Green Smoothies?

I'm not sure how many of you have heard about green smoothies/drinks but I am a pretty big fan. I never thought I would be because honestly, I don't like to eat my greens. I'll admit it. For the longest time you couldn't pay me to eat lettuce unless it was buried in a cheeseburger or drenched in Caesar salad dressing and cheese. But the older I get the more I seem to change my taste buds and food choices. I also seem to be having a terrific time keeping my weight at a reasonable number. Its unfortunate that I can no longer eat all the junk food I want and not gain a pound.

Right now my weight has peeked again. I'm at that point where I'm not the heaviest I've ever been but my current pants are getting tighter and I am refusing to go up a size. Down is the only direction my pants need to go. So I decided to get back into the only thing that seemed to help me, adding more greens to my diet. I am not the type of person who likes to sit there and enjoy a salad. I have never been that way. Maybe it's because I'm a New Englander and everything has got to be faster paced. Or maybe it's because I'm always on the road. Either way, liquifying my greens makes them easier and faster for me to consume. And I definitely consume more in a smoothie than I would in a salad.

I first started doing green smoothies when I was on a huge semi vegetarian raw vegan sort of kick. (If you are ever interested in exploring that lifestyle more thoroughly I highly recommend reading Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis. Truly delightful.) Obviously I have come to terms with the fact that I can not devote myself entirely to that lifestyle because I love to nom on chicken and beef. But I can incorporate elements into my life. The Green Smoothie is one of the things I am going to work to incorporate into my diet more. It's surprisingly filling, tasty, and gives me the extra boost of energy to get through the day. Sure in the beginning my coworkers were like, "what are you drinking?" But once they saw the benefits in my skin and weight the stopped with the comments.

You can add to it whatever you want. The one in the picture above, which I must admit was my first one in a long time was the following items:

• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 cup water

Throw it in the blender. Blend well and drink. The faster you drink it the more nutrients you get from it, because as you will notice, the bright green color will turn brown if its left out. You can mix and match whatever you want in the drink and find a combination that works well for you. Dark greens are the ones most rich in nutrients and work best in this type of drink. (Kale, spinach, cilantro, etc) You can add things like agave nectar or honey to it to sweeten it up if you need to, but I find most fruits you add do the trick. Cilantro has great benefits for your health and is fantastic to add in this drink. But it's all up to your personal taste. Trial and error.

Don't be surprised if the smell of the first one you make is kind of startling. This was the first one I had made in a while and let me tell you, I was a little taken a back. I don't usually add protein powder but figured why not this time. I promise you, it was not as disgusting as it probably sounds. My mom loves to add mangos to hers and I really love adding pears or apples.

If you try it or have tried this before, what's your favorite things to throw in a green smoothie? I'll share some more of my smoothies and I'd love to try your combinations so feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Take care!