Small Potatoes: Smoothie Sailing

My local store now has organic baby kale. I ventured out yesterday to grab some greens for my lunchtime smoothie, and as soon as I saw it, I had to have it. I think it's the same way normal women react when they see shoes or a handbag. It's got all the spiciness of grown-up kale, but concentrated in miniature leaves with - get this - edible stems! No more stripping the leaves off before putting them in my NutriBullet!

Speaking of kale, check out this list of Kale Smoothies You Actually Want to Drink. In my experience, the key is a delicate balance of greens and fruit, and if the ratio is off in favor of the greens, it can indeed be a bit difficult to stomach - but telling myself that it's packed with pretty much all things healthy makes it much more palatable.

I love my daily NutriBlast - it's a vitamin-packed nutrition powerhouse. Since I'm currently limited in my exercise options, calorie restriction is the best way for me to ensure weight loss and, in turn, a healthier back. Since I can't take in as many calories, I aim to make sure that the calories I do take in are going to give my body what it needs. It's a very simplistic way of thinking, actually.

That being said, in no way am I depriving myself! One of my favorite indulgent NutriBlasts is a chocolate peanut butter smoothie. I like to "treat" myself to one on Friday mornings - like a pat on
the back for making it through another work week.

I use SparkPeople to keep track of my calorie intake - that way I make sure that I don't restrict too much - as much as I know that significant weight loss will help my back, I need to lose weight at a healthy rate. Besides, I love food way too much to put myself through a crash diet. Crash being the operative word.

SparkPeople has a nice feature - once you set a weight loss goal and time frame, you can track your weight loss and run reports - the graph has two lines: one if your actual weight, the other is where you need to be in order to reach your goal by the deadline. It's a nice motivator.

If you're looking for a local blogger with some great smoothie recipes, check out My Soup For You. She often posts about healthy smoothies she makes for herself, along with all sorts of other culinary goodies. Go see for yourself!

Blend well.

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