Okay, I'm going to need to hit "Restart"

Since this blog has "honest" in the title, I must be honest with you - I failed my smoothie fast. :-( I did really well the first 2 days, but I forgot that my husband had long ago planned a dinner date for us on Saturday (the 2nd day of the fast). First let me say, if FedEx had not messed up and lost my first(!) blender, I would have been done with the fast by Saturday so they get all the blame! Just kidding :-)
Anyway, I will give you some details about the second day because I already knew it would be the worst after watching "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." I was actually okay when I woke up, just a little hungry. It wasn't until I had to drop my son off for his ACT at 8:00 a.m. and attempt to study, that I started feeling a little weak. At that point, I went ahead and made a smoothie, which I posted about in my last entry. Yes, it was awesome, just like I said, but I don't know if it was a combination of all the excitement, having to run errands and attempt to study, but I crashed majorly about 2 hours after my smoothie. At that point I was angry with my kids for needing transportation, I was angry with myself for being in school, I was angry with my professors for assigning assignments, and I was angry with my husband for wanting to go on a date with me!
Later that evening, once I overindulged with appetizers, soup, italian food, and chocolate mousse cake, I was Nice Natalie again. Unfortunately, I knew in my heart that I would be eating regular food the next day. I had utterly failed.
Yesterday, I did make a half-hearted attempt at a breakfast smoothie, but with only half a banana, and no love inserted into the recipe, it fell flat. My son came home from school to catch me with peanut butter on my fingers and an empty cereal bowl in front of me - he later posted on my facebook, "YOU HAVE FAILED!! try again tomorrow!" Thank you son, thank you for your encouragement...
So, since I can't go to class with a smoothie migraine, I will definitely try this fast again, but not until Thursday or Friday. I will let you know how it goes. :-)

SMOOTHIES!!!!

I haven't updated in a while because I've had too many things I want to talk about, but not enough time to figure out what to tackle first! LOL However, today, I could no longer stay silent while I was sipping on this:

I know, it doesn't look like it is so special, but this thing made my day! I haven't even had any coffee today and I'm still happy and awake!

So, let me tell you about my "green" smoothie (or "thickie"). Here is what it looked like before I blended it up:

Ingredients listed from the bottom up (I really didn't measure anything, I just eye-balled it:

4-6 oz. water

2 pitted dates (no sugar added)

1/2 banana

2 small-med. cored apples (I used 1 red delicious & 1 golden delicious)

1 kiwi

1/2-3/4 cup frozen berries (mine had blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, & raspberries

1-1.5 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup spring salad greens

1/2-3/4 cup crushed ice

1/4 cup coconut (I accidentally got the bag from the baking aisle that was sweetened and since I'm trying to avoid extra sugar, I just rinsed it before adding it)

To make it a thickie: 1/2-3/4 cup oatmeal

What set it all off: a pinch of grated fresh ginger root 

O.M.G.!!!

Okay, I realize that I am super-extra excited about drinking a bunch of blended fruit, spinach and oatmeal, but when you're dreading a self-prescribed days-long fast of consuming only these things, it's refreshing to find something that makes you say "Mmmmmm!" :-) Today's smoothie did that for me. 

Yesterday was my first day and I also did 2 batches of smoothies. The first one was excellent, but I put half an orange in it and did not realize until I was drinking the rest of the pitcher for lunch, that if you make a smoothie with citrus fruit, DO NOT LET IT SIT FOR 30 MINUTES OR MORE!! I had poured what was left from the pitcher into a glass and refrigerated it, thinking I would come back later to enjoy the great tastes I had created before, but it was SO BITTER! You know how when you were a kid and you knew you shouldn't eat the orange peel because everyone had told you not to? Did you try to taste it just one time anyway? I mean, it's such a beautiful color and it tears easily, so you know you can bite it. Well, if you're one of those kids who tried it, you know what my leftover-from-breakfast lunch smoothie tasted like.  :-/ Oh well, lesson learned. I still tried to doctor it up and I did finish it b/c I didn't want to waste all of that stuff. I will definitely put oranges and/or lemons/lemon juice in my smoothies in the future, but I will only do it if I'm making a small batch, or if I have enough people to share it with. :-) 

Well, that's my two cents added to the green smoothie movement. I will definitely add more info, because I think this is something everyone should try. I'm looking forward to having more energy, fitting back into my jeans :-), and developing a greater appreciation for fresh fruits and veggies.

Cheers!