Do you love smoothies?  Welcome!

Do you dislike smoothies?  Welcome!

I am both of you.  

It’s hard to believe that I didn’t care for smoothies for most of my life, actually up until about a year ago.  There were two main reasons for this:

1. I found most of them to be too sweet, not very healthy, and figured I would rather eat four cookies if I was going to consume a lot of sugar.  
2. I found myself getting hungry about an hour after I drank one
3. Whey protein powder never made me feel great, and that seemed to be the best tasting kind.

All of that changed last year when I started reducing dairy from my diet, working out 5-6 times a week, and made a commitment a few daily changes including a morning post-workout smoothie.  I will honestly say my morning smoothie is one of the most significant changes I’ve made to lose 12 pounds, and I haven’t felt this good since before I was married.

I was turned onto the vegan, naturally sweetened protein powder made by Orgain and I was floored.  This is not an ad, I am just truly in love with this stuff.  It is the best tasting protein I’ve ever had and is dairy free, so no bloating or sluggishness afterward. 

I have rounded up my “Smoothie Essentials”, including Orgain Protein for you in my Amazon Store, which can be found right here.  

I swear by this blender, which is pricey admittedly, but it lasts forever and it is a total workhorse.  I’ve had mine for 10 years and there are no signs it’s slowing down any time soon.  If you want a great new blender, but don’t quite want to spend that, this is another model I recommend that everyone raves about, especially for smoothies and smoothie bowls.

The key to a smoothie that keeps you full for hours is the right combination of fiber, protein, and fat.  You will see that I call for a healthy fat in each smoothie, that is by design, so while it may be tempting to skip it it makes a big difference in how satisfying that smoothie will be.  

“What can I use instead?”

• I call for unsweetened almond milk in most of my smoothies but you can easily swap in water, oat milk, coconut milk or cow’s milk if that’s your preference.
• Swap in raspberries or strawberries for the blueberries in the 
  Blueberry Superfood Smoothie, or swap in peaches or pineapple for the mango in the The BEST Green Smoothie
• If you don’t have avocado, you can use 1 Tablespoon of nut butter in its place, or even 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil or flax seed to get those healthy fats in.

I hope you find something that inspires you in this collection of recipes, and that you come to love smoothies (almost) as much as me!  As always, let me know what you think and be sure to keep sharing your photos with me on Instagram, I love to see your creations!