I’ve been eating horribly the last few weeks, which is about how long I’ve been in school. I’m sure these two things are connected. When stressed, I go toward the familiar foods, and I’ve been eating loads and loads of high-fat carbs, chicken (ugh), and sugar. I’ve gained three pounds. I can feel it around my middle, which disturbs me; easily 75% of my excess fat is the stress fat that hovers around the internal organs, the kind that is supposed to be extra-unfriendly to longevity.
Tonight’s remedy: a green smoothie before bed. Specifically about 32 ounces. I began to notice this “medicinal” effect of green smoothies after I’d been drinking them for awhile and then tapered off. I’d start to feel worn down, overwhelmed, and my body would feel achey and slow. If I made a green smoothie before bed and drank a ton of it right before I went to sleep, I woke up feeling like someone sprayed me down with Awesome.
Another benefit is that it seems to calm whatever sugar cravings I’m having. The trick here, when beginning to realize you’ve had a nutritionally bankrupt period, is to actually go make the smoothie, which means getting oneself out of whatever carb and stress-induced torpor you’ve managed to roll yourself into. Often this involves a trip to the store for fresh kale and fruit, which can feel like oh such a burden when you’re already swamped with plays to read, notes to go over, and homework to make sure your first grader does. In the larger scheme of things, these are small problems, but in the moment they can feel like more than enough to send you back to the couch with your Chips Ahoy and your remote control. Just one more cookie won’t hurt, will it?
But I try to remind myself it’s well worth it. If there were a pill they could make that made me feel this good, the side effects would likely be as ridiculous as the cost, and I’m sure I’d stand in line to get it. Green smoothies are available at any grocery store for maybe $2.50 per quart, and are, in my opinion, nothing less than nutritional magic. The one sitting next to me is half of the following recipe:
Recovery Smoothie
2/3rds a head of kale (usually I use half, but tonight I was feeling green)
2 small satsumas
2 T flax oil
2 T lemon juice
2 pears, one very ripe, one still pretty firm
IT TASTES DELICIOUS. I am not kidding. I know people find this blog and they read “green smoothie”, and say to themselves CUCKOO!, but I’m telling you, it’s fantastic. I’ll drink an entire 32 oz jar before I fall asleep, and then let it work its magic. In the morning, before I go to school, I’ll try to drink the remaining jar, or most of it.
Now if I could just get back to drinking them every day, I might end up like Clent.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What does it taste like? I mean, what comes through the strongest: the pears? the oranges? the kale? Interested…
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I think the strongest flavor is the pears and oranges. To me it just tastes like “vague pear-ish fruit smoothie”, by which I mean, were I blind and unable to see that it’s VERY VERY GREEN, and someone put the cup to my lips, I’d think that was what I was tasting. Sometimes I have tons of kale and very little fruit, and the taste is quite green, like “pear juice with a background of lawn clippings”.
I try to avoid that, although in reality I think my taste buds have become so used to kale that it’s possible some of my shakes may have that flavor to others, while tasting completely fruity to me.
Heh, that’s where I do most of my writing as a rule. :-)
I actually really like kale and most greens, but I’m on the lookout for ways to get the kids eating more veggies. They won’t touch it if it “tastes like leaves,” but if I can make it fruity, I might stand a chance. Maybe. If I put it in an opaque cup. :-D
Yeah, Beth actually really likes the green smoothies, but Miles doesn’t like them because of the color. :\ The opaque cup, maybe one of those with a lid and colored straw, might be the way to go.
That’s so great that Beth drinks the green smoothies! Way to start her off right.
If I, like, go insane and start thinking I should drink a green smoothie… do I need a blender? Or a vita-mix? Cos all I have is a cuisinart.
I cannot believe I am seriously thinking about buying pears and kale tomorrow. I blame you, Hollie. You are a bad influence. Dude.
Tell me it won’t work in the cuisinart. Tell me to buy mint ice cream instead and make a smoothie with that, some milk, and a little creme de menthe. It would be green.
You do need a blender. I honestly don’t know if you need a Vita-Mix or not. I’ve heard some people say they can’t get their kale to really liquify all the way with a regular blender, and a Cuisinart may not get it un-chunked all the way, but who knows? These are random intertube people, and you are you, so give it a shot with whatever you got. Report back here, because I’m curious.
Your alternative green smoothie, while sounding delicious, would probably knock me over and then send me to the bathroom for a few hours, so while I would LOVE to tell you it’s the same thing, it really isn’t. But I think after you’ve had a few green smoothies and you can feel that healthy glow, you should try drinking the ice-cream green smoothie just to feel the difference.
Tasha – THANKS! She actually had some of mine this morning and made this hilarious face screwed-up ‘gross’ face (I think it had gotten a little bitter overnight), and then announced, “Yummy Mommy!”
I told her she rocked. I also taught her how to say, “SHOW ME THE MONEY”, today, when Greg was trying to explain to Miles how he could earn money through doing chores.
I used to do mine in a blender. It wasn’t as smooth as the ones made in the Vita-Mix but still quite drinkable.
Llyra and I tried to do it in the food processor once. It was epic fail.
Okay, I have a stupid question, and I hope you don’t take offense, but this is a curiosity thing…do you eat food that is, uh, I don’t know how to put this…”just halfway healthy”? (Sorry, I am clearly not the writer that you are)
What I mean is, I get the impression that you either eat whole-natural-super-good-for-you-all-your-nutritional-bases-covered-no-guilt-required foods, or succumb to “bad food” (or what you think of as such, I am a chips ahoy fan myself–the crispy kind, that is).
This could simply be a reflection of what is interesting to write or read about, or probably a mirror of my own food obsessions. (I’ve been giving some thought to this lately, as I’ve noticed that when I tend to divide food into “good” and “bad” camps, I can’t stop thinking about the “bad” foods. Moderation and flexible restraint are difficult things for me to incorporate with my otherwise obsessive compulsive tendencies.)
Just a thought. But you did get me thinking about kale, so I’ll work that into supper somehow.
If not a VitaMix (and it won’t be, anytime soon) which blender is best? I recently bought another Waring, but it’s emitting an electrical smell so I’m going to take it back.
I bought a Vita-Mix 5200 a couple of months ago and have a green smoothie every morning for breakfast. They taste great and are SO healthy! The cost of this machine is $450.00 but is worth every penny!!! MUCH better than even the “professional” blenders.