The beginning of a person’s health and fitness journey can be extremely daunting and overwhelming. Most of us just don’t know where to start. I am often asked by clients how they can get into the habit of living a healthier lifestyle and one of my most common answers is by making smoothies.
Starting your day with a smoothie has so many benefits – when done right. With the right smoothie, you can kickstart your metabolism, fill your body with so many nutrients and keep yourself full until lunch.
One of the most common misconceptions about smoothies is that they are too time consuming. I totally get that for some of us, every minute in the morning counts, especially for those with long commutes or busy households. But taking the right measures to prepare yourself ahead of time can make smoothie-making quick and effortless.
My first tip is to prepare almost all of your ingredients ahead of time and freeze them. Spend a few minutes on Sunday, washing and cutting your fruits and vegetables and divide them up into single serving packs. You can make the same combo in each pack or alternate between a few so you don’t get bored. One of my faves is spinach with banana and strawberries.
Once those packs are frozen, all you have to do in the morning is add your liquid, any fats like nut butters and/or protein powder – which we will get to!
I love that this not only saves you time, but it helps portion out your ingredients and the frozen packs make the smoothie nice and creamy!
Smoothies are also the perfect breakfast for the person on-the-go. In fact, I almost never drink my smoothie sitting down. Most of the time it’s in my to-go cup and sipped on the road. So not having enough time is not an excuse anymore!
Another misconception about smoothies is that you will be hungry 5 minutes later. And it is very possible for this to happen if you don’t have the right ingredients in it.
To ensure I am full after my smoothie, I make sure to always have a healthy fat source, like almond butter, and add a scoop of protein powder.
For years now, my go-to protein powder has been Genuine Health fermented vegan proteins+ in either chocolate or vanilla flavour. If you follow me on IG or YouTube, you’ll see this is always my go-to. Aside from it tasting delicious, this protein powder has so many nutritional benefits compared to other brands. Unlike most conventional protein powders, this one is fermented, meaning it has gut healing properties that allows our body to better absorb all the nutrients in our smoothies. Additionally, the fermentation process won’t cause bloating – which is one of the biggest complaints I get from clients in regard to their protein powder.
I also love that this protein powder tastes great so I don’t feel the need to add too much fruit. This is one simple change you can also make to your smoothie. Adding in more protein, fat and veggies and cutting down on the fruit will help stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent cravings later in the day. Use your pre-made packs to measure out and portion control the fruit.
Now that you have these tools, it’s time to get in the kitchen and spend a few moments making your smoothie to-go packs. Just starting your day with this simple change will not only save you time, but kickstart your health journey and keep you on track!
You can find Genuine Health fermented vegan proteins+ at most grocery stores and health food stores or here.