Going Green

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have noticed that my obsession with sweets has come to a halt (ok, there was that cinnamon roll pancake for brunch one day). Lately, I’ve been replacing the delicious treats that I used to reach for around 3 pm, with something far healthier—a banana topped with vanilla almond butter or a handful of nuts that I keep at my desk. But, that’s not all. I have also overhauled what I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

My health kick has lasted for a couple of months now, and while I may not have noticed a huge change in my energy levels, I have felt better about making healthier decisions for my body, and that has made me want to stick with the clean eating. Just last Friday, my office had a bagel breakfast and I wasn’t even tempted to cheat and indulge in carbs (that’s progress!). Instead, I sipped my coffee and ate the fruit that I brought in for my after breakfast snack (breakfast was eggs made at home).

Now, my weekends consist of going to the grocery store or farmer’s market for fresh fruits, bringing my lunch to the office, and making sure I have the ingredients on hand for a couple of easy recipes to throw together for dinner (I love making a whole batch of quesadillas that I can freeze and take for lunch or heat up for dinner, if I don’t feel like cooking).

Of course, you may have also noticed that I now have a slight obsession with Real Food, Real People, the local smoothie place near my house. I pretty much love smoothies year-round, but who doesn’t want one when the weather starts to warm up (or suddenly get hot overnight)?

But the one thing I still struggle with, is making sure I get enough green leafy vegetables in my diet. Honestly, I don’t love greens (except, if they are in a salad from Chop’t).

So, in an effort to try to go green(er), I combined my love of smoothies and Real Food, Real People, and ordered an ultimate green smoothie with organic kale, spinach, pineapple, banana, and almond milk. And, can I tell you? I think I may be hooked on this green goodness. It tasted more like a juiced Granny Smith apple than anything that had both kale and spinach in it.

I was very pleased with myself for taking this step to incorporate more greens into my diet. So, if you’re anything like me and on a health kick, but struggling with the veggies, might I suggest trying it in a smoothie first?