Green Smooth Challenge - Part 2

I've had a few questions that I wanted to address as well as mention a couple of things I didn't in my previous post.

Chew Your Liquids and Drink Your Solids

You might be thinking "What? Yes, she has indeed lost it!", but alas, I have more info to share. When you chew your food really well and mix it with saliva, it starts to breakdown the cell walls of all that raw yumminess and therefore your body can absorb the nutrition and digest it easier. So, make sure you kind of "chew" your smoothie before swallowing it down. I'm not talking using your green smoothie as mouthwash, just a little "chew" then swallow. Don't forget to chew all of your other food really well.

Onto Green Smoothies and Off of Stimulants

I've already talked about the exuberant amount of money that Starbucks has gotten from me in the past, so I don't need to go into that again. Instead, when Big P changed his schedule, we started making coffee at home - "to save money". Ha! We threw our health out the window and soon we were both extremely addicted. I would have 2 large mugs every morning - which was around four 6 oz. cups of coffee! Did you know that you can get addicted with as little as one 6 oz. cup of coffee each morning or two to three 12 oz. cokes (a coke being any carbonated beverage!)?

I decided to ditch the coffee and get onto green smoothies and the last three days have been difficult, which just went to show me how addicted coffee could really be. The first day was okay, the second I spent most of the day "foggy brained", and the third (today) I ended up with a migraine. Big P found some Excedrin Migraine in the cabinet, which I happily took instead of using one of my $75 shots, only to find out that Excedrin Migraine has some caffeine in it. Gee! Big P decided to ditch coffee with me and he has had headaches the last 3 days. We think the end is in sight, though!

This should be an encouragement for you to try the principle of replacement and get onto green smoothies and off stimulants. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are for coffee, but after a coke your immune system is compromised for a complete 30 minutes. In our family, it takes a good week for everyone to get over something once it gets started, so I'm putting my foot down and saying that I will not purchase soft drinks any longer. They were never really a thing for me. I have told my children that if we are at something special, they can make their own decision on those things, but they may end up sick. I'll still nurture them and take care of them, because I'm a mama and that's what I do. :)

Doesn't It Taste Horrible?

To this I will say a big, hearty "NO!!". You can easily make going to green smoothies a easy transition for everyone by adding more fruit than greens. Mixed berries will make a purple smoothie instead of a green one. With a banana, you will have a creamy texture, which we are finding very yummy. You'll want to eventually get to 50/50 on both greens and fruit, but don't push it. Stick with very neutral flavors of greens. Spinach is a great choice and you can get a 2.5 lb. bag of it at Costco for $4.29. That's a whole lot of spinach! You can freeze it, too. It won't make a good salad, but it will be perfect for smoothies. Costco has a large bag of mixed berries, too. It has a very yummy fruit flavor. You'll be shocked at how good it is! And don't forget the power of a opaque cup with a lid!

When Does the Challenge Start?

TODAY! October 1st! Robyn of Green Smoothie Girl recommends a quart of green smoothie per day for adults. She serves her children 1 pint each in the afternoon when they get home from school, before they have another healthy snack. Right now I'm drinking 1 quart and Big P asked me to bump him up from 1 pint to 1 quart, today! Woohoo! I'm going to start my big kids out at 1 cup each and the littles one at 1/2 a cup and slowly increase to 1 pint for the bigs and 1 cup for the littles before breakfast. "Gotta drink your green smoothie before you have some of the yummy ______ (whole wheat pancakes, banana nut muffins, apple oatmeal, etc.) mama made for breakfast!" :)

Water, Water, Water

Drink it! Plain and simple! Half your body weight in ounces, each day. Don't gulp it, sip it. Your body can handle 1 cup every hour and if you don't drink it all at once, your body will use it and you won't be sending most of it into the septic tank. It's pertinent to helping your body flush those toxins.

Doctor Recommends Green Smoothies

I heard from a friend today that she has meningitis, which started as West Nile Virus. Because it is viral, there isn't a whole lot that her doctor can do for her right now. He suggested prayer, rest, and nothing but green smoothies. She needs nutrient dense foods right to flush her system and clean her blood. What does that tell you?!

I can't wait to hear from those of you who are doing this! Come on! You can do it! It only takes 21 days to make a habit and a green smoothie is something you can take anywhere.

As a bonus, I will tell you that quart sized jars don't fit well into car cup holders and you might end up with green smoothie running down your console and your husband and oldest son outside helping you clean it all up - so that you can go to Costco and buy more spinach for your green smoothies. A lidded container that fits in your cup holder is best for green smoothies!