Eat Your Greens!

My most recent stop on the journey to healthful eating is this great little book called "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It has really changed the way I think about food. I read it before Christmas and told Josh that I would love to adjust our eating to fit the plan as soon as the holidays were behind us. He, of course, said "yes" thinking that I would get over it by then. Little did he know... (Stranger Than Fiction, anyone?) I finally convinced him to read it this last month, and now he is all about it! It's great to have him on board with it. He is so good at making healthy changes when he's convinced.

We really started wholeheartedly, although not 100% on the diet, this week. We've both lost a little over 2 pounds in only a few days! It's crazy! I think the small changes I had made before this week were what kept me from putting on a bunch of weight during all the holiday festivities and the emotional ups and downs of postpartum. This book is also what started me on a path toward vegetarianism, or what Dr. Fuhrman calls "nutritarianism". Basically it means eating food that is nutrient-rich instead of empty calories.

I've decided that my health and the health of my family is important enough for me to learn to eat veggies. So here we are. When I started this blog it was because of this journey from "meat and potatoes to leeks and tomatoes"! I literally had never tasted a leek when I wrote that...not very long ago I might add.

Over this last week of wholehearted healthful eating I've been more in experiment mode than anything. I am trying to figure out which recipes I love and which I could live without. Also, I have been trying to figure out how to make everything as tasty as possible using only high-nutirent foods. Many of Dr. Fuhrman's recipes are quite good as they are, but I don't know if I could have or would have enjoyed them if I had not been adapting my taste buds over the last few years.

Well, this first recipe is straight from the book. I had avoided it because it seemed scary to me. I mean "Eat Your Greens Smoothie" just sounds like a trick you play on someone to make something healthy seem like something fun. It kind of is. But in the most surprisingly delicious way! I made it yesterday because I was having weird cravings and I was trying to avoid eating an entire bag of chocolate...chips...the Costco size one. Yeah. Anyway, I was a little intimidated by all the spinach that was going into my blender. The other ingredients didn't seem so bad though. I hoped they would make up for all the greens. And they did!

So here it is. Do give it a try. Don't be afraid of all the good-for-you stuff.

Eat Your Greens Smoothie (1/2 the recipe for 1 serving)
2.5 oz (Baby) Spinach - if you don't have a food scale just take two really huge handfuls
1/2 large Banana
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries
1/4 cup Pomegranate Juice - this adds a lot of flavor to smoothies and is super good for you! It's worth a little extra dinero.
1/4 cup Vanilla Soy Milk (or Almond milk)
1/2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed

Throw it all into the blender and blend away. You may have to stop and mix it up a bit and get it all blended. Pour it into a glass and drink up!

I know it looks gross, but it is really good, I promise! Give it a try and let me know what you think. This is more spinach than I thought I would ever eat in a day, let alone a smoothie! I am so healthy!