So I gave it a whirl. The color of the smoothie was beautiful - a shocking bright green. Mother nature sure creates colors that are difficult to replicate in the lab. However, my advice with kale is to use a lot more fruit to mask its flavor. In fact, I will need to listen to my own tip next time. No wonder all the smoothie aficionados would warn us newbies to start with spinach then work your way up to other greens. I get it now. The good news is that I powered through it... drank it raw - leaves, stems and all. There is no way I would have been able to consume this in its natural raw state otherwise. I have trouble with my greens, like most of us do... but putting it in a smoothie solves that issue. My only regret is that I didn't start this sooner. Oh well, it's never too late...
Here is what I used:
- 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt (you can use Greek too!)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla/plain almond milk
- 1 whole frozen banana (or you can use frozen berries like I pictured above. I would definitely recommend about a 3/4 to a cup of very ripe/sweet frozen fruit if you want to mask the kale!)
- a stalk of kale (there is definitely a "green" taste to this so start slow!)
So the verdict? I'm very glad I started with spinach in my Green Monsters! If I had started with kale, I may have given up on trying to drink my raw veggies. I feel I didn't use enough ripe and frozen fruit in this particular smoothie, so I could definitely taste the kale. So I didn't enjoy it very much. Will I continue to use kale? Absolutely... but with a lot more fruit. Again, if you are a newbie to the whole Green Monster Smoothie wagon, I would recommend starting with spinach and working your way up to kale...unless of course, you like kale.
I also purchased collard greens which I will try next! It's not as scary looking as kale because it is more leafy, like spinach. I'll let you know how that turns out. In 9 days I have lost 7 pounds. As any girl (or guy!) would feel... it's total AMAZE-balls! I know a lot of it is water weight, but it's so motivational when you step on the scale and see it move in the direction it hasn't gone in so long. Then it gets me excited to put in my workout for the day too. The ball keeps rolling ... even though at times it's rolling uphill... with me pushing it with a lot of effort.
This is not a crash diet because I'm getting so many nutrients from the greens and I'm getting my calcium, vitamins and what not from the yogurt and milk. I tried both the regular and the Greek yogurt. I think the Greek yogurt helps me feel fuller longer. I think once I'm done with this carton, I'll be sticking to the Greek yogurt from now on (and Dr. Oz always like to mention that consuming Greek yogurt in helping with weight loss!) I don't think my diet has ever been this healthy. I've never enjoyed eating vegetables. But drinking them is a different story!
Even though I'm reducing my caloric intake, I'm getting the right kinds of foods into my body for once. The issue with me has always been my love for carbs. I cut a lot of that out. Not that it doesn't exist in my diet, but it has been greatly reduced. Whenever I eat carbs, it's like it sticks to my body and the scale doesn't budge (I can see why Atkins was so successful!) Again, I did combine it with a ton of cardio - I paid my dues. I did a smoothie for breakfast and one for lunch. I ate a normal dinner and enjoyed my coffee and cookies (within moderation!) Like I wrote in my previous post, I never felt deprived. I really hope I can keep this up for all of February, maybe beyond. Don't get me wrong. I passed by 7-Eleven today and saw my friend, Boston Creme donut, trying to flag me down... toxic and addictive relationship. I quickly glanced away and kept walking, pretending not to see... one day at a time...
This is not a crash diet because I'm getting so many nutrients from the greens and I'm getting my calcium, vitamins and what not from the yogurt and milk. I tried both the regular and the Greek yogurt. I think the Greek yogurt helps me feel fuller longer. I think once I'm done with this carton, I'll be sticking to the Greek yogurt from now on (and Dr. Oz always like to mention that consuming Greek yogurt in helping with weight loss!) I don't think my diet has ever been this healthy. I've never enjoyed eating vegetables. But drinking them is a different story!
Even though I'm reducing my caloric intake, I'm getting the right kinds of foods into my body for once. The issue with me has always been my love for carbs. I cut a lot of that out. Not that it doesn't exist in my diet, but it has been greatly reduced. Whenever I eat carbs, it's like it sticks to my body and the scale doesn't budge (I can see why Atkins was so successful!) Again, I did combine it with a ton of cardio - I paid my dues. I did a smoothie for breakfast and one for lunch. I ate a normal dinner and enjoyed my coffee and cookies (within moderation!) Like I wrote in my previous post, I never felt deprived. I really hope I can keep this up for all of February, maybe beyond. Don't get me wrong. I passed by 7-Eleven today and saw my friend, Boston Creme donut, trying to flag me down... toxic and addictive relationship. I quickly glanced away and kept walking, pretending not to see... one day at a time...
XoX,
Marikym
