Days 3 and 4: The First Weekend

Maybe things are going well because the only change I made to my diet is an addition. To be honest, my usual attempts at health involve me eliminating things like sugar, starches, or things that taste good. I'm definitely in unchartered territory.

I already notice an improvement in my skin, which has me very happy. I am also experiencing more energy and less stomach pains. Over all, the last four days have been great. The smoothies are also tasty, believe it or not. Tasty, not delicious. But, hey, they're blended greens. Isn't tasty already better than you expected? It is for me! I have a feeling they are going to get tastier the more I drink. Last night I went to bed looking forward to my smoothie in the morning. I know. I couldn't believe it, either.

Saturday's smoothie was a bit of a bust. It was predominately blueberries, and I'm not a fan. Raw blueberries are tolerable, but blueberry drinks or muffins or baked goods just don't appeal to me. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I live in California. By the time blueberries get to me they are usually mushy and moldy. But, they're such a powerhouse of antioxidants that I decided to give it a shot. Meh. All I could taste was blueberry. Mikey loved it, although he was disappointed the smoothie was not green.

Blueberry Smoothie

• 1 small bag frozen blueberries
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 TB coconut oil
• 1 TB Agave
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 cups water

All of this went into the blender and processed until smooth.

Today's smoothie was probably my favorite so far. It was very...fresh tasting. I had to really up the agave to make this smoothie mildly sweet. I can't describe why I liked it so much, but I suppose I liked the clean taste. It had mangoes, parsley, and agave. I hate mangoes, but three of them were in there (the recipe called for two). They are just such a bland fruit. Blech. By increasing the mangoes the recipe produced almost 4 cups, so be careful if you don't have anyone with whom to share a smoothie.

I'll be honest, Mikey didn't like this one at all. He tried a few big sips, but couldn't get past the peppery taste. Today was the first day since Thursday that he didn't have a smoothie and I really noticed a difference in his behavior. Lots of temper tantrums, whining, and complaining. He also crashed and burned around 10:00am, even after a huge breakfast of fruit and two bowls of cereal. I definitely think the smoothies keep him satiated longer.

Mango/Parsley Smoothie

• 1 bunch parsley
• 3 mangoes (two fresh, one frozen)
• 2 cups water
• crapload of Agave (OK, maybe 3 TBs)

Blend everything until smooth. Next time I am going to try this with pineapple. I'm also going to add coconut butter or oil. The addition of fat helps increase satiety.

OK, boring post over!