Summer Shape Up RI Resources - Week 1

For some introductory information about Summer Shape Up RI, please visit here.

WEEK 1: What counts as a fruit or vegetable?

Any vegetable or 100 percent vegetable juice counts as a member of the vegetable group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up or mashed.

Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice counts in the fruit group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen or dried, and may be whole, cut-up or pureed.

What counts as 1 cup (or serving) of fruits and vegetables?
For the purposes of this challenge, 1 cup = 1 serving.

One cup (serving) from the vegetables group
1 cup of raw or cooked veggies
1 cup of vegetable juice
2 cups of raw leafy greens

One cup (serving) from the fruit group
1 cup of fruit
1 cup of 100 percent fruit juice (check the label)
½ cup of dried fruit

Examples servings

Examples of 1 cup:
1 large ear of corn
1 large orange
1 large sweet potato

Example of ½ cup
5 broccoli florets
16 grapes
4 large strawberries

More detailed info is in this U.S. Dept. of Agriculture chart: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/what/examples.html

There are also more examples here.

How many fruits and vegetable should I eat?

In general, women need 3.5 to 5 cup servings; men need 4.5 to 6.5 cups. But your age, gender and physical activity level determine the number of calories you need per day, and your fruit and vegetable requirements are based on your daily calorie needs.

For help setting a personal goal use this tool from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) or this brochure from the US Dept of Agriculture provides a detailed chart for how much men, women and children of various ages need: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/downloads/General_Audience_Brochure.pdf

How should I fill my plate?

Another way of making sure you get plenty of fruits and vegetables is to use a strategy for filling your plate. Here is a method from

Start with a medium- to small-sized plate, which will make your food look bigger!
Fill half your plate with vegetables or fruit.
Divide the other half into 2 equal parts:
- One for starchy foods such as whole grain, rice, potato or pasta
- One for protein such as fish, poultry or meat

 

More examples of cup and half cup servings