What I eat on average

Might I just say that everyone has different nutritional needs, and everyone's body responds differently to certain foods. I might try to push nuts and watermelon on my mom, but when she says it comes up on her, I stop trying to force it on her. (After a few trys, always asking "Are you sure you tried it before?") Granted, that's because I believe some foods need to grow on you. I don't recall my first encounter with peas to be very pleasant, but now you'll find me tossing them in pasta. I don't recall liking chickpeas immediately, but now I can't get enough of them. But other times, there are just some things you don't want. Or need. For example, you can get a selection of vitamins and minerals from carrots, but if carrots aren't your thing you can get what you need from eating other things. As long as you're actually eating those other things, and not avoiding the whole category. So here's what you need on a daily/every-other-day basis...

1. A small amount of nuts and seeds
2. Whole grains (this does not mean whole grain bread, it means a wide variety of different whole grains, such as farro, wheatberries, red/white/black/brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, couscous, etc)
3. Leafy green veggies (not just lettuce - collard greens, kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, spinach, mustard greens, cabbage and dandelion greens)
4. Cruciferous veggies (like cauliflower) and those that fall into the "other" category like garlic and onion
5. Fruits
6. Beans

I'll admit, I have a really hard time working nuts into my diet at all, much less daily. I prefer coconut and rice milk over nut milk, and peanut butter over raw nuts. I do pretty well with fruit, usually only having a cup or less per day, and I do very well with the cruciferous veggies and "other" category. I eat plenty of whole grains, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, kale, beans (chickpeas!), potatoes and garlic. Although I could always use more garlic. Thanks Montel Williams.

However, I get stuck in little obsessions, where I eat one thing in particular for a whole week, such as pasta with carrots or cauliflower mashed potatoes. This week it's been pineapple coconut smoothies. And I don't usually make many smoothies and juices, which are really great in the morning. And for people who eat every type of leafy green, fruit or veggie, that's great. But I don't like apricots, peaches, ginger, orange cauliflower or black beans.