Blog

March

Can A Smoothie Supercharge Your Day?

I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who doesn’t at the very least like some form of smoothie…. I happen to love smoothies, virtually all smoothies, especially those that contain peanut butter! Peanut butter and I are like two peas in a pod, but that’s a story that can be told at another time, and in another blog.

Today we’re going to talk about how a simple consumable can jump start your get up and go first thing in the morning… You’ve probably already guessed that the simple consumable I am referring to is a smoothie. When your using smoothies as a morning breakfast/energizer there are some things you want to avoid, or you’ll end up doing the exact opposite of what your goals are. At the end of this blog you will find a delicious, energy boosting smoothie that you can try; hopefully it’ll be the first of many healthier energy boosting options to your morning routine!

I think a lot of us are guilty of not eating as healthy as we could or even trying to “jolt” ourselves with energy by sloshing down a red bull or 5-hour. All in the hopes of getting through our day and completing our tasks without any drag. Unfortunately, when it comes to “energy” drinks or “elixirs” there seems to always be one thing for certain… a crash! So before the days even over you have to drink more of these “elixirs” that were supposed to help you. Then of course consuming to many of these things increase your health risks of kidney stones, anxiety, insomnia, heart complications, dehydration and so much more. To make these matters worse and tell help you put together a more informed decision energy drinks are extremely addictive because of its mountains of sugar, caffeine, and other chemicals that release dopamine hormones into our brains. Energy drinks are not regulated in any way by the FDA talk about a risk to our health!

Smoothies are not only healthier because they’re packed with fruits that carry so many different benefits to the body. The energy they provide doesn’t come with a crash, doesn’t risk heart complications (but improves them), doesn’t create an addiction and so on. (Bonus: they also help reduce food cravings throughout the day especially when your smoothie is high in protein!)

Nothing is better then a delicious smoothie made of healthy ingredients, that you can taste!

-Chris

There’s really no downfalls or negatives of drinking smoothies as part of your morning routine. However, for the sake of your energy, there is something you need to be weary of and that is smoothie sabotage… 8 to be specific, there is 8 different ways to sabotage your smoothie; so many of us enjoy adding these ingredients to our smoothies that take away from its healthy energy building!

Whipped Cream – While it may be delicious and a great topping to add it is extremely high in bad fat, sugars and calories. In fact most of the whipped cream purchased in a can are full of unhealthy vegetable oils and high-fructose corn syrup.

Ice Cream – Lets be honest Ice Cream doesn’t belong in a smoothie and adding it to your breakfast smoothie is only spoiling your day! You should absolutely add a source of calcium and protein, but there are far better choices like plain Greek yogurt or almond milk. Which carries far less calories, trans fat, and refined sugar!.

Sweetened Fruit Juice – You may be addicted to sugar if you believe that adding sweetened “fruit juice” is a necessity to your smoothie. Playing with different fruit combinations can do that for you. When you opt to adding sweetened fruit juice to your smoothie you just packed it with loads of calories and refined sugars. Reducing its nutrient and energy value to you!

Artificially-Sweetened Protein Powder – Quality ingredients matter and this doesn’t mean that you can’t add a protein powder to your smoothie but try adding an all-organic non-sweetened version and let your smoothie ingredients do the sweetening. The artificially-sweeteners have added sodium, MSG, and flavor additives.

Chocolate Syrup – This one was a smack in the face for me because there is probably nothing (other than my wife and kids) that I love more then Chocolate! Adding chocolate is just turning our healthy morning booster into a rich dessert. However, you can curb this by adding all natural cacao nibs to sweeten it up and keep its benefits.

Canned Fruit – Always opt for freshly squeezed juice to add to your smoothie or frozen fruit. Canned Fruit is very sneaky with all its refined sugars on top of being a processed food!

Processed Sugar – Processed/Refined Sugars should be nowhere near your healthy morning booster (smoothie) not even brown sugar its best to just keep them far away from your smoothie blender! The reason for this is because these types of ingredients cause a blood sugar spike and ultimately the crash your trying to avoid!.

Processed Peanut Butter – (Skippy we’re all looking at you!) Many store bought peanut butters come with unwanted and unhealthy fats. Ultimately, reducing your energy boost and if your trying to lose weight ruin those goals. (I hated finding this one out like I stated earlier Peanut Butter is like my second wife! Ha ha) There is other options for adding additional protein to your morning boost like; almond, sunflower seed, flax seeds chia, hemp seeds etc...

Now lets get to the smoothie recipe you’ve all been waiting for, this smoothie will help your morning get off to the right start!

The Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie

First we will put 2-Cups of frozen berries into our blender (We’re using frozen for this particular smoothie to keep a thick and creamy consistency).

Next 2-Cups of Almond Milk and 2 servings of all organic vanilla whey protein powder.

Last but not least we will add pure cacao chunks (Yum!) to our blender. Begin blending it all up until the ingredients are thick and creamy.

Top with raw cacao nibs for a great crunch, texture and extra boost of antioxidants…. Enjoy!

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Located inside of the Sunrise Shopping Center
4230 S. Poplar St. Casper, Wyoming 82601

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