After I watched that movie, I realize how neglected my body has been with nutritious fruits and vegetables. I wasn't getting NEARLY enough of the servings that my body required. I always felt sick. I would eat certain foods and my stomach would ache. I realized that I needed to LOAD my body with the proper nutrients in order to make it healthy.... not just to lose the weight that I wanted and needed.
Some tips with juicing. I did the 10 day fast of JUST juice and I would eat raw fruits and veggies to munch on. It gets a little expensive (having to buy the fresh produce), but it was the little detox that my body needed to help jump start my health.
1 cup of spinach juiced = only about 1 tbs of juice. So when I juice, I tend to only do really juicy, citrus, or fruits that give off a ton of pulp. Spinach, bananas, and berries (like blue berries) are really good to throw in a blender. That way you get all of the fiber and nutrients that you need, and you don't lose them in the pulp of juicing (the gunk that you throw away after you make a juice)
If blended well, you don't even taste the spinach in your smoothie
Non-fat Greek Yogurt is perfect with ice and thrown in a blender with spinach. It is a high source of protein and 0 grams of fat. When I add like 1/2 of a cup to 1 cup of the yogurt in 1 smoothie- I am giving my smoothie about 15 grams of protein with 0 the fat (which is so helpful in weightloss). I am also giving my body probiotics to help with my tummy and getting a good little serving of dairy in the process
Agave nectar is amazing! It is 0 calorie and super sweet. It almost tastes like honey, but has less carbs. I drizzle about 1 TBS of this in my blender with the yogurt, spinach, banana, ice and anything else that I decide to throw in. It really helps sweeten dull fruits (like strawberries), but you don't have to use a ton (because banana's are naturally sweet as well)
Make a big batch and pour it in a pitcher! Then you can refill your glass all day! I usually make a pitcher full of smoothie and have 1-2 smoothies the first day, and 1-2 the next (that way you aren't constantly cleaning out your juicer and blender... trust me.... it gets annoying. The juice only stays good 2 days, but 3 days I notice a difference in taste
When juicing, remove the rinds and cores... it will mess up your juicer or blender (especially citrus)
Since almost all fruits and veggies are 0 points on Weight Watchers (which is what I am following my daily points online), my smoothies are usually 0-2 points at the most. 2 points usually account for the non-fat greek yogurt that I add. But when I drink that 1/2 to 1 cup of greek yogurt over 3-4 smoothies, it really ends up being only 1/2 of a point or 1 point... I tend to round up because I would rather be safe than sorry
When you juice, you only get a portion of the fiber. This is a huge complaint with juicing, you are not getting enough of the good fiber and nutrients that you lose in the pulp. That is why I only juice certain things. I add with fresh fruit to a blender in order to really superload my smoothies with fiber and nutrition. With every non-juice/smoothie meal that I have, I make sure that my meals consist of about 5 oz of a lean protein and the rest of my plate is filled with veggies (preferably raw veggies, that way the good stuff doesn't get lost with the cooking and heating of the veggies). I also "snack" on fruits for the day (grapes, apple slices, little cuties, oranges) and other snacks that I love are raw carrots with hummus and natural almonds or pistachios. I try to eat every 2-3 hours.
Example- here is a juice to smoothie that I would make (This is one of my favorites)
Hawaiian Deight!
for the juicer-
1/3-1/2 of a pineapple (depending on the size)
2 apples
2 mangoes (mangoes are hard to cut, they have a hard center.... i shave the fresh flesh off little
by little in slices
in the blender-
1 1/2 cups of fresh spinach
ice
1 tbs agave'
1 banana
1/2 to 1 cup of low fat coconut milk (this only ends up being 1 point on ww and I love the coconut flavoring)
1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
Juice your juice, add it to the solid items in the blender and blend until the chunks of spinach really really small or non-existent.
Drink and enjoy!
A Berry Good Smoothie
Juice-
2 apples
2 green apples
2 oranges
Blender-
Ice
1 cup nonfat greek yogurt
1 cup strawberries (frozen are ok)
1 small container of blueberries or blackberries or both!
1 cup (give or take) of spinach
1 banana
1 Tbs of Agave nectar
make the juice and blend it with the solids in the blender
Grapefruity Green-
Juice
1 large grapefruit
2 oranges
2 apples
(optional)half of a container of blackberries
Blender
1 banana
1 cup of spinach (or you can do a bit more... this is atelast a cup)
ice
1 tbs agave nectar (grapefruits are a little sour and sometimes the smoothie needs a bit more to help it out- so you can add a little bit more agave if you arent a huge fan of tart)
(optional) the other half of the blackberry container... it has a lot of seeds so it can get annoying... you can do any berry if you want
Veggie loaded but still fruity
Juice-
1 cup of kale
3 carrots
3 apples
3 oranges
1 stalk of celery
Blender
Ice
1 Tbs of agave nectar
1 cup of spinach (atleast, if not more)
1 banana
1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt
notice a trend? I tend to juice apples and oranges (because they are good for you and very juicy and sweet) but then I add spinach, yogurt, a banana and agave to every smoothie. Banana's are high in natural fructose. They are good for you because they have fiber, and they are 0 points on WW, but they are still a very "high calorie" fruit. When you blend 1 in a smoothie, you only end up having half of the banana for the day, and the other half in your smoothies the next day. Don't stress about the calories in a banana.... you wont eat enough to really hurt you.... plus, it is a sweet and strong enough flavor that it distracts from the spinach but compliments citrus and berries.
