My St. Patrick's Day 2012 began with a delightful morning filled with a dancing my butt off at a Zumba class and then taking a trip to an acquaintance's house to hold meaningful conversations with an awakened/awakening audience. We discussed the Pleiadians along with many other crazy and strange topics revolving around New Age thinking. It was such a pleasure to be around souls who, like me, were "contracted" to receive these specific messages and blessings.
I arrived to my house with an excitement to start the 3-Day Smoothie Challenge that I have been promoting and raving about so earnestly for the last four days. I shoved into the blender some berries and fruits, following the directions I had written to prepare. Then I cut up some ginger and threw them into the mix. I was blindly approaching the methodology in creating this concoction, putting my trust in the knowledge that "it's good for my body" and that "I am committed!" After throwing in a bunch of parsley (too much) and a handful of spinach and using the pulp option to blend them, well, to a pulp, the end result was a chunky, purpley very bitter tasting glassful of what my boyfriend described as a "compost pile."
Now this was my very first green smoothie. I guess I got the fruit to greens ratio wrong because it was a challenge to get down! I gulped half of it until I realized I was being too hard on myself. After all, I had NEVER done this before! I returned to my kitchen, got out my bags of fruit and tried again. This time, I added a LOT of fruit and a handful of spinach. Ahhh... yes, much better! I still tasted the greens, but it was also a pleasure to taste the bananas and strawberries.
Now we're getting to the real challenge. After two hours my stomach started to growl, and when I say growl I mean that it was making this moaning 'how dare you!' announcement that is both uncontrollable and embarrassing. Here is when all of the self-empowering thoughts flooded my mind and I began acting as a cheerleader for myself. Just imagine what three whole days of consuming just green smoothies can do for you Brittney! Don't you want to be at your ultimate health?
Another hour passed by and I could barely stand it. I thought about gulping down another strawberry, banana and spinach smoothie and my body shivered. Then the other half of my brain started to rationalize- what's the difference between drinking a smoothie a day versus a smoothie a day with a meal? So, ladies and gentlemen, you may dub me a hypocrite or judge me as ignorant, but I cooked up one scrambled egg and enjoyed it with a piece of whole-wheat toast. MMmmmmMMM! I don't think I have ever enjoyed a piece of toast with an egg to this degree in my entire life.
Another hour passed and I began to have cravings- of Panda Express, (conveniently located just around the corner) of a slice deep dish pizza from Pizza Hut (just one!), or even a stir fry of mixed veggies and rice. The time was late and it would better to take a few swigs of water and go to bed. I could just start tomorrow morning with a fresh smoothie and I'll be halfway there!......................
Then we took a trip to Wall-Mart, and the whole way I was arguing with myself about my need/desire for more food. I never KNEW I was so dependent, almost like an addict. I settled on getting some bread sticks, and they were delicious.
So to sum up- on the first day I had a glorious morning followed by an important learning experience of how not to make a green smoothie. Soon after I actually ENJOYED my first green smoothie, but failed to resist sticking to ONLY green smoothies. I humbly admit that my willpower was defeated by cravings and a very powerful lacking and empty feeling.
For now I am going to leave today's occurrences with today and try again anew. I am not going to create a list of excuses on why I am so behind this green smoothie thing but when it came down to it failed to stick to my own rules. In the end, rules will be broken because we are human and it is all a part of the journey. My journey.
Here's what I DID do:
1. I stalked my fridge with amazing fruits and vegetables that will nourish me.
2. I made my first awful green smoothie, managed to get half of it down, but didn't let it get me down.
3. I made and consumed my first delicious green smoothie!
4. I am open to admitting my failures.
5. I encourage others and share wisdom.
Namaste.
I arrived to my house with an excitement to start the 3-Day Smoothie Challenge that I have been promoting and raving about so earnestly for the last four days. I shoved into the blender some berries and fruits, following the directions I had written to prepare. Then I cut up some ginger and threw them into the mix. I was blindly approaching the methodology in creating this concoction, putting my trust in the knowledge that "it's good for my body" and that "I am committed!" After throwing in a bunch of parsley (too much) and a handful of spinach and using the pulp option to blend them, well, to a pulp, the end result was a chunky, purpley very bitter tasting glassful of what my boyfriend described as a "compost pile."
Now this was my very first green smoothie. I guess I got the fruit to greens ratio wrong because it was a challenge to get down! I gulped half of it until I realized I was being too hard on myself. After all, I had NEVER done this before! I returned to my kitchen, got out my bags of fruit and tried again. This time, I added a LOT of fruit and a handful of spinach. Ahhh... yes, much better! I still tasted the greens, but it was also a pleasure to taste the bananas and strawberries.
Now we're getting to the real challenge. After two hours my stomach started to growl, and when I say growl I mean that it was making this moaning 'how dare you!' announcement that is both uncontrollable and embarrassing. Here is when all of the self-empowering thoughts flooded my mind and I began acting as a cheerleader for myself. Just imagine what three whole days of consuming just green smoothies can do for you Brittney! Don't you want to be at your ultimate health?
Another hour passed by and I could barely stand it. I thought about gulping down another strawberry, banana and spinach smoothie and my body shivered. Then the other half of my brain started to rationalize- what's the difference between drinking a smoothie a day versus a smoothie a day with a meal? So, ladies and gentlemen, you may dub me a hypocrite or judge me as ignorant, but I cooked up one scrambled egg and enjoyed it with a piece of whole-wheat toast. MMmmmmMMM! I don't think I have ever enjoyed a piece of toast with an egg to this degree in my entire life.
Another hour passed and I began to have cravings- of Panda Express, (conveniently located just around the corner) of a slice deep dish pizza from Pizza Hut (just one!), or even a stir fry of mixed veggies and rice. The time was late and it would better to take a few swigs of water and go to bed. I could just start tomorrow morning with a fresh smoothie and I'll be halfway there!......................
Then we took a trip to Wall-Mart, and the whole way I was arguing with myself about my need/desire for more food. I never KNEW I was so dependent, almost like an addict. I settled on getting some bread sticks, and they were delicious.
So to sum up- on the first day I had a glorious morning followed by an important learning experience of how not to make a green smoothie. Soon after I actually ENJOYED my first green smoothie, but failed to resist sticking to ONLY green smoothies. I humbly admit that my willpower was defeated by cravings and a very powerful lacking and empty feeling.
For now I am going to leave today's occurrences with today and try again anew. I am not going to create a list of excuses on why I am so behind this green smoothie thing but when it came down to it failed to stick to my own rules. In the end, rules will be broken because we are human and it is all a part of the journey. My journey.
Here's what I DID do:
1. I stalked my fridge with amazing fruits and vegetables that will nourish me.
2. I made my first awful green smoothie, managed to get half of it down, but didn't let it get me down.
3. I made and consumed my first delicious green smoothie!
4. I am open to admitting my failures.
5. I encourage others and share wisdom.
It's definitely a trial and error. Just keep in mind 60/40 ratio of fruits to vegetables. Coconut water or almond milk is a great thing to add. You can also add raw cacao to sweeten it up a bit. Bananas help a lot with making things sweet. Pineapple too. Spinach and kale are great to add in my the handfuls. Bananas add a lot of flavor and if you are doing only smoothies add calories that you need. Cravings are normal in the first week of smoothies and eating healthier, it's the cleansing process. Start your morning with lemon water too. A glass of water with half of a fresh lemon squeezed in. Don't forget to increase your water intake, add a pinch of pink himalayan sea salt.
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