Your goal weight may be 5, 10, 50, 100, or more pounds away. If the only goal you’re focusing on is your personal magic number, you are making the process so much harder than it needs to be.
Setting small goals is the best way to get off to a good start. It doesn’t matter how much weight you have to lose. Setting and meeting smaller goals builds confidence! As you achieve the small successes, they build a path to your biggest goal – your weight goal!
Goal #1 Eat a minimum of 5 combined servings of fruit and vegetables every day.
This is a pretty easy goal to achieve, but don’t discount it as an unimportant goal. Building your food plan on fruit and vegetables does several important things for your health as well as your weight.
Many fruits are sweet!
- They can help you to keep your sweet tooth satisfied.
- They are a snack you can enjoy anytime you want to eat something because they are naturally low in fat and calories.
- They fill you up and help you to reduce and manage your serving sizes of foods that aren’t as low in fat and calories.
Many vegetables are crunchy!
- They can satisfy your need for crunchy foods.
- They become savory snacks just by sprinkling a little salt and pepper on them.
- They are a snack you can enjoy anytime you want because they are naturally low in calories and fat.
When you achieve your goal to eat more fruit and vegetables you are doing many good things for your mind and your body.
Meeting and exceeding goals is powerful. The more you do it, the more you realize exactly how capable you are to manage your weight. It shifts your attention from challenges and fear of failure to strength and achievement!
Fruits and vegetables are nature’s “bodyguard.” They are full of vitamins and nutrients known as antioxidants. Antioxidants reduce the risks of some cancers, coronary heart disease and stroke. The fiber in fruit and vegetables helps to keep your digestive system and whole body working most efficiently.
Fruit and Vegetable Tips
- A serving of fruit is one piece the size of your fist.
- A large banana is two servings.
- A serving of berries or grapes is 1/2 cup or a pile about the size of your fist.
- A serving of raw vegetables is one cup.
- A serving of cooked vegetables is 1/2 cup.
- You can structure your fruit and vegetable servings any way that suits you, for example 2 servings of fruit, and 3 servings of vegetables = 5 servings/ or 4 servings fruit and 1 serving of vegetables = 5 servings/ or 5 servings of fruit = 5 servings (or any combination you want)
- 5 servings daily is your goal, but feel free to exceed your goal any day you want, or everyday!