One week of GREEN SMOOTHIES how do you feel? Or perhaps a better question is how do I feel- as blogging at my level (day 8) is just like talking to myself, and probably my mom. Hi mom!
I initially started this week of GREEN SMOOTHIES in a feeble attempt to do one thing consistently-for a week. With a long track record of “good intentions” (read-trying to drink water every a.m, take vitamins, floss my teeth and failing), I was not totally convinced I could do it. I did do a bit of research to see why exactly this was a good idea. There was a ton of information out there- some websites were awesome, and others were just trying to sell me blenders, but in the end this is the information I gathered:
As awesome as raw greens are, we simply don’t eat enough of them and we don’t chew them enough in order to take full advantage of the wealth of nutrition they hold. By eating a variety of greens in your smoothies you can reap the benefits of virtually all these vitamins and amino acids: calcium/ protein/ folate/ iron/ magnesium/ manganese/ zinc/ copper/ vit C / VitK/ VitA/ VitE/ VitB1/ VitB2/ VitB3/ VitB5/ VitB6/ Fiber/ potassium/ omega 3/ tryptophan… the list goes on.
And apparently these things can happen if you drink them daily:
* more energy –Agreed. I have actually happily been doing sprints on the treadmill and enjoying it the past few days.
* less body aches and pain- Agreed. I feel goooooooooooood.
* normalized blood sugar- I do believe. I have not had a “hangry” episode in the past week or crashed at work.
* reduced or “cured” insomnia- I always sleep like a baby
* increased libido- ahem. That’s a little personal
* clearer thought- clearer thoughts on what my next smoothies will include
* better vision- hmmm, I can see the computer screen right now- that’s good.
* regular bowel movements- We did just run out of toilet paper
* less acne- I wish. I am still the 30 year old woman that looks like the pizza delivery boy from the Simpsons
* less illness- Let us not forget this has only been a week
* easy weight loss – only been a week, but I am definitely snacking less.
* reduce bad food cravings- This one has been the most profound, and surprising. Less chocolate chips, salt and vinegar chips, and midnight cookie baking
* balanced body PH- I did forget to put on deodorant today, and I still lifted my arms!
* reduced craving for coffee and caffeine- I don’t really crave these, but I have noticed that I am not having my afternoon crash. You know- the two o’clock– “wish I was in bed and not at work” thing.
So overall, I am stoked. Drinking a Green Smoothie daily has really helped me to eat plenty of greens in a simple and delicious way. I can feel that my body is getting more nutrition than ever before, and in just one week I am already reaping the benefits. So if you’re not already doing it, start NOW.
Got my info from: Victoria Boutenko AND gotgreensrevolution.com
atemptingvegan.wordpress.com 
Awesome post! Funny stuff – but good stuff! Glad you are feeling those healing, healthful effects. Good for you for sticking to it. 🙂
Thank you so much, your post means a lot!! I am so surprised that I stuck with it too, but it’s totally worth it. Here we go for another week!!
Sold!
We sound like the same person. Salt and Vins are going to be the death of me. I also think its absolutly brilliant that you have made spinach/kale/etc taste good!
A word about skin: Skin is my biggest point of contention regarding the relationship that I have with my body. I have tried just about EVERYTHING to get that oh-so-lovely perfect complection. I was recently entirely disappointed by a thouroughly inept dermatologist (in my opinion). She peered at my skin (from 3 feet away), did not ask me ANYTHING about my diet, life, stress levels, skin regime, etc… and promptly wrote me a perscription for acutane. Excuse me! I do not need acutane. So point is… Ive been doing my own research… a lot of it.. and my skin has significantly improved (almost to target) due to my new regime! perhaps try!
Peppermint tea everyday. GLA like its going out of style. and Benzagel (works way better than any over-the counter topical cream I have ever been perscriped) and its cheap!
Wow. We do sound like the same person. I have just had the exact same experience with a Dermatologist and Doctors. They want to put me on acne medication… But I really feel like mine is an allergy as I have it all down my neck and my chest… ugh. I don’t even want to leave the house. It is just in the past 3-4 months. The only thing that has truly changed is more Raw food- nuts maybe. Peppermint tea, I will hit David’s after work. GLA- do you take a supplement, and where do I get Benzagel? I am doing an allergy test with my Naturopath, but that is still over 2 weeks away. Thank you so much for your words.
I LOVE that you have a whole separate category for green smoothies. 🙂 I also love (read: addicted to) them. A weird and unexpected benefit I noticed is that my hair is growing super fast! Abnormally so. Ha! But anyway, keep ’em coming! I’ll try to post more of my best green smoothie recipes. Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Seriously… You know that is funny because I kind of felt the same way, but thought I was just getting used to the fact that my hair was growing back after a bad short haircut. Ohhh how exciting!! All the more reason to drink them! What are some of your favorites? I will jump on over to your site to check them out! Thanks again for the comments, they make my day!
Haha, yeah it is crazy what random things eating obscene amounts of greens will do! 😉 I really should post more green smoothies, but until then I’ll give you a little sneak peak…I always use a base of 2-4 cups spinach/kale, 1 cup almond milk, 1ripe banana, protein powder, 1 tbs chia seeds, and ….
– 1/2 cup pumpkin puree + spices
– blueberries
– lemon juice, orange juice, pineapple, mint leaves
– peanut butter
– frozen mango
– frozen berries + chocolate soy milk
Some of yours look amazing! I love your site — keep it coming! 🙂
You are beyond sweet. Hmmmm I will have to try some of these. I had a minor obsession with pumpkin pie green smoothies which I ended up sickening myself on, and than never even posted my recipe. Oops!! What kind of protein powder do you use? Do you use ground chia or whole? Thanks so much for your ideas. That lemon juice, orange juice, pineapple and mint will have me heading to the grocery store. YUM.
Sorry for the delay in reply, haha! Love the piña colada recipe, by the way, and can’t wait to try it! I like to mix up my protein between whey, hemp, and soy…I actually use whey most often because I heard it’s a little better for muscle repair, but it’s not vegan sadly…I’m sure muscles are just a s happy on soy though 🙂 I use whole chia seeds, mainly because they’re easy to find…I think either way they’re ok. I do know that ground flaxseed is better for you, because you can’t digest them as easily whole!have you ever tried using chard or collard greens?