a great start. Let me know if you have your own 2-pound day sometime–I’d love to see what you try!
How much vegetables does anyone recommend for someone who take 125 grams of protein per day? This site seems to be advocating a veggie diet which is great but it only gives for 51 grams of protein. I just would like to hear someones feedback on how much veggies and fruit should a person weighing 145 lb take. Would anyone agree that the suggestions on this site mixed with some fish, turkey or red meat be the way for someone trying to build body mass?
I tend to have in my dishes a side of protein and veggies. I buy a 2 lb of veggies which usually last me about 2-3 days. It all depends on how many times a day i use which is usually 2 times a day. The veggies I buy have broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I also tend to add onion, celery and pepper to my meals. Along with that avocado for the healthy fats. Like I said 2 lb will last me about 2 and at most 4 days. Should I increase my amount of veggies?
Look at the above comment under Oscar for more information.
I will appreciate the feedback.
Hi Oscar, great questions! And congrats on already eating a lot of veggies! 😀 You’re doing way better than most people, so keep up the good work.
Unfortunately, I can’t give personalized nutrition advice, since I don’t know your situation, and I don’t have my RD certification yet. However, experts recommend 7-13 cups of fruits & vegetables a day. Joel Fuhrman, MD, suggests 2 pounds of vegetables a day for optimum health, as you can read in his book Eat to Live.
Now, on to protein. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein—per the US government—is 0.8 grams x your weight in kilograms. (Not pounds.) For a 145-pound man, that works out to just 53 grams of protein a day. Since you’re an athlete, you’re right, you likely need more protein than that. As for where to get that protein, though, typically plant protein is safer than animal protein. Check out this article by Rich Roll, “Slaying the Protein Myth,” for details. You may also like VeganBodyBuilding.com. If you do choose to include animal products, know that red and processed meats (sausage, bacon, etc.) are strongly linked to colon cancer.
Hope that helps!
Today was my first day of trying Eat to Live. I had Dr Fuhrman’s oatmeal with Apple, blueberries and raisins, it wasn’t bad. Then I had a large salad for lunch along with a baggie of raw veggies. For dinner I made a pot of split-pea soup and a few more raw veggies. My stomach is a little upset and been to the bathroom a couple of times and cannot possibly eat anymore. I think I might need to juice more of the produce because eating that much is going to be pretty hard. I still need to eat another fruit 😩😩.
Hi Debbie, thanks for stopping by Veggie Quest! I’m not too surprised you’re having some GI issues–going “cold turkey” on Eat to Live is a lot to ask of a stomach that isn’t used to lots of produce. You may want to ease in with a transition week. (Even I don’t get 2 pounds of veggies every day, although I do try to work in 2 pounds of produce.)
The beauty, though, is that you’ll never be hungry–nor constipated! 😉