happy at home

GREEN SMOOTHIES ARE CHANGING MY LIFE AND ROCKING MY WORLD
OK, that is a pretty strong statement.

But not too far from the truth.

When I started drinking green smoothies every morning, about six weeks ago, I was very skeptical. I mean, how revolutionary could they be? And they couldn't taste good, right? And how could someone write a whole book about them? When Sara was here, I agree to try them. A couple of bananas, seven or so strawberries, a spoonful of honey, some water, a handful of spinach. I was amazed at how good they were. How filling. How you could hardly tell the spinach was there. I have been drinking them almost every day for breakfast since then and have slowly been adding more greens.
I immediately started eating better. When I started my day in such a healthy way, it was easier to make good decisions for the rest of the day. I lost 5% of my body weight in the first 3 weeks, after 7 months of being at a complete plateau (even after adding in running 5K, 3x a week).

Then, I fell off the bandwagon for about 10 days, right around my birthday. And I fell hard. I immediately felt the effects. My face broke out, my clothes got tighter, and I was tired. Very, very tired. Going to bed around 11 every night, and dragging out of the bed next morning at 8:30 or 9. Not good.

This past Sunday, I decided I'd had enough. This week, I have been in smoothie overdrive. OH. MY. GOODNESS. They are soooo good. I crave them. I have been adding more and more greens each day. Yesterday morning I had a smoothie with honey, water, bananas, spinach, kale, avocado, ground flax seeds, and blackberries. I had steamed veggies and rice for lunch. For dinner, because they just taste so darn good and I wanted one so, so bad, I had another smoothie. Kale, spinach, wheatgrass, honey, water, bananas, and strawberries. I didn't love the taste of the wheatgrass, but seriously, after drinking that thing, I felt like I could leap a tall building in a single bound (isn't that how it goes?). I was BUZZING with energy.
That may not sound like much food, but I just can't tell you how satisfying and filling one of these smoothies are. Yesterday I...

Got up around 5 am, did a load of laundry, washed dishes, fed and dressed three children

Organized two closets and both freezers

Spent the day in Savannah, shopping for a summer dress

Came home, went straight to soccer practice

Cooked dinner. Bathed the baby. Did more dishes and laundry. Picked up the house.

After the kids were in bed, went to Charlotte's and helped her rearrange/move furniture.

Came home, stayed up doing nothing in particular until 1 am.

Woke up at 5 am, without an alarm, ready to meet the day!

Oh, and did I mention that my 2 year old vegetable hater LOVES them? And the 10 month old? The 5 year old likes the taste but says "Mom, salads are supposed to be on a plate, not in a straw". And since he will eat them on a plate, I am OK with that.

When the smoothies are bright green, we call them Shrek smoothies, or sometimes, The Incredible Hulk Smoothies. The boys take a sip, then require me to feel their biceps. :)
If the green color is a hang up for you, I recommend making a blackberry smoothie. It will be a beautiful deep purple. Or, just drink it in a dark glass so you don't see the color!

I make a blender full (sometimes two) in the morning, and pour them into mason jars and put them in the fridge. Then, whenever hunger hits, I can just grab one out of the fridge. So convenient!

Oh, and just as an aside, as of this morning, my weight is in the 150's again for the first time in THREE YEARS. You can't see me (and you should be thankful for that), but I am in my kitchen this morning doing a big time happy dance.

Seriously, try the smoothie.

If you need more than just my recommendation, read what these people have to say.


*Image from lazysupper on flickr.com