Are you ready to start feeling as healthy as you were meant to feel? As our children are getting back to regular routines this fall season, why not take this time to start getting back into a healthy routine yourself?
Fall into Feeling Fabulous is a 21-day online program designed to help you get back on track. You will learn how the body thrives when it is properly nourished through wholesome eating and good quality supplementation.
Along with an online education and support community, recipes and tracking tools you will receive a full months supply of the highest rated quality supplements on the market today (AM & PM multivitamins and minerals of pharmaceutical grade), probiotics (dairy-free pharmaceutical grade, to support digestive health), Optomega oil (essential fatty acids ) and gluten/dairy/soy/fructose free meal replacement shakes that you can fit into your program up to twice daily for those rushed on-the-go meals.
This program focuses on healthy eating habits and you will receive healthy meal and snack options that you may incorporate into your daily routine. As always, please contact your health care professional before commencing any nutrition or fitness program. This program is not intended for the use of treatment or diagnosis of health problems or disease. Please consult your doctor or other health care provider for professional care, treatment and diagnosis.
I started making this smoothie after I first read Eat and Run by Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek. As I love kale and other greens so much I started including them, along with my spirulina, in this anti-inflammatory drink. Its light, sweet taste makes it a treat after a run and because it makes so much I usually have 2-3 servings that I can drink throughout the day as well. I am always looking for new smoothie ideas to help recover from my run faster and this is definitely one of my favourites.
Post-Run Smoothie Recipe
2 cups water
1 cup kale
1 banana
½ cup strawberries
½ cup mango
½ cup pinapple
½ cup frozen shelled edamame
¼ cup dried coconut flakes
2 tbsp EFA’s (omega 3’s)
1 tbsp protein powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground tuneric
1 1-inch piece peeled ginger
If you have any healthy smoothie ideas you’d like to share, please send me a message, I’d love to hear from you!
Most of you know that I sometimes tend to go a little overboard with my kids birthdays and other special occasion parties. So coming to a party with a life-sized Candy Land board game running both through the inside and around the outside of my home probably would not seem that unusual to some.
My daughter started her big day with her favourites: vegan chocolate chip banana pancakes, watermelon and apple slices, and her Mama’s Gingerbread Smoothie. But then it all went down hill from there. After the licorice she got ‘stuck’ eating at Licorice Forest, the lollipop she was ‘forced’ to suck on in the Lillipop Woods, snow cone she put back in record time at Snowflake Lake or the cotton candy that King Kandy waved in front of her nose at Candy Castle, its safe to say that my baby girl probably has had her fill of sugary crap that will last until her Sweet Sixteen (which I should probably start planning for now). I mean, this party even had a mini Chocolate Swamp (a.k.a. chocolate fountain, running vegan chocolate of course)! But you only turn 4 once, right? Can’t blame her for going all out, the child thinks she’s hit the jackpot when she is given a cracker! So to be faced with all that not so-healthy yummy goodness, she was in her glory. There was as much fruit and veggies a girl could want, she just chose to only eat the ones dipped in chocolate. In this house we’re all about making our own choices. I guess we have our work cut out for us with this girl. Oh, mother’s guilt will remain for an eternity after this day I’m sure.
My children’s new favourite breakfast drink is Mama’s Gingerbread Smoothie. Well, that’s what I call it to make it fun for them and so they think their Mama is a genius armed with a blender. It’s really just the cinnamon that makes my kids think it’s a special treat. Take a look at the way I usually make mine, (I say usually because I tend to use whatever I have on hand). Experiment with different ingredient add-ins that you enjoy. It’s hard to mess up a smoothie, so change it up if you want to try something a little different. Don’t forget to add a bit of water if it is too thick for your liking.
Mama’s Gingerbread’ Smoothie
1 ½ cups almond milk (or favourite milk of your choice)
1-2 bananas
1 tbsp organic oil blend (my favourite is Usana’s Optomega)
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp black ground chia seeds
Oh yeah, and of course if you can, try to sneak in a cup of kale. They will not even notice, promise. At least mine don’t!
Blend all ingredients on high for at least 1 minute. Enjoy!
Wow! It has been exactly one year today since I made the switch to a strict vegan diet and I have never felt healthier (both physically and mentally). What better way to celebrate than with a healthy treat! The first thing that usually comes to mind for me when I think “treat” is chocolate (I guess that is where my daughter gets it from). I decided to make one of my yummy smoothies. Since I love orange chocolate I decided to blend up the following:
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 banana
2 heaping tablespoons of raw cacao powder
You can add anything else to liven this sucker up, but I was going for simplicity.
So simple, yet so decadent!
Enjoy!
I don’t think its news to anyone when we hear that we should be eating our leafy greens, but why do most of us find it so hard to include them in our daily diet? Beyond the basic salad we sometimes are stumped with how to include them with our meals. Besides tossing up a salad, I almost always throw leafy greens into soups, sauces, and other main dishes.
I’m sure you’ve heard that leafy greens are nutritional powerhouses. Kale is one of my favourites. Including it in our morning smoothie is very simple. It is just one additional opportunity to give my active family the important nutrients needed to stay healthy.
My favourite is to combine kale with fresh oranges (or pineapple) in the blender. I then blend in my extra’s which almost always includes a banana to give it the creamy texture. Depending on your preference, in addition to your fruits/veggies you can add in your EFA oil, ground flax, protein powder, etc. to get the desired blend that you are looking for. Yum, so delish!
If you don’t think a green smoothie sounds very appetizing, trust me and give it a try as you may be pleasantly surprised. I’ve outlined a few of my favourite simple breakfast smoothie recipes below. Kale is listed as the leafy green as it’s my personal preference, but others work just as well. Remember to select organic produce whenever possible (especially the kale)! Use more water if needed to get your desired consistency.
Enjoy!
Apple-Pear Kale Smoothie 2 ripe pears 1 apple 2 cups kale 1-1½ cups water
Orange-Banana Kale Smoothie 2 oranges 1 banana 2 cups kale 1-1½ cups water | Pineapple-Banana Kale Smoothie 1 cup pineapple 1 banana 2 cups kale 1-1½ cups water
Strawberry-Orange-Banana Kale Smoothie 1 cup strawberries 2 oranges 1 banana 2 cups kale 1-1½ cups water |