Green Smoothies: Recipes

Perhaps I should title this “guidelines” instead. I don’t profess to know everything about green smoothies but the little bit that I know, I’ll pass along to you.

1. Go to the store. The Farmers Market or something like that would be even better but sometimes the store is just more convenient. And I say that it’s better to have any fruits and veggies than none so let’s go with it.

2. Buy some fruit and greens that you like. Do not buy starchy vegetables. Starch + fruit = unpleasant feelings. Examples of greens are spinach, arugula, romaine lettuce, carrot tops, celery. Fruit examples are bananas, pears, apples, pineapple, honey dew melon. If you choose things that you already like, chances are that you’ll like it when you blend them together.

3. If you’re still not sure about it or if you haven’t had very much fruits and greens in your regular diet, start off slowly. Your body needs time to adjust. Try maybe 3 parts fruit to 1 part greens. My very first smoothie was 3 bananas, 1/2 head of romaine lettuce (red leaf), and 2 cups of water. I think I did that two days in a row. It makes 4 cups (1 quart) and took me about an hour to drink it. While I was washing dishes, making K’s breakfast, etc. Then I started branching out. And did you know that the water you add to your smoothies can count towards your daily water?

4. Get a little bit more adventurous. I had some leftover celery (by some, I mean nearly the whole bag because I buy it for a meal or two and then have all the rest of it that sometimes goes bad because I don’t like it plain). Day 5 (I think) smoothie had carrots in it. Bad idea. I do not like carrots in my smoothie despite liking them plain. I drank as much as I could of it but ultimately did not finish it. Day 8 smoothie was 3 stalks of celery, 4 kiwis, 1 banana, and 2 cups of water. I learned that 3 stalks of celery was a little too much for me but still drinkable. The next day I tried celery with other things (probably bananas and lettuce)(or kale) but this time I only used 2 stalks. Perfect.

I just got a water bottle thing that was $2-3 and held 1 quart. Now I make my smoothie, pour it all in there and just drink when I’m ready. I might get another one to store for later in the day. My midafternoon snack seems to be begging for a change. Just make it easy for you drink.

Set yourself up for success and you’re more likely to see success.

Another benefit shout out: I can’t contribute this just to green smoothies because working with my trainer and exercising certainly had its part as well. A little over a week ago, Jared mentioned to me that my stretch marks were going away!! I hadn’t noticed but we’re always more critical of our own bodies. I was really glad he told me and that there was any change to notice!!! Now when I go to the gym, I take a look at myself in the full length mirrors and think “I don’t look so bad after all”.