"Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day."

In other words… Eat Your Greens! But here’s a hint – the second part of this guideline will help you up your intake considerably. If you opt for a “variety of fruits and vegetables” each day, you’ll find it’s much easier to consume more. Consider a fruit and vegetable buffet. Everyone knows that you eat more at buffets than you do at regular restaurants because there is a greater selection. It works the same with your daily spread of fruits and vegetables – the more variety, the merrier your health!

The guidelines recommend two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables per day for a 2000 calorie intake – that’s equivalent to 5-9 servings a day.  Here are some hints to help you reach that goal:

• Try new vegetables and fruits that you’ve never eaten before. See the Fruits and Vegetables section of the CalorieKing.com library for more information. (Click on the link below).
• Think color – eat color! Mix and match as much as you can – red, orange, yellow, green, purple, white. Different colors mean different goodies for your body and immune system - plus, it makes your plate more appetizing.
• Just add veggies! Get in the habit of adding vegetables to anything and everything – omelets, soups, casseroles, stir-fries, pasta sauces, risottos, sandwiches and so on. Throw a handful in here and there and you’ll be well on your way to 5+ a day.
• Keep a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table.
• Keep your fridge stocked with celery, carrots and other veggies that are easy to snack on.

"Consume three or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per day."

Confused? We were! In translation… “consume three or more ounce-equivalents” means eat at least three 1 oz servings of wholegrain foods per day. Common 1 oz servings of wholegrain products include a half cup of cooked brown rice, a half cup of whole-wheat pasta, 1-3 slices of wholegrain bread, or one serving of wholegrain cereal. A good approach is to choose wholegrain (brown) instead of refined grain (white) products whenever you can. Try these hints to help you out:

• Serve or request brown or wild rice instead of white. Be persistent with this choice - brown rice can take some getting used to, but once you're hooked, you'll love it!
• Use whole-wheat tortillas for burritos and wrap sandwiches
• Ditch those Cocoa Puffs in favor of a wholegrain cereal such as those newly out from General Mills
• Choose breads with flecks of grain in them such as rye, oatmeal, wholegrain, 7 grain, sprouted grain etc. (i.e. those that least resemble Wonderbread!)
• Add brown or wild rice to soups
• Choose wholegrain crackers and snack foods