green smoothies – How To Be Myself

Weigh In Wednesday- a Cleanse

February 11, 2015 8 Comments

Warning: if cleanses or detoxes of any sort may trigger you, this would be a great time to stop reading this and go to the Shiba category and look at cute animals!

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I wanted to do a cleanse, but not a full on one because those turn me into a crazy person. I think it’s a little beyond my mental capacity right now. My real goal is to get myself off sugar. Every time I eat something with very much sugar I feel like garbage, but I can’t stop eating it! There’s always chocolate at work, J keeps sugary snacks at home- and I have no self control even though I know it makes me feel gross.

The guidelines of my cleanse are no added sugar (fruit is okay), no alcohol, no caffeine, and extra fruits and veggies. I already don’t eat meat, and I limit dairy and eggs. I’m doing smoothies at work, because I need to go cold turkey if I’m going to get off this sugar habit. Basically, I’m doing a cleanse like BluePrint, but I’m making up my own rules and not spending $65 a day (I’m sure they’re lovely people, but come on. really?!). I’m also doing smoothies instead of juice because for me, cutting the fiber out of my food seems silly. I don’t understand why people drink juice and laxative tea, when they could just leave the fiber in their juice… anyway, I’m digressing. So I made three smoothies on Sunday night, roughly following this recipe. I used mostly spinach, with banana, cherries, and water. Then I made two protein shake/smoothies. I used half water and half unsweetened coconut milk, plus one serving of protein powder and 2/3 cup of mango. This is what I had throughout the day on Monday, though I didn’t drink the third green smoothie. Then I ate a normal dinner, but without dessert or alcohol. I did the same thing yesterday. It has been hard to resist sweets, but it’s easier for me when I flat out tell myself it IS NOT an option. I will continue for a week or until I start to feel like I will drown in smoothies. I think that a week is a good goal. I actually started on Sunday, so I just have to make it through Saturday! After three days of this, I am still very close to last week’s weight. This is probably good, I am filling my body with nutrients and not losing water weight.

I had my first (of three) personal training sessions last night! She kept having to cancel, so I was really losing motivation. Now it’s back! It’s back because it was a wake up call in a big way. The set up was probably the worst possible scenario for someone that is seeking personal training because they are unhappy with their body. One wall is mirrors, two walls are floor windows that go to the parking lot and sidewalk. Anyone in the world can watch. I know that no one cares, but it’s still hard to not feel like you’re in a fishbowl. I also have been avoiding truly looking at my body, and the outfit I chose, the mirrors, and the lighting did not allow me to hide anymore.I need to get serious so I can feel better about myself, and feel better in general.

You may be wondering how my yoga is going. It’s not. I meant to start Sunday, but was so sick and slept for as much of the day as possible. Then Monday came and I remembered I had personal training Tuesday and wouldn’t be able to go Tuesday. Thus, I decided to start tonight so I can try to go seven days in a row. I really need to drag my slacker self over there. Part of it is anxiety- I hate going into a new class. The other part is I hate leaving Riley the puppy bear 🙂

Note: I use Arbonne protein powder (this is an affiliate link- if you buy this I will get a small percentage). It is vegan, gluten free, soy free, has no artificial sweeteners, and tastes like cake batter. I’ve only tried the vanilla, but it’s good with everything. Arbonne is one of those weird club things. If you or someone you know is in the club, you should definitely buy it from there because it’s cheaper. Sometimes I do that, but if I can’t get on board with someone else’s order I get it off Amazon. I thought I would mention it because it’s so hard to find vegan protein powder, and this is the only one I’ve ever liked. A lot of people like Sun Warrior, but I can’t stand it. It feels like sand in my mouth.

