It’s Monday friends!  I hope you had a marvelous weekend.  They always fly by so fast though don’t you think?  Do you have plans to make it a great week?   

I thought I’d start today’s post with a FitFeature about green smoothies (blended salads).

I started making these drinks on an almost daily basis about 5 months ago.  I was working with an acupuncturist on some issues I had with my breathing, insomnia and some pretty disturbing digestion.  He gave me a printed page to take home that had some foods I should look to avoid and those that I should add in addition to the acupuncture sessions.  Being the total nut that I am about nutrition this sent me into a frenzy of further research into Traditional Chinese Medicine and its approach to food and healing.  Which also led me to the acid/alkaline balance topic.  WOW, was this eye opening.  It completely rocked my entire nutrition foundation off its blocks!  Almost everything I ate in my standard “fitness diet” was highly acidic (which I’ll touch on further in future posts).  Of course when I began reading about all the ill-effects of keeping the body in an acidic state, I started making a lot of changes.  One of the first was adding more fruits and veggies daily. 

Now fruits I had no trouble with. I loved eating fruit as a snack. But veggies are something I have had a hard time incorporating when I’m eating at home.  I’d buy them with the intention of using them, but often I’d be tossing bad veggies into the trash after they sat in the fridge too long.  Then I remembered reading about “blended salads” in a book by Ann Louise Gittleman and thought “hmmm, maybe if I try to DRINK my veggies, I can get them ‘out of the way’ in one fell swoop”.  The version I make now differs a bit from hers, but it was definitely my inspiration.  I figured people would think I was crazy, but lo and behold I came to find that there are books and websites dedicated to these concoctions! 

In one green smoothie I get so many nutrients – it would take me forever to CHEW all of the foods I usually put in one drink.  Usually I put in 8 oz water, half of a large cucumber, a couple handfuls of spinach, romaine leaves, alfalfa sprouts, carrots, and celery.  Then I add in a bit of fruit to sweeten the flavor, and sometimes some flaxseed oil if I’m not getting my EFAs for the day elsewhere.

If you are finding it hard to get your veggies in, or if you’d like to boost your nutrient intake even further, I encourage you to give it a try.  Replace one meal or snack of the day – I like to have mine in the morning right after I exercise when my body is thirsty for all those vitamins and minerals. Happy Blending!

Here’s my Sunday recap of Feats and Eats:

Exercise was minimal because we were feeling SUPER-LAZY on this overcast Sunday:  a 45 minute walk with the dogs.  It was also laundry day, so at least I also get a lot of ‘stair-climbing’ running from the basement to the second floor and back

Breakfast:  decaf coffee and 1 slice of Ezekial toast with raw organic almond butter and raw honey.  I only made one piece today since yesterday I couldn’t eat the second slice.  Today’s mug is from a Starbucks in Madrid that my friend Beth brought back for me from Spain (thanks Beth!)

Midmorning Snack: a piece of leftover organic pizza from yesterday’s trip to zpizza and a small side salad (spinach, arugula, pepitas, sundried tomatoes, dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and balsamic vinegar):

Lunch was a “tuna salad wrap” (half pouch of tuna, bit of light mayo, chopped celery, chopped sweet pickle, seated on a romaine leat to use as the wrap) plus a hefty side salad (spinach, arugula, hard-boiled egg, nutritional yeast, cilantro, Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette).  Note to self – do NOT put fresh cilantro on my salads again.  That was a mistake!!  I love cilantro but apparently not as a leafy green!

It’s just not a complete day without a little bit of chocolate:

Mid-Afternoon Snack:  Larabar (Banana Bread flavor) with decaf green tea (with a BRONCOS mug in honor of the game for Sunday night):

And then dinner during the Broncos/Bears pre-season game had to be Chipotle (this is MSP’s favorite place to eat).  I had half of a veggie bowl (rice, black beans, two salsas, plop of guac and some Baked Tostitos Scoops on the side):

Well friends, I am heading downstairs to the gym to get my weight workout done and then on to my list of Monday goals to accomplish!  See you tomorrow! 

–Shari B.  =)

Tags: Acid/Alkaline Balance, Blended Salad, FitFeature, Green Smoothie