Today I’m going to share one of the best things I’ve done for my health over the last 10 years, which was to incorporate green smoothies into my morning routine. Now I know your first reaction to this might be either “green smoothies, gross”, or “green smoothies, that was so 2013”, or “dude, it’s all about keto these days”, or even something else. But I’m telling you, if you can put a bunch of vegetables in a blender, add in a little frozen fruit, some liquid like almond milk, and maybe some plant-based protein powder and even some probiotics – and actually learn to like it, to look forward to it each day – to become addicted to it, almost…well, that one habit will be HUGE for your health and well-being.

Imagine getting essentially all of your daily recommended servings of vegetables and fruit into your body before lunch. That means you can eat chili dogs for the rest of the day and still have had a good day on the diet front! Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but the idea is if you green smoothie in the morning, you give yourself such a great foundation of nutrients for the day that it makes up for some poorer food choices you might make later in the day. And if you’re like me these days, your chips and snacks intake has probably gone up with all the Netflix and chilling going on.  

In a moment a couple of special guests are going to show you exactly what you can put in your smoothie, and how to make it. It’s my wife Shelley and my son Gabe who did a green smoothie video as part of a challenge her chiro office was running in the community – seven years ago! Gabe is now a teenager, but in this video he was only 5 or 6 and pretty frickin cute if I might say so. So if you’re interested in the what and how of green smoothies, check out the video (link below). Don’t get too caught up in the exact ingredients or measurements. You can get away with whatever’s in your fridge on any given day as long as there’s a good balance between fruit and veggies (more veggies are better, but some days depending on what’s in the fridge, it might be more of a fruit-based smoothie, and that’s ok). And two other things that have changed in my smoothie routine since this video are that the protein powder I use now is the Vega Protein & Greens that you can get at Costco, and also I now have a Yeti that I pour the smoothie into from the blender, which keeps the smoothie cold literally all day and that is huge because once the smoothie gets warm I find it less appetizing. 

OK, without further ado let’s send it over to Shelley and Gabe.

Here’s a recipe you can try:

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup kale
• 3 celery sticks
• ½ medium-sized cucumber
• ½ avocado
• 6-8 large frozen strawberries
• ¼ cup frozen blueberries
• ½ banana
• 1 cup almond milk
• ½ cup pineapple juice
• Vega Protein & Greens (optional, but recommended if you work out in the morning or if you drink your smoothies as a meal replacement; check label for serving size)