Green Smoothies

I have been drinking these green smoothies for the past couple of weeks, I won’t lie I did get the inspiration from Miss AmyK. They are wonderful, I have put my own spin on her recipe and I thought I would share.

I don't have exact measurements, I kind of eyeball things.

The Rapscallion loves these, he had no idea there were veggies in it. He does now but still loves the smoothie so much he drinks one every morning with me. This is our usual breakfast (usually I give him a piece of toast with peanut butter or Nutella on it) I will have to share our recipe for Nutella banana’s another day.

Green Smoothies:

1 big handful of fresh spinach (probably around one cup)

1/2 cup of carrots (or a handful or baby, or a small fresh one)

1 medium banana (I freeze them when they start to spot and get brown, so I always use a frozen one just peel, break into pieces and store in a plastic bag in the freezer) bananas make the smoothie creamy, fresh bananas will make the smoothie taste creamier but don’t use ones that are too ripe, they are too starchy and will make the smoothie taste weird.

Berries, this varies according to what is fresh; I use around 5 or 6 medium strawberries or around 1/2 cup of blueberries or 7 blackberries or a combination of any. When fresh berries aren't available (or when I have bought a bunch on sale, I freeze them) I use frozen, around 1/2-3/4 of a cup (Important the berries and the banana hide the vegetables flavors)

Other fruits you could add: mangos, pineapple, grapes, apples (I would peel them and I don’t suggest freezing them) oranges (but fresh squeezed orange juice is probably easier to use in this recipe) watermelon, cantaloupe, kiwi’s, again if you freeze the fruit you get the benefit of making the smoothie cold without watering it down with ice.

1/2-3/4 a cup of liquid, I use almond milk but any juice, milk or coconut water would work also, you just need something to get the whole mixture moving in the blender but don't use plain water it will water down the mixture and taste funny.

2 tablespoons of ground flax seed, I use Bob’s Red Mill Ground Flax Seed Meal.

1/4 - 1/2 cup or organic yogurt (I don't always add this, but it makes the smoothie creamier and the variety of yogurt I use is high in protein) I use Mountain High Original Style Vanilla but they also make a low fat and fat free version.

Blend until smooth, if it is too thick add more liquid, if you can taste the spinach too much add a squirt of honey or agave nectar (I use agave nectar, it is better on your blood sugar and tastes great) you could also add your own "boosters" if you wanted too; powdered vitamin C, protein powder (I would use vanilla) even liquid vitamins but if you are going that route, I suggest using chocolate somewhere in the mix (chocolate milk, chocolate protein powder) I have found that chocolate hides the vitamin taste better.

This recipe makes about 2 smooties, it is enough for me and The Rapscallion to share in the morning or for me to just have for another meal.

Have fun and happy blending!

Brain Fog

I am experiencing brain fog right now, I have started a diet plan from my doctor and as my body gets used to the changes, I am finding that my brain is moving slowly, so slowly, I think molasses moves faster than my brain this morning.

I am allowed to drink caffeine but I am trying to moderate that, today I fell off the wagon and drank 1/2 a rockstar. I can drink coffee with non-dairy creamer and splenda but I am not a huge coffee fan, that is what happens when you worked for a coffee shop and drank your lifetime allotment in 4 months. I also can't stand the smell of coffee grounds and bleach, it is like experiencing a war flashback, I could hide under a desk and cry at the thought of another strung out coffee drinker yelling at me because I didn't drizzle the carmel the way they wanted it into their macchiato.

I digress, so the brain fog, today I felt like I had a white noise machine running in my brain all day. Every time I tried to concentrate on anything the white noise got in the way, I found myself sitting, starring off into space and daydreaming. Daydreaming is something I haven't done since I was quite a bit younger, I physically had to shake my head out of the clouds. It was so hard to get motivated and I remember why I started mainlining caffeine to begin with. I had to take the Rapscallion to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner and I made myself a little promise that if I got up and put on a clean shirt I would reward myself with a sugar-free rockstar (my doctor would like me to limit the amount of diet soft-drinks I consume) I drank half of it when I got home and I started to feel human again. I have the other half in the fridge and like a true addict I will probably drink it tomorrow morning, no matter how flat and terrible it tastes.

Of course since I was experiencing brain fog the Rapscallion woke up at 4:30 a.m. his friends dad had promised to take the boys to a BMX track to watch some of the local guys race. I didn't want to rain on his parade but I haven't seen anyone in this family wake up before 10 in the morning on most days. They are nice people, just not morning people and certainly not up at the butt crack of dawn like Dear Hubby and the Rapscallion. On most mornings the Rapscallion is up at 7, over summer vacation nothing has changed and I have had to restrain him from going to his friends houses to see if they can come out and play until 9:30 in the morning. This morning the Rapscallion was up at 4:30 asking if he could get dressed in case friends "Dad calls, I want to be ready" they were supposed to call at 7:30 if they were going to go and finally at 8 I let him go over to see if they were awake and of course they weren't. He was disappointed but unfortunately the Rapscallion is accustomed to people making promises and backing out on them so he took it in stride. It was a long day, here's hoping tomorrow is better!

Color Me Bad

I am down another 1/2 pound this week, I am not losing weight fast, I hope that means that I will be able to keep it off. Slow and steady...

I thought of the reasons that I have had trouble losing weight, I almost feel like when I take a pound off I uncover another issue that needs to be dealt with. This week I uncovered my propensity to reward myself with food, when things are stressed or I feel slighted, I feel I deserve to eat something unhealthy but tasty. How backwards is that? When I am feeling low I feel like I deserve to eat something that will only continue the cycle.

I need to make a list of things that I enjoy doing that I can reward myself with when I am feeling slighted, because trust me no one feels more slighted in a family than the stepmom. I enjoy reading but that isn't always a reward, for me it is almost a compulsion. I cannot imagine not reading everyday. I enjoy hot baths but my tub takes so long to fill and I get bored so quickly I feel terrible about filling the tub up for only a few minutes. I used to enjoy taking showers in the dark when I was a kid, I guess I just need to get over the obstacle that is dealing with my hair after a shower.

I want to enjoy taking a walk, but I find it hard to get the motivation to go out by myself. I have a bike I could ride but Vegas wasn't designed for bikers and in the area of town I live in... I don't have a death wish. Maybe I should look into getting a coloring book and just color, it is hard to feel bad coloring a picture.

The Elephant in the Room

I have accomplished a few things today that have been hanging over my head like a knife. The most important one frees me significantly and I feel almost giddy about it right now.

The less significant one is that today was my first full day of WW, this is my first time for joining any type of weight loss group outside of a gym. I am skeptical, not of the plan but of myself. I have started so many unfinished projects in my life that thinking about it makes me feel very ashamed. My house is a testament to unfinished art projects and only half finished baskets of laundry (cleaned not put away) I am a procrastinator of royal proportions.

My procrastinating has cause quite a bit of headaches for me in the last few years, even with all of that I am unsure of why I do it and how to stop. My fear with WW is that this will be another unfinished project and I will never live up to the person I know I can be.

Sometimes I wonder if it isn't a self fulfilling cycle of fear. I am afraid to fail so I sabotage things so that I can't "fail" while not realizing that my actions are what is causing me to fail. Of course I would love a wonder pill that could magically make me a better person but that in unrealistic and right now I need to deal in reality.

I know I did not get here overnight and I know it is going to take me a while to dust myself off and get back to where I need and want to be. I guess it is one bite at a time while I eat this elephant.