How many vegetables do you really eat each day?

Eating enough good quality vegetables are a vital part of our day to day diets.
Helping the body by providing numerous vitamins and nutrients, if you dont each enough vegetables each and every day you can almost guarantee you're deficient in something (or multiple things).

As I'm Australian, I'll post an Aussie statistic here from the Heart Foundation (but be aware that the Australian diet ties in very similar to the majority of the western world) from: https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/about-us/what-we-do/heart-disease-in-australia/fruit-and-vegetable-consumption-statistics
"On average, 8% of Australians over all age groups get the recommended intake of vegetables"

8%!!!!!!!!!

Now, I'm ignoring fruit, because while important, its also tastier due to it being full of sugar (which isnt necessarily a bad thing) and this means most people get enough. Please do not try to justify poor vegetable intake by claiming fruit intake, they are very different and veggies are much more important.

So, if 8% of the population is only getting enough veggies each day, how can you determine if you're one of them?
1 serve of veggies is a cup full. This is the easiest way to do it. So if you are getting less than 5 cups of veggies a day, you're likely not hitting the quota. Does 5 cups sound like more than you expected? It does for most!

Here's some ways to implement them into your diet:

• Try making a broccoli slaw, go easy on the mayonnaise though, this recipe is a great way to feed the family broccoli and they don't even know they are eating it! http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-light-easy-broccoli-salad-83866
• Eat some for breakfast. Getting over the stigma that veggies somehow dont belong in breakfast can be enlightening. Try zucchini egg fritters, wilted spinach, or a side of collard greens with squeezed lemon and a touch of salt as a tasty way to get your day started with 1/3 of your daily intake, I promise you'll feel great!
• Snack on carrot sticks, raw broccoli, celery, or any other preferred veggie while you're working. It'll take away the cravings and help you get in those vital veggies!

Trust me - if you start getting your daily quota of 5 cups of veggies, you'll be too full for a lot of the bad stuff you crave, your body will feel great, you'll have more energy, you'll probably sleep better, and if you workout, your fitness and more importantly recovery, will improve immensely!