Green Smoothie Challenge Update

It's been 11 days since I started the 30-day Green Smoothie Challenge and I'm kind of loving it. I had a sneaking suspicion that I would because I truly love smoothies. In college, I worked at Jamba Juice before it was known as Jamba Juice. Back then, it was called Juice Club and I worked at Store #3 in the Town & Country Plaza in Palo Alto across the street from Stanford University. At the time, we were one of the busiest franchises. I even got to make smoothies for the likes of Tiger Woods when he was a Freshman at Stanford. 

What's in my smoothies?
Before I started the challenged, I pinned quite a few different green smoothies that I wanted to try. In reality, I glanced at a few of the recipes to get a sense of the ingredients and the proportions. Then, my inner smoothie-maker started to emerge.

I haven't been following any strict recipes. Instead have been experimenting with whatever's in the house and seeing how it turns out. I've used everything from milk, water, coconut water, yogurt, frozen/fresh spinach, frozen peaches, frozen mangos, frozen/fresh berries, apples and kale. I haven't been measuring the ingredients, mostly eye-balling it. It's funny because even after almost 15 years, I remember what the basic building blocks of a smoothie should look like in a blender.

My favorite smoothie so far has been this one.

• Zico mango coconut water (1/2 cup - 1 cup)
• Chobani nonfat plain yogurt (1/2 cup)
• Frozen peaches (1/2 cup - 3/4 cup)
• 4-5 strawberries fresh from the farmers market

ohmygosh it was delicious. I really like the addition of the coconut water which added a little flavor and seemed to round out the other flavors and really made it smooth.

Tip: Add your greens as one of the first ingredients. That way, other heavier ingredients will weigh down the greens so that they will be blended. Otherwise, the greens are likely to stick to the side of the blender when blending. 

What blender am I using?
When I started the challenge, I used a Krups blender that my husband and I received as a wedding gift nearly 9 years ago. While it still functioned, it was definitely not performing well. So, I asked for a Vitamix as a combined Mother's Day and birthday present. Quite simply, it is amazing.

And look at all the different things you can do with a Vitamix!! Dips, soups, salad dressing, smoothies, juices, frozen desserts - seriously?? So far, it has lived up to all the hype. I'll keep you posted as I continue to use it every day.

Notice any differences?
While it's only been 11 days, I have noticed one major difference. I'm not as hungry during the day when I have a green smoothie for breakfast. That's huge for me. Normally, I have breakfast around 7:30am but I'm STARVING by 10am, regardless if I've worked out or not. I'm considering switching my green smoothie to the afternoon to see if it has a similar effect on my afternoon blahs and hunger.

While it's been fun experimenting, I feel like I should be more diligent about measuring my ingredients. Smoothies are one of those things that can easily balloon in size and calories. The whole point of this challenge isn't to have an excuse to sugar-laden dessert drink every day but to reap the health benefits of green smoothies.

I excited for the rest of this challenge. I'm really curious to see if I feel any other noticeable differences by the end of the month.

Do you drink green smoothies? What are some of your favorite combos? Have you noticed any differences since you started drinking green smoothies? I post most of my smoothies on Instagram so come and follow me there! 

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