Join me on my #5aDayChallenge!

In conjunction with #WomensHealthWeek, I’m running an Instagram/Twitter challenge to motivate women to get their five serves of veg a day. I want to make it easy for busy women to boost their health by eating a variety of veg or salad each day. Are you in?

What is Women’s Health Week?

It’s run by the Jean Hailes’ Foundation from the 7th to the 11th of September 2015. According their website, “It's a week to focus on your health, learn more and take action."

It’s a free online event featuring a variety women's health experts and celebrity ambassadors. Each day there will be new articles, videos, podcasts, recipes, tools and more to discover.

In 2015, they has chosen the theme of "Let's talk about the elephant in the room" to mean those unspoken-off things that are barriers to women enjoying the best of health. When it comes to healthy eating, I think one of those elephants is not eating enough vegetables.

Catherine Saxelby’s contribution

As a nutritionist whose mission is to help busy women eat well I am happy to support this great cause. Every day of Women’s Health Week, I will be posting on Twitter and Instagram, challenging you to join in and show us the five veges you’ll be eating that day. Look for the hashtag #5aDayChallenge.

Why do you need five serves of veg a day?

Study after study reveals that those of us who are big vegetable eaters seem to be protected from certain cancers, suffer less heart disease and have less trouble managing their weight. These are three great reasons to join the #5aDayChallenge and #EatYourVeggies because #5adaykeepsthedoctoraway.

Vegetables are a great source of fibre and a wide range of vitamins as well as minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron and a little calcium. What’s more there are the thousands of natural phyto-chemicals they contain, such as anti-oxidants, that can protect us from tissue-damaging free radicals.

Free radicals are implicated in speeding up the aging process. So, in addition to slapping on that expensive anti-aging cream, why not join me on the #5aDayChallenge and get your five serves of veg that are just bursting with goodness.

Who knows? It may even become a habit!

What’s a serve?

A serve of vegetables is equal to:
½ cup of cooked vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, peas or mixed frozen veges (75g or 2½ oz),
OR
1 cup of salad leaves or leafy greens (75g or 2½ oz)
OR
1 medium potato or sweet potato or other starchy root vegetable.

And remember, eat by the rainbow. Place lots of colour on your dinner plate with green, red and orange/yellow vegetables. This ensures you’ll get a variety of vitamins and antioxidants which are the natural colours of fresh produce.

Want to know more about veges?

The Foodwatch website has a wealth of info on vegetables. Take a look...

• Easy ways to eat more vegetables and fruit 
• Catherine Saxelby’s Top 20 super foods
• Which vegies are the real nutrient powerhouses? 
• Super foods, the ultimate health foods – the benefits of Broccoli 
• A carrot a day
• Super foods, the ultimate health foods – Spinach

Want to join in? 

Here's how...

• follow me on Twitter
• follow me on Instagram
• look for the following hashtags: #5aDayChallenge, #5aDay, #EatyourVeggies, #5adaykeepsthedoctoraway as well as #WomensHealthWeek.
• post your pic of ANY vegetable or salad you're about to eat or cook onto Instagram with the appropriate hashtags for any or all of those five days of Women's Health Week
• post links to pics and/or blog posts on Twitter and don't forget to add the appropriate hashtags

See you on Social Media for the #5aDayChallenge between 7th to the 11th of September 2015.