Lately I’ve been putting a lot of thought into my daily habits – what I do, eat, drink and how I spend my time on a day-to-day basis. As humans, we are often drawn to repeat our choices until it becomes an automatic habit…so why not make the conscious decision to predetermine what your daily habits are, in order to achieve what you want out of life?
When you really think about it, our habits determine so much…
- Our health: how strong, lean and energetic our bodies are
- Our finances: how much security we have
- Our relationships: how connected we are
- Our mentality: how much happiness we feel
The great thing about a habit is that it becomes automatic, so when we set into place healthy habits, our long term goals slowly and steadily become today’s reality.
One of my favorite habits is drinking a freshly squeezed or blended green drink each and every day. I can directly link my energy levels, mental clarity and feeling of well being to this daily downing of greens. Since I’ve grown accustomed to consuming a heaping amount of dark greens every day, my body now craves it.
So what is the big deal about greens? Why should you pick up this habit? Here are some of the reasons that greens are so powerful:
- Dark leafy greens are rich in the essential minerals and vitamins recommended by the USDA — including protein.
- Chimpanzees, the closest creature to humans, consume a diet that is 40% greens.
- Consuming greens on a daily basis has a healthy, glowing effect on my skin. Must be all of those vitamins and minerals…
- A daily, heaping serving of greens does wonders for keeping your digestive system efficient and consistent.
- Greens provide a boost of natural energy that is not rivaled by caffeine or energy drinks. It’s nature’s energy drink!
- After a green drink you’re WAY less likely to reach for a piece of junk food. You won’t want to lose the healthy buzzing in your cells.
Here’s the recipe for my current favorite green drink, and below are links to other tasty green drink recipes…
- 5 cups spinach
- 4 cups kale
- 2 green apples
- 3 large carrots
- large piece of ginger root
- Wash all of the produce and run through a juicer. Mix well and serve over ice with a straw. Drink it immediately. Enjoy!
Also try these tasty green drinks:
New Beginnings Cleansing Juice: This one is similar to the recipe posted above, though it calls for melons and doesn’t use spinach. The melons really sweeten it up and make it pleasant and easy to enjoy.
Green Power Smoothie: This was my original green smoothie back when my kids were drinking from sippy cups. It’s pretty sweet, so it’s a good place to start if you aren’t used to the taste of greens yet, or if you are giving it to young kids. Just be warned that it is really really hard to get the stain out of car seats. Oh my poor old Mazda…
Green Power Smoothie 2.0: This is a grown-up version of my original green power smoothie. It’s less sweet and more protein-filled. Graduate to this one after you’ve mastered the original.
Low Carb Green Smoothie: This is the ultimate green smoothie recipe, with the added fun of some wheat grass. There a video here showing you how easy this smoothie is to make, and my puppy makes an appearance at the end…even dogs love greens – lol!
Are you wondering if you should juice or blend? The good news is that there really is no wrong answer to that question. When blending you get all of the fiber that the greens have to offer, as well as the vitamins and minerals. Juicing also comes with these benefits…
1) Juicing delivers many valuable micronutrients that our bodies need. These are micronutrients that you could get by consuming the produce whole, but you’d have to stuff yourself!
2) Juicing helps us to absorb all of the nutrients in the produce.
3) Juicing increases the number of veggies that we consume each day and increases the variety of produce we consume.
4) Adding fresh ginger to your juice will give it an energetic kick, and researchers have found that ginger can have dramatic effects on cardiovascular health, including preventing atherosclerosis, lowering cholesterol levels, and preventing the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL).
All in all you can’t go wrong when adding a heaping dose of fresh greens to your daily life! Happy blending and juicing 
