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" You&amp;#039;ve heard it a gazillion times: If you want to be healthy, you&amp;#039;d better eat your fruits and veggies. Yet more than 90 percent of adults still don&amp;#039;t get the daily amounts the government recommends: about 2 cups of fruit and 2\u00BD cups of vegetables. &amp;quot;This is a real health concern,&amp;quot; says Larry Cohen, M.D., an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. &amp;quot;Studies show that a produce-rich diet is one of the best ways to manage your weight and to avoid heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.&amp;quot; Some hard proof: Women in one study who ate produce and other high-fiber foods lost 2 to 3 pounds more than those on a low-fiber diet. The good news is, it&amp;#039;s easy to get your fill now that fresh, tasty produce is available everywhere.  SMART STRATEGIES: Shop, prep, plan.   Think seasonal. You may have found tomatoes or blueberries bland, sour, or disappointing in the past, but before you reject them forever, try them in peak season, when their flavors are at their best. Fresh-picked for August: green beans, corn, peaches, plums, tomatoes, summer squash, berries, and watermelon. (For a complete list of in-season produce for your region, check out fieldtoplate.com/guide.php). Buy local. The fruits and veggies at your farmers&amp;#039; market will be some of the freshest you can find because they&amp;#039;re grown locally \u2014 which means they haven&amp;#039;t spent time being shipped to stores, becoming vulnerable to flavor and freshness loss along the way. To find markets in your area, check out ams.usda.gov.  Plan for prep time. Spend 30 minutes on Sunday night washing, peeling, and prepping vegetables and fruit: Snacking on red peppers instead of potato chips or cooking a stir-fry for dinner rather than ordering pizza is more appealing (and way easier) when the ingredients are ready and waiting.   TASTY IDEAS  Try one of these delicious, easy tips from Chad Luethje, executive chef at the Red Mountain Spa in Ivins, UT.  FOR BREAKFAST   Swap your O.J. for a frozen fruit treat. Fresh fruits have more fiber \u2014 and can contain less sugar \u2014 than their juice counterparts. To get the benefits, puree a mix of seedless watermelon chunks, raspberries, and pomegranate juice, then freeze in ice cube trays or Popsicle holders.  Make a better bagel. Add sliced strawberries to light cream cheese or mix berries with part-skim ricotta cheese for a sweet spread. Or enjoy a bagel with avocado, tomato, and a dash of garlic salt.  Instead of syrup or honey, top breakfast items with lower-sugar fruit sauce: Find a recipe for strawberry sauce at delish.com/recipefinder or buy it ready-made at your grocery store; pour over whole-grain waffles or use to sweeten up plain yogurt or oatmeal.   FOR LUNCH OR DINNER   Slather on the salsas. Pour a store-bought tropical fruit salsa or puree over grilled fish or use it as a dipping sauce for fruits and veggies. Or use a black bean-and-corn salsa on enchiladas, over salad greens, on top of a burger, or as a side dish with grilled chicken or fish for a Tex-Mex feel.  Kebab it. Skewer chunks of tomato, zucchini, and eggplant on a kebab stick; brush with olive oil, grill, and serve with a garlic-and-cumin yogurt dipping sauce: Sprinkle plain, fat-free yogurt with garlic salt and cumin.  Cool off with a cold soup. In a blender, add 2 peeled, diced, seedless cucumbers; 2 cups of fat-free buttermilk; and dill, salt, and pepper to taste; puree until smooth.  Make beans count. Mix a cup each of rinsed and drained canned garbanzo beans and grape tomatoes with a dash of garlic powder and olive oil.  FOR SNACKS OR DESSERT  Switch up your veggie snacks. Toss raw jicama sticks and edamame with lime juice and chili powder.  Taste the sweetness. Simmer frozen raspberries in pomegranate juice until syrupy. Pair with light ice cream or frozen yogurt.  Mix up a fruitini: Spoon a layer of your favorite chopped fruit into a chilled martini glass. In a blender, puree a cup each of cantaloupe and honeydew, separately, with a few mint leaves; pour a layer of each melon puree over the fruit, and top with fruit sorbet.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/cooking/nutrition/a980/lose-weight-tastes-great/>