Put Your Best Smoothie Forward

I have issues with smoothies. I find recipes on Pinterest or magazines or health websites and try them and they are horrible. They always sound good. But they don’t work out.

I tried a green smoothie the other day. I so badly want to make a green smoothie that is good! I have so many recipes and they never work! What am I doing wrong?

The ones I tried had apple, pear, grapes, lime and spinach. Plus ice and water. I like all of those ingredients. But when I followed the recipe and blended it, it was very chunky. And I cannot chew a smoothie without gagging. It just isn’t possible. I forced down about 1/3 of it before I had to throw it away and find something else for breakfast. I later learned I should have added more water. Might have been a better smoothie. It tasted great! Just the chunks...ugh, the chunks!

A few days later, I tried again. I tried an oatmeal smoothie. I love oatmeal, so I was excited for this one. It had dry quick cook (not instant) oats, banana, strawberries, ice and skim milk. It was okay. Not great, but edible. And also boring. Wasn’t tasty enough for my liking. It was bland. I was able to drink it, but I wasn’t impressed. It might warrant a do-over, but I’d add some Splenda and cinnamon for more flavor. It might help.

Today, I tried another smoothie experiment. And it was a success. I loved it. It made 2 servings and I’m so very tempted to go get the 2nd smoothie and make it my lunch. It was that good.

    

I call it my Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie

1 cup strawberries

1 cup frozen blackberries

1 frozen banana

1 cup spinach

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 cup ice

2 cups skim milk

I started out with 1 cup of milk, but it was too chunky and there was no way it was going to blend together and be drinkable. So I added another cup and blended for at least 2 minutes. I wasn’t taking any chances.

Try it and let me know how you like it!

I’m still on the search for a green smoothie. If you have a good recipe - one that you’ve tried and loved, please pass it along! I’m looking for something that’s gonna give me energy in the mornings in lieu of a cup of coffee. I know greens do that! Just need to get it in.

Three Things Thursday

...in the nick of time too!


And now I’ve apparently made this a regular thing. Whatevs.

1. Is it wrong to have a smoothie for breakfast and a smoothie for lunch? I don’t mean a protein smoothie either. I mean frozen fruit and milk and a spoonful of peanut butter. And by spoonful I mean large quantity of peanut butter, because that's how I roll. There’s protein in that right? Right. Yesterday, I was not hungry for anything except for smoothies. I knew I should up the ante and add some protein, but I didn’t have any and I don’t know what kind to get and honestly, I feel like protein shakes and/or smoothies are things that only body builders drink. Am I wrong? Apparently I am. After my day of “smoothie” meals, I attempted a run. I was shaky and could barely finish it. I apparently hadn’t fueled well. I mean besides the smoothies, I had a small wrap with romaine lettuce and a small amount of chicken in it. I barely ate anything all day and expected to be able to perform the same as I have before. I kind of answered my own question there. Don't worry, today was National Junk Food Day. I totally made up for my lack of food intake yesterday! 

2. Last night I also had dinner at a co-workers house. Her daughter worked in my classroom last year, but she’s moved on to be a Wellness Counselor with Herbalife. She and her team did an assessment for me and showed me things that I was interested in (such as protein powders) and suggested some things that might help me out with my training. They have meal replacement smoothies, protein powder, energy drinks, protein bars, meal bars, etc. Whatever meets your needs as an athlete, they probably have. But the difference between Herbalife and other products out there is that Herbalife is all-natural and doesn’t have the added sugars that other products on the market have. Or so they say. I ordered Formula 1, which is a meal replacement shake and Personalized Protein which is just more protein to add to smoothies or the Formula 1.  The idea is to have 2 meal replacement shakes and a “colorful meal”. Not kidding, that’s what they called it. Given my experience yesterday with 2 smoothies before running, providing me with NO fuel, I’m hesitant. Plus, I’m not looking to replace meals. I’m looking to add protein to my morning smoothies or maybe after a hard workout. I might only replace one meal. Or I might replace breakfast and dinner and have my “colorful” meal for lunch to fuel up. I don’t know yet. I’ll see how it goes once I get my order. If you are interested or have any questions regarding the product, contact Brittany on her Facebook page.

3. Today I did my first training swim at Hopkinton State Park where my triathlon in September is being held. It was well over 90 degrees today and I just couldn’t fathom going to the gym to swim in an overcrowded pool. When I got to the park, I found the area where the swim starts. It starts with next to the boat docks, behind the boathouse. There was a huge sign that said “No Swimming”. Awesome. I asked someone at the boathouse if I could swim the triathlon route or if it was only allowed on race days. The girl I spoke to was about as helpful as a box of rocks. She said, “Oh, I’m not sure, I’m not with the park, I’m with the boat house”. I asked “You do realize where this boat house is located right?” I got a blank stare. I think she lost a few more brain cells just trying to figure it out. After asking around a little bit I was told that swimming was allowed in the swimming areas.  Well that’s good. Since I couldn’t seem to get a straight answer, I just went for it. It was really windy and the water was really choppy. I was tempted to not swim, but it was so warm out and I was already there, and I wanted to get in and just swim! I swam over to the beach in just about 10 minutes. I had to switch my breathing side because the waves were coming at me from the right and I kept breathing in water. On the way back from the beach, the wind picked up and I felt like I was fighting bears and going nowhere in the water. The waves were crazy! It took me 16 minutes to get back. Let’s hope there’s no wind on race day!  When I got home and out of my bathing suit, I saw that it was brown on the inside. It was white when I bought it. It was white after my pool swims. It was white after my lake swims. It was white when I put it on today. A 26-minute swim at Hopkinton State Park and it’s brown.  I think I’ll be saving my open water swims for the lake in NH.