Smoothies and Why I Love Them

If you're my friend on Facebook.  Or if you follow me on Instagram.  Or if you even follow me on Pinterest.  You have seen the smoothies I've been making.

The Mister and I have been working on changing our eating lifestyle for a while now.  Not that it was terrible, but there is always room for improvement, as with anything.  Not to mention, we always want to teach the kids the difference between right and wrong types of foods and why it is very important to eat healthy and how it helps your body. 
It is very important to us to have a healthy family.  Unfortunately, in today's society there are a lot of processed foods,  boxed dinners, fast foods, and many other unhealthy choices.  Also, one of my goals this year was not to only eat better, but to eat out less and at home more, since we got into a terrible habit of that in 2012.

A few months ago, came across this group on Facebook, called Young and Raw and I "liked" their page.  I "liked" their page because I have heard about the Raw Food diet and I wanted to see what they had to offer as far as recipes were concerned.  I am ALWAYS looking for new recipes to try.   I saw they had a 30-Day Smoothie Challenge.   I figured, "What the heck.  Let's do it." And I signed up. 
This was AWESOME!  They sent out daily recipes for the following day, along with a shopping list for the full 30 days, broken down into 5 day increments so that your produce didn't go bad.  The work was done for you.  You just had to buy the produce and make the smoothie.  Can't get much easier than that!

They told you WHY the food was in that particular smoothie and what the added health benefits were to eating these foods.  My kids were drinking spinach and kale and had NO IDEA.

I have good veggie and fruit eaters anyway, but this was great.  It was yet another way to get more of that veggie & fruit goodness into my kids bodies and also my own.

Now, without going into too much detail and totally grossing you out.  This was also helping out my own health issues. 

As much as I try to create a very well rounded diet, my body just was not getting enough fiber, if you catch my drift.   I've had this "issue" for about 5-6 years now, progressively worse, almost unbearable, in the last 2-3 years.   Needless to say things are much better for me. 



Left: Before -- No I am not pregnant.   No -- I am NOT sticking my tummy out.  Yes -- It is THAT bloated! Yes -- It is painful
Right: After -- On the Smoothies, so, so much better



1) My skin is so much clearer

2) I have more energy (I have never been a coffee or soda drinker)

3) My belly bloat is almost non-existent (When I don't have my smoothie, it is very noticeable, as you can see in the above photo)

4) I even feel more alert

5) I generally FEEL better and healthier, all around

For me, this is not a fad diet.  For me, this is a new way of life.   This is not the only thing I eat.  I love food too much to give it up.  This is something I simply have in addition to my high protein breakfast every morning.

I will post a few of my favorite smoothie recipes to share with you.  What are some of your favorite smoothie recipes?  Have you shared with your kiddos?  Do they just love it?

*This is not a paid endorsement for Young and Raw, just simply sharing with you what I have found & love and what works for me. 

**Please speak with your medical professional before making any changes to your diet, health or exercise program.