How much is 800 grams of produce?
When my daughter invited me to participate in a nutrition challenge to eat 800 grams of fruits and vegetables per day throughout the month of October, I immediately responded, “Sounds fun! I’m in!”
I mean I like fruits and vegetables. I eat them every day. I don’t weigh them…but eating 800 grams can’t be that hard, right? I’ll just throw in an extra apple, a handful of spinach, or a couple of carrots during the day. Easy peasy.
So I naively grocery shopped for my usual favorites in only slightly larger portions, dusted off my food scale, and started weighing produce on October 1. It didn’t take long for the scale to relieve me of my illusions. It would require more than a minor tweaking of my typical eating habits to regularly reach 800 grams. And I ran out of produce before day 3, requiring another trip to the grocery store.
It’s not that 800 grams is unreasonable. It’s just that fruits and vegetables are filling, and if you eat a lot of grains, meat or dairy, you are probably going to have to cut back somewhere to make room for the added produce.
And spinach doesn’t weigh much.
So what does 800 grams of produce look like?
Here’s what I ate the first time I successfully topped 800 grams…and it took me a couple of tries to get there.
By the way, avocados, olives, and legumes do count…whether fresh, frozen, or canned. Anything fried does not. (Hey! I didn’t make the rules.) Smoothies count, but be sure to weigh the produce before you blend everything together. Fruit or vegetable juice does not count. Bonus points if you eat six or more varieties of produce in one day!
Breakfast
Lunch
Afternoon snack
Dinner
Lessons learned (or duh…)
- Progress over perfection. I am not killing it. I have come just shy of 800 grams on several days, but I am much more aware of my produce consumption and have definitely eaten more than I would have without the challenge.
- Super smoothies. I don’t have my blender with me right now, so I haven’t made any smoothies, but it would help, especially with variety.
- Think heavy. Apples, avocados, and beans weigh more than spinach, lettuce, and clementines. Obviously, I’m not advocating eliminating the lightweight fruits and vegetables…just don’t rely on them to reach a weight-based goal.
- Frozen is fabulous. Keeping a freezer full of fruits and vegetables will prevent missing the goal because you ran out of fresh produce between trips to the grocery store. And, according to the experts, freezing produce does not reduce its nutritive value.
The challenge sponsor
This particular challenge is sponsored by Constantly Varied Gear. In addition to nutrition challenges and workout advice, they make the most wonderful leggings and shorts! (They didn’t pay me to say that…or even give me any free gear to review…I’m just obsessed with the quality and design.) I decided to treat myself to some of their fun Halloween gear.
Your turn
That’s it for me. I need to turn off the computer and go eat some more produce! Before I do, I’d love to hear from you.
- Do you have any idea how much produce you eat on an average day (in weight)?
- What is your favorite fruit? Favorite veggie?
- What else is on your mind? Anything at all; I just love to hear from you.
I love this Christie. I’ve never really thought of the weight of my fruit & veg. I’m very keen now to weigh them now but am sure they will be much less than 800g. My first thought was that 800g would be an easy target, but can see now how wrong I was. You’ve made me think about how little thought I’ve been giving to my nutrition lately. I’ve become quite slack lately
I was surprised at how much 800 grams was. It’s not unreasonable, but it does require intention. If you do start weighing, I’d be curious to hear what you learn about your produce habits.
Hi, Christie – Congratulations on your challenge. I agree that simply being aware of your produce consumption, and trying to up it even slightly, is a game changer. As fruits, veggies and legumes are the mainstay of our diet, we tend to eat lots of them. Asparagus and fresh corn on the cob are my absolute favourite veggies ever (especially when super fresh and in season)!
Yes to asparagus and corn on the cob, Donna! I do love produce, so I think it’s just a matter of shifting the focus of the meal from the meat to the produce. It’s really just habit for me, and the fact that my husband likes meat and does much of the cooking…at least for dinner. Still, change is possible.
This sounds interesting. I might start measuring. I’m guessing I’m on the low side…Have you noticed a different in mood/energy/skin? #WWAndP
I’m glad you asked, Lydia. Now that I think about it, I have recently noticed my skin is not as dry as it was. I hadn’t made the connection. At the beginning of the challenge, they gave us a quick home fitness test to perform. I will do the same test at the end and see if things have improved. To be fair, at the same time I started the produce challenge, I also increased my workouts, so any results will likely be a combination of the two.
“And spinach doesn’t weigh much” – thank you for my morning chuckle 🙂 I don’t know how much I eat, but I’ll bet you it’s not enough. Himself is an out & out carnivore and is in charge of the catering. He has learned to provide me with lots of veggies, as I can only manage smaller amounts of meat. But having a fruit bowl on my desk has transformed my ‘feeling peckish’ snacks to more healthy options.
