A Health Writer Confesses: "I (Finally) Did It My Way"

1. Shop for Chard...

I always tell people to eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. "Nine" suddenly seems like a lot, so even though my house is stocked with kid-approved apples, bananas, and baby carrots, I cruise the produce aisle of an organic grocery store and pick up more grown-up options: Swiss chard, tomatoes, broccoli, yams, yellow peppers, leafy greens, a few persimmons and pomegranates.

The government says I need 1,000 milligrams of calcium. My cheese and yogurt addictions should help, but then I remember what Miriam Nelson, PhD, author of Strong Women, Strong Bones (Perigee, 2001), suggests: "Add some green leafy vegetables like kale." So I do.

But when I get home, a skeptical voice in my head threatens my optimism -- "How are you going to eat all this stuff?"

I need a strategy.