The Smoothie of Mixed Feelings....

The Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie

as seen as part of a detox diet from Whole Living Magazine

I'll start off by saying this smoothie is the most glorious color I have ever seen. I had really high expectations for this smoothie because the ingredients are so packed full of flavor I couldn't imagine it being anything but a flavor explosion in my mouth! But alas this was not to be so.

Last night I steamed the beets and carrots (as seen below in all of their glorious jewel like colors), in preparation for making the smoothie this morning before work. I am not a morning person therefore I do not give myself enough time to get ready in the morning as is without having to chop and steam veg in the morn, so when I make smoothies or pack a lunch everything must be done the night before.
I got up 15 minutes earlier this morning so I could assemble and drink this before my normal morning ritual begins. I eagerly grabbed all of my pre-chopped fruits and veg and dumped them into the blender.
I pulsed that baby and watched as the ingredients combined together to the most beautiful raspberry, magenta color- this was exciting!! This is where I also became a bit wary.... "hmmm, I thought, "doesn't this look a bit thin and watery?" I poured a wee bit into a little juice glass and had my first taste. BORING! I mean just bland! I felt like I was drinking flavored water. So I added a banana, cuz you know, bananas can sweeten and thicken up any smoothie. So the below result is the smoothie after the addition of the banana.

My final thoughts? Well the addition of the banana helped but it was still too watery and still not packed with flavor. It wasn't the worst thing I'd ever had but also wasn't delicious. So what I'm thinking is this- this was included in a detox diet regime so I'm thinking that this isn't supposed to taste spectacular its just meant to fulfill the detox or nutritional side of that regime. After talking to some girls at my work about it we came to this conclusion- half the amount of water. I think the water just diluted the flavors of the fruit and veg and also made it the consistency that of amped up water. I would try this again but I would tweak it. So not an absolute failure but not a big thumbs up either.

Here's the original recipe:

1 small beet, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 med. carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 sweet apple, cored and coarsely chopped

1 ripe pear, cored and coarsely chopped

2 cups water

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp. ginger

1. Steam beets and carrots until tender, about 10 minutes. Let cool

2. Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.

Whew, I Made It!!

Okay, the cleanse is officially over. I made it 4 days (well 3 and 3/4 days, really) which I'm really proud of. So how do I feel? Do I feel fully cleansed? Not really. Do I feel good? Yes! Have I begun to conquer some pretty nasty demons? Yes. Would I do this particular cleanse again? Probably not.

Here's the deal. The reason I don't feel particularly cleansed is because I never felt energized/light. I feel like I missed out on something there. I think it's because I forgot to do the laxative tea every night, which affected how much I really detoxed. I think I didn't detox to my full potential thereby never feeling fully cleansed. However, I do feel good. I feel like I have a clean slate to work with. For the most part I've made really smart choices since I've gone back to eating (the exception being the movie popcorn and child's sized box of Mike and Ikes- oops!!) The thing I am happiest about is my stomach shrinking, allowing me to start over again with healthy portion sizes- which was one of my personal demons.

I have to admit that I did get everything out of this cleanse that I was hoping for- so while I didn't feel particularly cleansed or detoxed I DID reach my original goal. The purpose for this cleanse (which I may have previously stated) was to push the reset button on my mind and my stomach. I wanted to be able to start fresh mentally, view food differently, prove to myself that I have the willpower, jump start my weight loss and regain control of my portion sizes by shrinking my stomach. I achieved ALL of these things!!

I have been trying to lose weight since the beginning of the year with very slow success- it wasn't until I got pneumonia that I lost any significant amount of weight (which obviously isn't the healthy way to lose weight, but it worked!). Since I was sluggish in losing weight yet again, I thought that doing this cleanse would again shock my system into letting some of the weight go. I knew that any weight I lost wouldn't necessarily stay off as some would be water weight but if I could lose at least 3 lbs out of it I'd be happy. So far that's exactly what I've achieved.

The next cleanse/detox that I am considering is on that Gwyneth Paltrow does that she posted on her website/weekly newsletter goop.com (my introduction to this detox is also courtesy of Miss Phoebe- who is my go-to gal!) I'm thinking of doing this 7 day detox in either June or July, as they will be warmer months and it will feel good to eat lighter- it just seems that the foods on this detox are summery!

So on to my next adventure!!! Trying new healthy foods/cuisines! I'm super excited!! So what is that next food adventure you might ask??? Well I'm thinking of trying a recipe I found on Goop called Bibimbop- so stay tuned for how that turns out!!