My main focus this week is getting 5 servings of fruits & vegetables in.
The
5 idea is an old guideline, it was changed to
more matters and even
eat a rainbow. Now the message is
make half your plate fruits and vegtables at every meal.
But I'm sticking with the
5. Mainly because it's something I grew up with and something I can count on one hand. But what's a serving? As part of my planning to get my 5 fruits and vegetables in, I needed to get a much better idea of what constitutes a serving so here's what I've found:
1 Serving of Vegetables = ~1/2 cup unless otherwise noted- Acorn squash - 1/2 acorn squash is 1.5 servings and is ~3/4 c
- Bell pepper -- 1/2 large green bell pepper
- Breadfruit -- 1/4 small
- Broccoli -- 5 broccoli florets
- Carrots -- 6 baby carrots
- Celery -- 1 large stalk (11" long)
- Corn -- 1 small ear (6" long), 9" long ear is 2 servings
- Cucumber -- 3 ounces
- Edamame -- 1 cup in the shell
- Jicama -- 60 g / 2 oz
- Lettuce, cabbage or raw spinach, 1 cup = 1 serving
- Onion -- 2 slices of onions is half of a serving
- Potato -- 1 medium (2.5" - 3" diameter) is 2 servings
- Tomato -- 1/2 of a large tomato or 1 small
1 Serving of Fruit = ~1/2 cup unless otherwise noted
- Apple -- 1 large (3.25" diamter) apple counts as 4 servings,1 small (2.5" diameter) apple counts as 2 servings
- Applesauce -- 1 snack container of applesauce
- Banana - 1 small (less than 6" long) banana is 1 serving, 1 large banana (8" to 9") is 2 servings
- Cantaloupe -- 1 medium wedge of cantalope
- Dried fruit -- 1/4 c
- Grapes -- 16 seedless grapes
- Grapefruit -- 1/2 grapefruit
- Juice, 100% juice -- 1/2 cup
- Orange -- 1 small orange (2-3/8" diameter)
- Plum --1 large plum
- Raisins -- 1 small box
- Strawberries -- 4 large strawberries
- Watermelon -- 6 melon balls is 1 serving or 1 small wedge is 2 servings
I'm still searching for values for many other fruits & vegetables, such as rambutan, starfruit (I think 1 medium),and bok choy. Will begin to collect that information. So maybe
filling half my plate with fruits & vegetables might be easier, but I'm tracking
5 now.
Will you get your fruits and veggies in this week?