Oh & very cute workout outfit!
My husband likes his meat too, Debs, and he cooks most of our evening meals, so I’m in a similar situation. Good for you on switching out your old snacks for a fruit bowl. That’s one definite benefit I’ve found from upping my produce, there’s limited room for other less-healthy snacks.
This was interesting Christie and I wonder if you’ve noticed any changes in your body as a result? Was there a reason for choosing 800grams do you know? I eat quite a range of fruit and veg but don’t think I’m near 800grams a day!
They didn’t give a specific reason for 800 grams. It does appear to be approximately six decent-sized pieces/servings of produce, so I’m wondering if it is a step up from the old “strive for five.” It definitely is enough that achieving the goal forces adjustments to the balance of your diet overall to favor produce. Shortly before I started this challenge, I had upped my physical activity as well, so I’m sure any results will be a combination of the two, but I am feeling more energetic, and my skin isn’t as dry as it has been in the past, so I do think it is making a difference.
That was interesting. I can eat very little fresh produce these days because of my oral cancer and mouth reconstruction. Amazingly lettuce is one of the worst to try. However, my jaw get sore from the chewing of crunchy things. So I choose to ripen a pear and peel it, slice it up and eat over time. I do adapt and I am not a smoothie liker. I do however, need to think more as summer comes here what I can give a go.
I did enjoy seeing your cute clothes too.
Thank you for sharing your post in the Wednesday’s Words and Pics link up for this week and being part of the #WWandPics Community.
Hope to see you next week too.
Denyse.
Interesting, Denyse. I hadn’t thought about the effect that oral cancer would have on chewing produce and nutrition in general. So many of my favorites are crunchy. Bad luck that you also don’t care for smoothies. I do love a good, ripe pear. Take care of yourself!
Hi Christie – I’m sure I don’t eat 800 grams of fruit and vegies when I see what it looks like from your pictures. It’s a lot! And I didn’t know what a clementine was – so had to google/wiki it to find out – so I learned something else new today as well.
Hello Leanne. I forget that what’s common around here isn’t necessarily widely known elsewhere. Just out of curiosity, I checked out what Wikipedia had to say about clementines, and I learned something new too! I hope all is well with you and your new hip!
Fascinating! I had no idea what 800 grams of produce would look like. I eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day but not this amount. I’m not sure my innards would like this much good health going through them. Still, your photos show some appetizing options.
I was surprised too, Ally. I haven’t noticed a big change in my innards, but my sister said the same thing! It helps that there is such a variety of produce and that things like avocados and little red potatoes are included.
I definitely do not eat enough fruits and veggies! I am trying to eat more, but not even close to 800 grams. I do enjoy avocado toast for breakfast quite often. And this time of year apples are so good. I do try and get whatever is in season (peaches, cherries, etc.) Grapes and cherry tomatoes as “steal a snacks”. Not enough legumes, but trying to up that – just bought some lentils for soup making plan.
I’m going to check out the workout gear … I could use some fall/winter things for yoga and drumming!
I enjoy avocado toast as well, Pat. And I like legumes, but for some reason I don’t routinely eat them, so I’ve been looking at recipes centered around legumes recently. The good thing about produce is that there is such a large variety of healthy options. I tend to get in a routine, eating the same ones over and over, but intentionally increasing the volume I eat has encouraged me to expand the variety as well. I hope you find some CVG workout gear that you like. I love mine!
I love, love those workout clothes!
I eat a fruit or veggie with every meal, and one snack a day, but the sheer volume… I come nowhere close. I still think wine should count as a fruit. ?
We could make our own challenge, Cindy, and wine counts double! Oh, and chocolate comes from cocoa beans, so that counts too! ?
Yes! I like the way your thinking!
I’m very impressed as I barely eat ANY produce. No fruit at all and not many vegetables. I really do need to make an effort though as I feel very heavy and unhealthy at the moment.
Luckily, I do like many fruits and vegetables, which makes it easier to eat healthy. My challenge is I also like grains and meat…and sugar. There’s not room for everything I would like to eat! There are ways to “sneak” produce into other recipes. Have you tried any of those?
Hi, Christie – Congratulations on taking part on this challenge. I’d say that you did kill it. Increasing our mindfulness in eating is a very desirable outcome. And those workout clothes are absolutely adorable — I love the Namasta Witches!
Thank you, Donna. The challenge is over now, and I am no longer weighing my produce, but still being more intentional about eating a variety of produce.