Jen Bear Baldwin: Going Green Day 3

Well, it's early yet, but I always feel really good about this challenge in the morning. It's night time that's the bummer. I always weigh myself as soon as I wake up on my wii fit plus. This morning I weighed in at 147 lbs. That's 3 1/2 pounds in 2 days. I was overweight so it's not surprising that those extra pounds are dropping off fast. I just need to maintain the plan when I start to plateau. It is highly encouraging to wake up every morning and see the pounds melt away. I also noticed that I look better today. I feel like I'm shrinking where I want to shrink. The other wonderful thing I have noticed is that I have no gas or digestive problems. I used to joke and say I was going to give birth to a gas bubble baby because usually I don't digest food well. I know dairy kills me and I am starting to wonder about Gluten. Lately it seemed like everything I ate gave me my gas baby and I look pregnant. I can't suck in my tummy and I feel bloated and in pain and I hate how I look and feel. Is any meal worth that? Honestly, sometimes it probably is, but on the other hand the pleasure of food is so short lived. I give in A LOT and after I am done stuffing my face I have nothing to show for it but the negative impact on my poor body.

This is forcing me to face my emotional dependence on food. When I just flat out can't have things, particularly at night I whine and feel miserable, but then I go to bed (peacefully because my tummy doesn't hurt) and wake up and feel excited to weigh myself. Then my morning is wonderful and I am so glad I didn't give in the night before. I just need to remember that morning feeling at night when I am resisting temptation. So hard. I also discovered the the "Raw Divas" do not know how to write recipes. Oh they're healthy alright, but they have no sense of flavor. I just read through their 21 days of recipes and there is no freaking way. I tried their "Tomato Soup" last night. It was literally tomatoes, celery, and some lime juice in a blender, and I was supposed to eat it cold. I don't like tomatoes or celery and it smelled and looked so gross I would not eat it. Waste not though. I put it in a pitcher in the fridge and poured some into my smoothie this morning where I can get all the health benefits and none of the nasty taste. Green Smoothie Girl is MUCH better at giving recipes you actually want to eat. You don't have to eat gross to be healthy for heavens sake.

My Green Smoothies usually consist of... (with rough calorie estimates, not exact, but close)
-1 cup of water (or a little more to help it blend) - zero calories
-1 Scoop of organic chia seed (let it soak in the water) I got mine in the health section of smiths in a big plactic jar thingy. - 80 calories
-1/2 cup vanilla or regular coconut milk (it is important to get healthy fats and it makes it more filling) - 50 calories
-1 scoop of protein powder (I am planning to buy the good plant based kind soon, I just need to order it). Again, this helps fill me up more, and I work out every day. I don't always use it though. Not needed. 100 calories
-1 TBLS of Flax Seed Oil (if I remember, it is very good for you though) - 100 calories
- 3-4 cups of Greens (spinach is a really mild flavor and the best for you. I buy the costco organic mixed greens and baby spinach, pre washed, no prep work. Sometimes I buy kale, mustard greens, chard, etc and throw in a few leaves) - 20-30 calories
-1 banana (these really help with flavor) - I chop and freeze them, grab from the bag) - 105 calories
-1 wedge of lemon raw with peel - 5 calories (I just chop a whole bunch and freeze them, so i just take one from the bag)
-1 package of emergen-c. I prefer the berry ones. The citrus ones are too strong.

Some fruit variation. I just add enough to fill the blender and make it taste good. Here are some I use alot
-1 cup (or 1/2 cup) Mixed berries. I buy the Kirkland triple berry bag at costco - 70 calories for 1 cup
-1 cup of strawberries. Strawberries are my favorite. I buy the big frozen costco bag, but sometimes I use fresh ones if they are about to go bad. it's nice because you don't have to take the greens off. - 80 calories
-1 Apple - 90 calories
-Frozen bag of mixed tropical fruit at Costco
It doesn't really matter, just add what makes it taste good to you. Berries are a low glycemic fruit and low in calories and strong in flavor so they are my favorite. Plus they make the smoothie purple instead of green. It doesn't really matter though.

Just make sure to get some variety in your greens and your fruit. I never measure it I just toss handfuls in.

That was a lot of writing, but these are SUPER easy to make. Especially when you chop and freeze lemons and bananas, and even apples. Costco is a blessing with their huge bags of frozen fruit and prewashed, organic greens. I have a Bosche blender I do all this in. It works just fine. I dream of having a Blentec, but I can still do this without one. Super cheap Wal Mart blender are tough though. My aunt uses one and her smoothies are Gross because it doesn't blend the greens very well so it is chunkier. Still possible to drink, but not as good. I have zero meal planning time and I only need to blend 1-2 times per day because one session makes 2-3 meals. Sometimes I will do several blender fulls at once while everything is out and just store the "meals" for a day or two.

As you can see I use a lot and a blender full can be from around 400-650 calories. If you are worried about calories use less to no banana, flax oil, and protein powder as those are the high tickets items. They are good calories though if you need them. Also, One blender full gives me 2-3 meals. So even worst case scenario you are looking at 325 calories per meal, which is pretty good. Especially since they are all highly useful and digestible calories your body will love.