A few weeks ago, I talked to a friend who was explaining that her waning motivation to eat as healthfully as she probably should, stemmed from her genetics allowing her to stay fairly thin without really trying that hard. She also said that her love of comfort foods always seemed to override her desire to eat leafy greens. 

“Unfortunately, macaroni and cheese and Hamburgers are more comforting than a plate of spinach.” She said.

Ever the smart ass, I said, “I wonder if cancer and heart disease will be more comforting than longevity and vitality.” 

After giving me her best “Die, bitch!” look, she informed me that something that might happen far into the future wasn’t enough to motivate her, and I realized that this is probably the reason why most Americans still are not consuming the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables. It’s just too far off to impact most people’s daily decisions. But if you want to be a Fit After Thirty Hotty, consumption of your veggies is a necessity. 

So, let’s consider the more immediate benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. They help our skin stay wrinkle free, they keep our hair healthy and help men keep their hair, they help us think more clearly, they give us more energy to get through our day, and they keep us from the discomfort of constipation, and they improve our sex drive and sexual performance, to name a few.

According to the CDC, Americans should be consuming at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. According to the US government’s 5aday.gov campaign, a 25 year old male who gets less than 30 minutes a day of exercise should eat 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables. 

This would be equivalent to eating the following fruit and vegetables over the course of one day:

Morning (1 cup fruit):
Half a grapefruit, and 
1 small banana

Lunchtime (1 cup veg, 1 cup fruit):
Medium plate of salad (peppers, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, raw carrot), and 
1 apple

Evening (2 cups veg): 
1 baked potato, and 
1 cup of green beans or cooked greens

5aday.com give examples of what constitutes 1 cup of fruit and vegetables. 

1 cup of fruit is equal to one of the following:
1 medium grapefruit
1 large banana
1 small apple
1 medium pear
1 small wedge of watermelon
1 large orange
3 medium plums
8 large strawberries

1 cup of vegetables/salad is equal to one of the following:
1 large bell pepper
2 large celery stalks
1 medium potato (preferably baked, not fried)
1 cup cooked or 2 cups raw greens (spinach, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens)
1 large sweet potato
12 baby carrots (or 2 medium carrots)
10 broccoli or cauliflower florets
1 cup of green beans
2 cups of lettuce (counts as 1 cup of vegetables)

The unfortunate thing for those of us who are motivated to eat our veggies is that a lot of them require preparation, and aren’t as easy to eat on the go as crappy food is. Let’s face it. There is only so much time in the day. So, I’ve found the solution. Greens To Go. This is a product I’ve been using to supplement my diet on busy days when I have little time to cook, or when I’m traveling for work or on vacation when it is inevitable that I will be deviating from the usual diet.

This is a powder mix that you can pour into a bottle of water. It tastes like apple and one packet is equal to consuming six servings of fruits and vegetables. If you do not want to drink a full packet all at once, sprinkle a little in every beverage you drink throughout the day!

Think about this. Drinking one packet in a bottle of water on each of your commutes to and from work, will allow you to get 12 servings of vegetables into your body without ever chopping, cutting, peeling, coring, dicing or slicing!