I had salad for the second time in two days.  Didn’t like it, but it has to be done. I need to control my weight and I need the nutrients.

Had cereal for breakfast (bran flakes) with raspberries, banana and blueberries. I’m claiming four towards my 30. Lunch – remembered to add peppers to the salad, so added an extra one. Julia is currently dishing up roast pork with stuffing and apple sauce with roast potatoes, cauliflower, carrot and parsnips. That’s four more, as there’s sage in the stuffing. I ate a pear today too, so that’s ten new vegetable sources of nutrition. Apple sauce doesn’t count as it is processed, but I will have an apple for lunch tomorrow. Just remembered we had grapes with the salad, though I did forget the nuts again. Eleven.

Add this to yesterday and we are now on 21.

Vegetables – Carsington Water

Having looked into what people recommend for the “five a day” I am quite alarmed by some of the things I read. I thought we were doing quite well but in world terms we are way behind.

Japan recommends up to 17 portions a day – 13 vegetable and four fruit. The portions are only 50g, compared to our 80g portions, but they still get 850g of veg to our 400g.

Austria recommends three portions of veg, two of fruit and four of rice, grains, potatoes, bread or pasta a day (five for children and active athletes). A portion of cooked vegetables in Austria is 2-300g. Five of our portions are only a little more than one Austrian portion, though you can eat less if they are raw.

Spanish portions are  up to 200g each – 3 veg and 2-3 fruit per day. Minimum is about 600g per day.

The problem is that I’m not sure I’m actually eating full portions for my five a day. The portion size is two inches of cucumber and three sticks of celery. Who eats that amount of cucumber or celery in a day? One stick of celery is plenty when I take it for lunch. And four or five thinnish slices of cucumber are plenty.

Healthy home grown veg