How to Sneak Fruit Intake into Your Daily Routine

Like most women trying to lose a pound or two I try my hardest to add 'healthy' foods to my diet when I have time to eat at all. Between working, dealing with children, and trying to have a social life it is hard enough to squeeze in a meal at all let alone a balanced one. Then once you get the meal on the table it is even harder to fit in the recommended portions of fruit into your daily routine.

One of the first things I started to do was include fresh fruit into my cereal or oatmeal depending on the whether. There is nothing quite like fresh blueberries in oatmeal to give it a sweet flavor without using sugar or other additives. This little tip also encouraged me to make sure I got a balanced breakfast instead of just grabbing a cup of coffee and pretending it was breakfast.

For snacks I started eating yogurt and adding fresh fruit to it. I usually get a large container of low-fat vanilla yogurt because it is a bit cheaper than the individual sizes and then add strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries to it. Of course you can add any type of fruit you want but those are my personal favorites. My cousin is a raspberry fanatic and my best friend loves adding fresh peach slices to hers. But to be perfectly honest sometimes our choice of fruit is based solely on what is in season and agreeable to our budget.

Another great way to add fruit to your diet is to snack on dried fruits instead of chips. There are dozens of great dried fruit brands out there and since I was little they taste a lot better, in my opinion at least. Some people I know have food dehydrators and dry their own favorite fruits but I prefer to buy mine ready to go. I love dried apricots and cranberries which are also great to add to salads.

After dinner in place of cookies or chocolate some baked apples can be a great change. Or if your really in the mood for a treat baked pears taste unbelievable. I only recently started having baked pears after I stumbled onto a tasty recipe on the internet. Because the skin of fruits usually includes vitamins try to eat them when it is possible and be sure to clean them thoroughly to remove all dirt and pesticides.