I apologize in advance if this is already posted somewhere, I've read so many different threads the last week or so, but don't recall seeing this:

What exactly is 4.5 cups of veggies? How do you measure it? For instance, do you smoosh the lettuce down in the cup? Or leave it loose? What about things like broccoli and cauliflower and the "empty" spaces it leaves?? Or do we just weigh things to get a general idea....sticking to the fact that they're 8 oz in a cup??

I'm concerned because I feel like I'm eating a lot of veggies, but I don't know that it's 4.5 cups. Anybody??? Thanks!!

I'm doing this for my spring challenge. I've been actually measuring my veggies the past few days, though I hope to be able to just 'eyeball' it in another week or so.
The raw stuff I eat as a snack I cut into a measuring cup as I prepare it, and I've been putting my steamed veggies into a measuring cup before I put them on my plate. So far I haven't measured my salads because I had them in the evening and was already up to or over my 4 and 1/2 cups for the day.

I was eating a lot of veggies - but not 4 and 1/2 cups most days. I was surprised by how much that actually is.

I used '3 servings of dairy' as my holiday challenge and I can't believe how natural/comfortable it is to get them in now, so I'm optimistic that I'll be eating my 4 and 1/2+ cups of veggies with little or no effort by spring.

I know, it sounds llke a lot. Just yesterday I was thinking that I should put in parenthesis after my meals on the On Plan thread exactly what veggies I had. Maybe I will, but I don't know if I can measure.

does v8 count towards the 4 and a half cups?

V8 does count towards your vegetable allotment, but I'm not sure how much.

When I first started SBD, I used to loosely pile my veggies in a measuring cup, but now I just eyeball it. I eat lots of veggies every day though, and big salads, so I know I'm getting at least 4 1/2 cups every day.

I will admit that I may never get that many veggies. I definitely eat more than I would normally, and I make a concerted effort. But that is a lot for me! Winter is harder too, without fresh stuff. Sigh.

Most days I eat more than the 4.5 cups now. I was very surprised early on by how few veggies I was eating. I'm a vegetarian and I was eating more soy products than actual vegetables!

Almost every morning I eat veggies with my egg, usually lots. I stick to one egg, 1/2 cup of beans and then as many veggies as I want. Since I hate being hungry that can be as much as 2 cups of fresh broccoli! I'm a big fan of frozen spinach this time of year and often use half a bag in a meal (just grabbed some to add to my black bean soup at lunch). I've also started growing sprouts just to have something fresh to add in. Turns out mixing sprouts into hummus is super yummy and makes 2T of hummus a filling snack. I also like to extend the hummus with a couple of tablespoons of yogurt. Just some ideas. It's a tough time of year for sure.

to measure my salads, I fill a plastic salad container with lettuce - on the bottom it tells me how big a container it is. Right now, I think the one I use is a 6 cup container. Between the cucumbers and peppers I always put in my veggies usually reach 6 cups when I have a salad.

Question about spinach...spinach tends to "shrink" quite a bit...would it be measured before or after cooking? I've cooked a whole bag of spinach and it was nothing after sauteeing...

Since I'm measuring how much I eat, I measure my veggies the way I'm going to eat them. Some shrink when you cook them, some expand. lol

I can't say enough how surprised I was when I started measuring..... I really like veggies and have always had several different vegetables with my lunch and dinner - but I usually had small servings, 1/3 cup or maybe 1/2 cup. Not as much as I thought I was eating.

I count the "before cooking" amount. Most days I eat more than the 4.5 cups. I drink 1 cup of V8 with breakfast. Lunch is a salad with at least 3 cups of baby greens and assorted broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, beans, peppers, mushrooms, radishes. My afternoon snack is usually carrots & hummus. For dinner I usually saute 1 onion, 1 zucchini, some mushrooms and split it with my husband. I frequently steam a bunch of broccoli and/or cauliflower and have that too. My dinner plate is about 3/4 vegetables now. Last night I roasted 1 bell pepper, 2 cups of grape tomatoes and 1 yellow squash and split it with my hubby.

When I think back to the way I used to eat and the small servings of veggies I used to eat, I am amazed to see the progress I have made. You're so full after your meal that you don't even think of snacking, especially in the evening.

I just assume I am getting plenty of veggies because I do a lot of big salads and usually have generous helpings of something green with my other meals (and I usually force down a cup of V8 in the am w/breakfast). But I have never thought to measure. After reading this, I am curious if I am getting enough. I will try measuring it out today and see how I'm doing. Though I am not sure I could stomach any more veggies than I am already cramming in!

I measure my greens after, especially spinach. I don't really count lettuce at all because it's almost all water. I aim for my high density vegetables, they are more filling

Thanks Chicks!! I will just use a measuring cup and as I chop up the veggies, put 'em in there and call it good. It's just hard for things like asparagus...I had like 10 spears of asparagus for dinner last night...no clue how that measures out cup wise. I think the more I start measuring the veggies that I can, then I'll have a better idea on the veggies that I can't necessarily measure. I'll get there....lol