All week we’ve been working on getting at least 5 servings of vegetables each day. For many of us, this is one of the toughest dietary practices to adopt.
Why is that?
One of the major hurdles to overcome in establishing the vegetable habit is that humans are inherently lazy. While the drive to avoid needlessly expending energy was great throughout much of our evolutionary history, it no longer carries quite the same benefit.
But what does laziness have to do with learning to eat more vegetables?
Lots.
- Quick question: where and how do most North Americans store their produce?
- Answer: in the bottom of an opaque drawer in their fridge, and in exactly the same form as when they bought it from the supermarket: whole and unwashed.
Is it any surprise then that after a long day of work very few people will dig to the bottom of their fridge, only to have to wash, peel and cut a vegetable before they can eat it?
Of course not. That’s way too much effort. So although many of us have the best of intention of eating more vegetables, the manner in which we store them actually decreases the likelihood we’ll eat them.
But learning to leverage your laziness can work to your advantage, let us explain.
All we need to do is set up our environment so that making a healthy choice becomes the “lazy” choice.
Take a look at the photo above, there are two big things happening that will help you dramatically get more vegetables into your diet:
- Vegetables are stored at eye level, making them the first thing you see when opening the door to your fridge.
- The are pre-cut/pre-washed. Now all you need to do is grab a handful and go.
If you wanted to take this one step further, you could portion out single serve baggies. This is a great solution for people who frequently find themselves rushing out the door without time to adequately prepare a meal.
By implementing these strategies, all of a sudden you’ve made snacking on vegetables the most-convenient (aka lazy) choice for whenever you open the fridge door.
Give it a try and let us know how you make out!