Detox Beet Smoothie

The other day, out of nowhere, my boyfriend sent me a text message saying he wanted to get some beets because he heard they were good for you. He said he hadn’t been feeling the greatest lately and wanted something to kind of give his body a natural detox. He didn’t have to tell me twice. You see, it’s a very rare thing to have my boyfriend eat something healthy that I make for him, but to have him actually REQUEST a healthy thing. Whoa now! I decided to make him a smoothie packed with all kinds of delicious detoxifying foods, including beets. I knew it had to taste good though or else he wouldn’t drink it. Needless to say, the end result was pretty good and he drank it with very few complaints! Success!

Ingredients

• 1 raw beet, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• sunflower seeds
• handful of chopped kale
• 1 cup of Simply Apple Juice (or other 100% fruit juice)
• juice from 1 lemon

Directions

Throw everything into a blender. If your blender will not grind things down very finely you may want to consider cooking your beet a little beforehand. I have a decent blender, but I would have preferred the texture to be a little more smooth. It did not grind the raw beet up as well as I’d hoped. I prefer not to cook my beets only because you lose some of the nutrients, but if you can’t handle the texture it may be the best option. This would work great in a juicer also!

 

It may look like a murder scene, but all the mess is totally worth it. The beets will stain your hands (and anything else it comes in contact with) so you may want to wear gloves while handling them.

Some of the Benefits of these Ingredients:

Beets

• Unique phytonutrients in beets called betalains provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support in the body.
• Betalin pigment found in beets support detoxification by helping to neutralize toxins and make them water soluble so that they can be excreted out.
• Helps purify blood and liver
• May lower blood pressure
• Gives you energy and is a natural aphrodisiac

Sunflower Seeds

• anti-inflammatory
• excellent source of Vitamin E, a fat soluble antioxidant
• Good source of selenium, which is necessary to activate certain enzymes that function in the liver to detoxify harmful molecules

Apples

• antioxidant
• anti-inflammatory

Kale

• Glucosinolates found in kale form isothiocyanates which regulate detox activities in our cells

Blueberries

• One of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruit

Lemon

• Good source of Vitamin C
• antioxidant and antibiotic

If you try this let me know what you think. My boyfriend said it tasted like a garden, but he continued to drink it, so I guess that wasn’t a bad thing. I think it tastes really good and will make you feel good as well.  Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

Bouncing Back After Your Thanksgiving Binge-Fest

I don’t know about you guys, but I over-indulged just a little bit a lot on Thanksgiving. I did not keep track of calories (who would do that?), but I know I ate much more than I normally would on a typical day.  I have finally finished my leftovers and the weekend is almost over, so I am ready to get my diet and workout routine back on track! I wanted to share with you guys a few tips on how to recover from a day of binging/unhealthy eating and also some exercises to get you feeling back to your pre-binge self in no time at all.

Here are my tips:

Drink lots and lots of water! Staying hydrated is always important, but especially after consuming a big meal that probably contained a lot of sodium and sugar (yummy pecan pie). Drink your water and flush it all out.

Consume foods that are natural detoxifiers. These are mostly fruits and vegetables like blueberries, spinach, parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, broccoli, lemons, garlic, etc. Try to consume as many of these foods as you can. An easy way to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables all at once is to make a smoothie. Try a green smoothie like this one.  I know vegetables in a smoothie may sound weird, but really, it’s good and you cannot even taste it.

Do NOT starve yourself. Just because you had one (or two) days of unhealthy/binge eating does not mean you need to punish yourself.  There is no point in starving yourself to try to make up for the extra calories you ate. What’s done is done. You will be doing yourself more harm than good because you will just be confusing your metabolism.  You’re also more likely to binge eat again if you wait until you turn into a ravenous beast. Just eat sensibly and pay attention to portion sizes and you’ll be just fine.

Meal plan and grocery shop. This may not be essential for everyone, but for me meal planning is a must if I want to eat healthy and bounce back from a period of unhealthy eating/overeating.  Make a list of some yummy healthy recipes to prepare in the coming week and then go buy what you need and stick to it. Make sure you choose meals that include lots of vegetables. You’ll feel good about yourself for eating so well, and that Thanksgiving binge will be a faint memory soon to be forgotten.

Don’t Sweat it. It’s the Holidays, you should enjoy yourself.  Even if you are dieting, one day of overeating probably didn’t do as much damage as you think. Don’t fall into the mentality that you’ve already screwed up, so you might as well give up on healthy eating because Christmas is coming soon and that just means more food! Thank goodness for baggy sweaters, right! Haha No!

Exercise tips

For immediately after over-eating:

Go for a walk. A low-impact workout like walking is ideal for right after a heavy meal. It will help with digestion and help you feel a little less like a stuffed turkey.

Channel your inner yogi. Many yoga poses involve twisting and rotating motions which help aid digestion.

For the next day:

Cardiovascular exercises.  Doing a cardio exercise like running or biking is a good option for the morning after eating a big meal, especially if the meal was carbohydrate heavy. Carbohydrates are the fuel your body needs during cardiovascular exercises, so make the most of all those rolls and stuffing you ate and get moving. Cardio, or any exercise that gets you sweating, is also beneficial because it will help you to lose water weight you may have gained from the binge fest the day before.

Don’t listen to grumpy cat!

Avoid exercises that only target your abdominals. Ab workouts are great, but if you’re already visibly bloated, engaging your ab muscles may make your bulge stick out even further.  Maybe not for a long time, but still, why risk looking even pudgier? You cannot target fat loss from your belly anyway, so just focus on burning some calories and breaking a sweat and you’ll feel great!

Well, that’s all I have for you guys. I hope that you can use some of these tips and feel a little less guilty this holiday season. Actually, please don’t feel guilty at all. Enjoy your food and have a good time. Obviously, don’t make overeating a habit, but if you happen to eat a little too much over the holidays, just remember it’s not the end of the world, or your diet.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley