Healthy Eating Tips and Green Smoothies

Since we are what we eat, there is no way we can talk about self-care without talking about food! I believe that there isn’t one diet or plan that is right for everyone. We all should try to figure out what our bodies need for ourselves, and that is what I want to focus on, figuring that out! Every eating plan agrees on this one thing: our bodies need vitamins, minerals, protein, and essential fats. How you choose to get them is up to you, but here’s a few healthy eating tips:

• Greens, the more greens, the better! They have calcium, zinc, magnesium, and iron. (Tomorrow is Green Smoothie Day :))
• Eat regularly. Skipping meals doesn’t help your metabolism.
• Eat breakfast soon after getting up.
• Eat all the colors of fruits and veggies, organic if possible, or wash thoroughly. You should know how vegetables can help improve your skin.
• Nobody needs to eat pesticides.
• Follow the 80/20 rule 80 percent excellent stuff, then don’t stress about the other 20 percent. More good stuff in, less bad stuff in!
• Enjoy your food and be thankful for it!
• It’s ok to go in increments and upgrade your nutrition in steps. Make a healthier choice and another and another.
• Here’s a quote I love from Denise Duffield Thomas “Every time you make a choice that nourishes your body, you are stepping closer to your dreams. Every time you make a choice that harms or compromises your health, you are stepping further away from your dream.”
• I feel best when eating light and fresh! I do eat meat, just not every day or every meal.

Some of the benefits of Green Smoothies are:

• Whole food nutrition from the fruits and veggies you choose, better than juice because you get all the fiber.
• You can get your veggies in without even noticing the veggies’ taste is usually covered up by the fruit’s flavors.
• They are easy and inexpensive to make with a few essential ingredients and a blender.
• Because they have fruits and veggies, green smoothies give you longer-lasting energy than just eating fruit.
• Green smoothies are low calorie, filling, and hydrating.

So let’s get started! You will need:

1. Greens – baby spinach (that is the best one for beginners), or “juicing greens” mix, kale, turnip greens
2. Fruit –  I always use at least half a banana for sweetness, berries, pineapple, apple, peaches, mango, etc…Carrots are good too.
3. Liquid – milk (almond, coconut, cashew, soy)  juice or water
4. A blender or Ninja
5. Optional – Protein powder, yogurt, or superfood like spirulina

 

I use 1 cup – 1 & 1/2 cups of greens, half a banana, 1 cup of other fruit, put all that in the blender, smash it down, cover with your liquid, and blend on high until smooth. I add about 1/2 teaspoon spirulina and sometimes protein powder too, and I use some frozen fruit because they taste better, pleasant, and cold!

Enjoy your green smoothies, and I hope you follow those healthy eating tips!

 

Brilliant Massage & Skin

Burlington, Vermont