Resolution 6: Eat More Fruit

Eat more fruit

What my "My Plate" report typically looks like each day

Over the past five weeks, during which I have been tracking my intake of calories, I have consistently noticed that most days I do not eat enough fruit. The Lose It! site, on which I track my calories,  provides a daily depiction of which food groups I have successfully managed to tap into sufficiently. This report, which follows the guidelines provided by Choose My Plate (a health focused program created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), rarely highlights the vegetable section for me, and even less frequently the fruit section. According to this USDA program, half of each meal should be devoted to fruits and vegetables: this is something with which I indeed struggle. 


Eating fruit is important for so many reasons. For one, most fruit has a high dietary fiber content: a key ingredient for low cholesterol levels and controlled blood sugar levels (among other things). Secondly, many fruits contain a high concentration of potassium, which "helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower the risk of heart disease," according to the USDA. Additionally, fruit contains a high concentration of numerous vitamins that a healthy body craves, namely vitamin C and folic acid. Therefore, there is no doubt in my mind that I need to be working harder at getting more fruit into my body.


It is for this reason that I asked Scott to pick up some fruit while at the grocery store today. He returned from Hy-Vee this morning with a pint of blueberries, clementines, and bananas. Now, I just have to eat them!






On another note, due to my coaching at a speech meet yesterday (we came in second place, out of seventeen teams), I was unable to blog about last week's results. I was successfully able to take both my AM and my PM packs of vitamins each day, and I think I have begun to retrain my brain into taking them every morning and afternoon. Of course, I can't physically feel any changes at this point, but maybe someday I will...