Happy Wednesday!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: cleanse, detox, diet, green smoothies, weigh in, weight loss

Weigh In Wednesday- Detox

February 4, 2015 10 Comments

I am finally going to give myself a kick in the pants- it is detox time. I’ve been looking for a while for a new yoga place (okay, for at least six months). The place I loved was way too far away, and then it closed down anyway. I figured out that there is a nice studio not too far from our house, and they have a deal for beginners- seven yoga classes in seven days for $25. I thought to myself, what better way to jump start myself? My body loves yoga. I can cram in as much yoga as possible while finding out what the best classes are. I try to do yoga at home, but it’s nearly impossible for me to focus and really relax there. I’m always getting distracted with chores or dogs or… well, I’m sure you know how it goes.

In the meantime, if I’m going to be getting my zen on; it’s a perfect time to infuse my body with fruits and vegetables. The more healthy food I eat, the more I crave. I have been using sugar as a serious crutch, and I want to stop. Whenever I eat something sugary, I immediately feel like garbage. I just keep eating stuff because it’s there and delicious.

As for the weigh in~ I am almost exactly the same. I say almost, because I couldn’t bring myself to take off my hoodie for my weigh in (that’s how sick I am. I just could not do it). I am guessing as to what my exact weight is, but for this week it doesn’t really matter. I know it’s not good, and I’m not going to let it define where I go from here.

So, my plan is to start the yoga membership on Sunday and go as much as I can all week. I am also going to cut out sugar and alcohol for the week, and focus on smoothies and fresh produce. I don’t think I can put any recipes from the book on here, but I will also be using my old standby that I wrote about here.

If you’ve tried yoga, what is your favorite pose? I love tree. I need the balance. Even when I’m falling over, it just feels so right!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: detox, diet, exercise, green smoothies, resolutions, weigh in, weight loss, yoga

How to Make an Easy to Choke Down Green Smoothie

January 2, 2015 7 Comments

I love the idea of green smoothies. Low calorie breakfast or snack, get a bunch of veggies- it’s a great deal. However, when I first started, some of the recipes I tried were just SO bad. I think it’s something you need to work up to. The first thing I did was buy a six pack of 16 ounce mason jars. Having cute jars to easily bring them with me and make several at a time made it much easier.

I also have an amazing blender. I wanted to get the Vitamix like all the other cool bloggers, but holy wow is that thing expensive. I found the Oster VERSA (Amazon affiliate link, if you purchase this I will get a small commission) to be a great alternative. It was about $200 when I bought it, but Amazon has sales all the time. The one I linked to is the low profile, which is better for short girls like myself. This is a big blender and if I had bought the regular version I think I might need a footstool! This blender is tough enough to pulverize the greens, and has been a trooper so far. I’ve burnt out the motors of blenders before, so I know that I need something strong!

Here is my basic smoothie recipe that I find to be a) simple b) if not delicious, tolerable. This recipe makes two 16 ounce smoothies, give or take a little. I use organic produce whenever possible.

two large handfuls of greens (spinach may be the easiest to start with- other ideas are collards, chard, kale, lettuce, or cilantro)
one small banana
one cup frozen fruit (I usually do strawberries or peaches)
12 ounces of water
(optional) 2 Tablespoons ground flax seed for omega 3s

Throw it all in the blender until pureed and pour into jars. They will keep for two-three days, but I try to drink them the day of (or the next day, since I try to do prep the night before for a day’s food to take to work). Another thing that I have trouble with regarding green smoothies is texture. If the thick texture bothers you, just add more water. When I first started drinking them, making the consistency more like juice really helped me get used to it. If you want to drink them every day, switch up the fruit and the greens to get a better variety of nutrients. I always put in the banana for sweetness, but that is optional as well. The fruit is really only to make it taste good.

Note: if you buy a bunch of greens, then find a few days later that you didn’t get as into smoothies as you thought, you can wash and freeze them! I didn’t realize this at first and wasted some veggies, but you can freeze them to save for later and just throw them in the blender frozen. This tip was great for me, because I’m no longer afraid to buy the greens and possibly waste them.

Enjoy- let me know if you try it!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Recipes Tagged With: blender, diet, green smoothies, mason jars, oster versa, vegetarian