Seven quick ways to up your fruit and veg intake, and improve your diet

We all know that we should eat more fruit and vegetables, but this can be difficult to manage during a busy working week. A typical day’s menu might be cereal for breakfast, a sandwich and a packet of crisps for lunch, and pizza or fish and chips from the local takeaway for dinner. It’s quite easy to eat no fruit and veg!

Here’s some ways to easily get your five a day:

1. Make a big bowl of fruit salad on Sunday evening and have some for breakfast every day. Any fruits will do, but an easy and cheap mix is:
   • Tin of peaches in juice (2 portions)
   • Tin of pineapple chunks in juice (2 portions)
   • Three apples (3 portions)
   • A bunch of grapes – at least 240g (3 portions)

   That’s ten portions of fruit in total – two each morning!

2. Buy five pieces of fruit on Monday and keep them on your desk at work. Make sure they’re all gone by home time on Friday.
3. Put some salad in your sandwich every day. Lettuce, cucumber and/or tomato work well.
4. Make sure your dinner includes plenty of vegetables. A tomato-based sauce for pasta or chicken is a great option, or a quick stir-fry. (See the Recipes page for ideas.)
5. Keep a bag of mixed dried fruit in the cupboard and add some to your cereal. Or, have porridge for breakfast and add raisins, banana, raspberries or another fruit of your choice.
6. Chop up a selection of crudités: carrots, celery, peppers, cucumber. Keep them in a Tupperware box of water in the fridge (to keep them from going limp) and snack on them whilst cooking dinner or watching TV.
7. On Saturday, make a big salad for lunch: if you find yourself getting bored of mixed salad, try a Waldorf salad for a great mix of sweet and savoury flavours. Put any leftovers in the fridge for a light supper on Sunday.
8. Make it fun! Try a new fruit or vegetable every week. Buy whatever’s in season and find a recipe to use it in. Compete with your partner, or a colleague, to hit five-a-day for the most days in a row…