I've been feeling rather sluggish lately. In part, fueled by my addiction to those Boston Cream donuts at 7-Eleven. Huge sugar high, then that inevitable crash. It always tastes worth it, then I feel so guilty afterwards. For the last year and a half, I've been struggling to lose the 10-15 pounds I've gained. I'll lose 5 then gain 5, over and over again. Always back at square one. The donuts haven't helped my cause, I know. I'm sure I've plateaued with my current eating habits. So being the sometimes rational person that I am, I realized it was time to change something. Yes, starting with the donuts of course!
Here is where the Green Monster comes into play. Blame it on Dr. Oz... in a good way though! He always likes to talk about drinking smoothies to kick start his day and how filling and delicious these can be. He talks about the health benefits both in terms of nutrition and being able to lose/maintain an ideal weight with these anti-oxidant packed smoothies. Although I use to make fruit-blended smoothies and loved them, I had never thought of adding vegetables - particularly spinach. I was scared, skeptical, and excited about the thought of whipping up my first glassful. Scared at how "vegetable-y" it would taste, skeptical at how filling they would be, but excited that I may actually be able to shed those pounds and hopefully quit this yo-yo effect that has been plaguing me for the last year and a half<sigh!> I still follow the Weight Watchers Points Plus system. However, I've noticed my choices have been far too many carbs lately! I have also been borrowing too many of my weekly allowance points and hustling to get activity points as well because I would run out of my weekly allowance points (vicious cycle!) Much to my dismay, the scale has been moving in the wrong direction lately. I had to do something about this - and change can mean a good thing!Super Easy Green Monster Smoothie Recipe (only 4 ingredients!):
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened Vanilla/Original Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup of nonfat regular/Greek plain yogurt
- 2-3 cups of spinach
- 1/2-1 frozen banana (make sure to peel and cut it before you freeze it!)
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen berries, cherries, or mangos work well (I use whatever is available and often times mix up my fruits! Adding frozen fruits not only helps sweeten the smoothie but makes the smoothie thicker & colder. You can freeze your own fruits or buy them already frozen which helps save even more time!)
I have more energy and I know I'm doing something good for the only bod I'll get in this lifetime. The frozen fruits really masked any weird spinach taste I thought I would experience. Oh, and in one week, I dropped 5 pounds! I did combine this with Turbo Fire (at home cardio/kickboxing dvd). Some days, I would do a double (two workouts!) I've never lost 5 pounds in a week either. But then again, I'm a total carboholic - and I've seriously cut back my carbs by drinking these Green Monsters. I have less cravings because I'm so seriously full. I had a shake for breakfast and one for lunch. I eat almonds (obsessed with the wasabi-flavored ones from Trader Joe's!) or some light string cheese as snacks. I still drank coffee whenever I felt like it (I use sugar free Coffeemate hazelnut or vanilla flavored cream). I even enjoyed the Biscoff Lotus cookies from Belgium with my coffee (afterall, the package says they are meant to be enjoyed with your coffee... I willingly oblige!) During dinner, I would just eat a normal meal. A sensible dish that even included carbs - rice, pasta, breads (gasp!) with chicken, fish, pork, or beef, etc. I even ate dessert (Smart Ones for portion control!)
I can't believe that I didn't feel deprived this whole week. I waited a full week to post - to see what would happen! This is a great way to lose weight and feel great. It's a piece of cake now to get in my recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables too. By making your own smoothies, you also avoid a lot of the additives, preservatives, and sugars that are in commercially prepared weight-loss shakes. I've never been able to finish a large bag of spinach before its expiration date, until now. In fact, I'm constantly having to go to the market to stock up on something I use to dread eating.
Combining the Green Monster with my Turbo Fire and Jillian Michael's at-home workouts, only time will tell how much weight I will lose. I must say, so far I'm off to a good start! Yay! I still can't believe how drastically my carb and sweet cravings have been reduced. So awesome! The 5 pound weight loss payoff is phenomenal. I very well may be at my ideal weight sooner than I thought was possible...whoop-whoop!
Cheers to health and yumminess:)
XoX,
Marikym
