Week One - Adding in more fruits and vegetables sounds easy right?

So here we go it is week one.  All we have to do is try to eat at least 2 fruits and/or Vegetables per meal.  Now how hard can that be.  I participate with bountiful baskets and get tons of produce every week, so it shouldn't even cost me any more money.  I figured we already eat a lot of produce don't we.  Just goes to show how wrong I was.  I have really had to work to incorporate them into my diet so far.  It actually is taking focused energy and thought to remember to eat them.  On top of me remembering to eat them I need to try to remind the rest of my family and incorporate them into there diets also.  

The first thing I did when this week started was ask the kids (who always eat lunch at school) if they offer fruits and vegetables at school for lunch and if they eat them.  I was appalled and shocked to learn what is offered. I guess part of me knew that school lunch wasn't great, but at the same time I didn't really think about it because it was just easier to have them eat at school. My high school and junior high kids told me they offer apples in a bag, that have something added to them so they don't brown.  Veggies in a bag with a small thing of ranch dressing and from what they say they have a weird flavor and are anything but fresh.  The other option is fruit like peaches out of a can covered is sugary syrup and veggies out of a can that are all mushy.  Wow, it is a wonder our children are not healthy and heavier then they have ever been.  I wouldn't want to eat any of that either.  So then I asked well don't they serve salads?  Of course they do, chef salads covered in processed meat and cheese and taco salads covered in processed beef and other unnatural ingredients.    Oh but wait I thought there was hope how about a side salad that should be fine right.  Oh but mom they don't always have the side salads.  Wow, I didn't even know what to say.  I haven't even talked to my elementary school child yet and am almost afraid to.  Come to find out from him they offer one fruit and one veggie every day.  Neither are fresh and both are usually out of a can or bag.  As much as I would love to fight to change this that may be later on down the road I had to remind myself to only challenge myself to one task at a time :)  I have asked my kids to try and eat at least one fruit or veggie at school for lunch but I understand if they don't.  So, we will just make sure to include them in there snack after school instead.  

So we are on day two of this week and I have decided the easiest way to make this happen is to write it down.  We have white boards in our kitchen area so that is an easy place to keep track.  Simple plan and system next to your name make a tally mark every time you eat a fruit or veggie serving in the day.  Goal is 6 per day.  Easy to do daily, and easy to erase and do again the next day.  I am hoping this helps us all be more aware of the amount we are eating and it seems that when you have a goal it somehow makes you more aware and more likely to succeed.  

I guess what has been an eye opener more then anything this week so far is that I thought we ate pretty healthy and included quite a bit of fruits or veggies in our diets.  Boy was I wrong.