Getting to The Point of No Return and My New Chai Green Smoothie

Thank you to everyone that volunteered to save my butt during my kitchen renovation! I will be contacting you all personally by e-mail within the next two weeks.

Today I want to talk to you about something that is really coming into focus for me at this point in my journey: the amount of fruit in my diet and how it is affecting my weight.

At PEERtrainer (http://www.peertrainer.com/) they have a program called The Point of No Return. I'm not here to sell you on a program (although it is worth WHATEVER nominal amount they are charging for it).  I mention this now because the concept is extremely important in getting you to and keeping you at your happy weight.

So what is "the point of no return"?

For me, it is the state of mind and body where maintaining a healthy weight is not confusing, mysterious, difficult or scary. For those of you who have dieted and failed time and time again, I think you know what I am talking about. You might have an enormous amount of fear and uncertainty regarding your physical and emotional health.

I know that I did. So when I came upon PEERtrainer, their method really spoke to me. They focus a lot on a concept called "diet fusion," which in essence means that it is up to each and every one of us to find our own individual way of eating that gets us to our own Point of No Return. For me, it is a no-added fat Vegan diet free of most processed foods. For you, well, only you can find that magic combination.

Which brings me to the point of all of this: Finding your way takes TIME. I have been laser focused on getting to my point of no return for almost two years. And I am slowly getting there. But I am getting there. It takes an enormous amount of trial and error.

For example, one of my trials along the way was The Raw Food Diet. I was introduced to it, thought it sounded intriguing (who wouldn't want to eat all of those yummy looking desserts every day?), read up on it and started preparing interesting raw food dishes and desserts right away. At the time, I didn't really quite get that the heavy reliance of many raw recipes on highly caloric ingredients like nuts, oils and dried fruit would not be offset by the also heavy reliance on raw vegetables. So I dove right in and failed. I think I gained ten pounds pretty quickly.

But that was party of my journey, my own personal trip to my point of no return. I can't have any regrets because I learned so much from the experience. For one, raw desserts rock! And if and when I do indulge, I want it to be a raw concoction. I feel that I am getting maximum nutrition as well as flavor from a raw dessert, even if the calorie count is through the roof. Sometimes I am just going to indulge. Secondly, there would have been a "right" way for me to go raw, and that would have been without the oils and nuts. But thinking of an uncooked diet without those things left me less than excited, so I returned to a balance of raw and cooked food, and I'm content with that today.

Another one of my experiments, which has lasted far longer than my raw experiment, and continues to this day, has been drinking a green smoothie for breakfast almost every morning. My first green smoothies consisted mainly of a lot of fruit with a handful of fresh or frozen spinach and some flax or chia seed. Somewhere along the way, I experimented with adding more green things (and even carrots) but the fruit component remained high. Lately, and this is the key to what this is all about, I am working on using as little fruit as possible in my morning smoothie.

For example, take a look at my original Chai Green Smoothie. Two dates and one large banana made that smoothie pretty high in sugar, probably more than the entire daily recommended amount of sugar. And lately, my food choices have been heavily influenced by ideas about sugar that are continually coming into my awareness. It started back in December with this article from Disease Proof on the ill effects of sugar. Then  Debby the Healthy Librarian hit me with Dr. Lustig's video Sugar: The Bitter Truth. Soon after, Chef A.j. was mentioning on Facebook that if she had written her cookbook today, she would have done it differently, based on her new level of awareness regarding sugar, dessert and the health value of smoothies.

I started logging my food in gory detail on My Fitness Pal, a calorie/nutrition tracking application and website. I was looking for information on how much fiber I was consuming everyday, but I learned something far more valuable. I am consuming far too much SUGAR every day (and it wasn't from Twinkies!). So when PEERtrainer did a blog posting all about fruit in the diet (and sadly, fruit is very high in sugar) all of my confusion went away and I knew that limiting my fruit every day was getting me very close to my Point of No Return.

Ahhhhhh, progress.

New Chai Green Smoothie

serves 1

1 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1 small frozen banana, broken into chunks

1 large pitted date

big handful rough chopped celery

big handful fresh parsley

giant handful fresh spinach leaves

1 tsp chai spice blend

7 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.

Granted, this is still not a low sugar smoothie! But remember, it's progress, not perfection. I'm working on it! And I can tell you that watching the amount of fruit I eat each day over the past month has resulted in significant weight loss, so I think I'm really onto something that will really help me in the long run.

What new information have you learned that really helped you to progress to another level with your weight loss/maintenance efforts?

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Here for the Fight

Banana Walnut Softserve. Even better than the original with the addition of walnuts.

I'm sensing that there is a little bit of misperception about me out there in the blogosphere. It's pretty understandable, given the fact that I have a healthy food blog and all. That misperception is that I eat perfectly all of the time. There is no such thing that I know of.

I wish it were true, but it's absolutely not. I struggle with overeating on a daily basis. Just because I have finally figured a few things out about compulsive eating does not make me a "normal" eater. In fact, it just makes me even more aware of how abnormal my eating and thought patterns are.

But what is really important to note is that I am not throwing in the towel. The old me would have a bad day or a few bad days and just say, "What the heck. I'll never be able to stay on this food plan and achieve a healthy weight. I might as well eat whatever I want."

My struggles are new. No longer am I fighting with junk food. Anything that had a mother or a face turns my stomach to the point where it's not at all hard to say no. Refined sugar tastes way to sweet.

But healthy food, that's another story. I'm still struggling with eating too much of it. But the old me who would give up--she's long gone. This me is here for the fight. Just thought you might want to know that.  

Raw Banana Walnut Softserve 

serves 1

1 1/2 frozen bananas broken into chunks

6 walnuts

splash of almond milk

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend, stopping to scrape down sides of container as necessary, until misture is the consistency of softserve. If using high powered blender, tamp down continuously throughout the blending process.

The good news about these "cookies" is that a sugar addict can eat them without losing control! They are only slightly sweet and would make a great breakfast for someone on the go.

Lightly Sweet Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Cakies

inspired by a recipe from Clean Food by Terry Walters

makes 2 dozen cakies

Printable Recipe

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup rolled oats (or 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran)

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place peeled bananas in a medium bowl and mash. Add applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract and stir.

In a seperate medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chips.  Add the banana mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine (do not overstir). Fold in chocolate chips.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a teaspoon, scoop heaping spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and smush down a little. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until edges start to get brown and crisp. Remove from oven and place cakies on wire rack to cool.

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Happy Birthday Blog Green Smoothie

The Healthy Girl's Kitchen blog officially turned one year old on January 23rd. Happy birthday to my blog! So why am I posting another recipe for a green smoothie? Because at this time of reflection for where I've been and where I'm going, this recipe seemed appropriate. I hope you can see by the ingredients that I'm upping the level of green intensity and LOVING it! Thanks to my friend and business partner Chris-Anna, who is new to the green smoothie revolution, but very adventurous, for inspiring this.

Super Green Smoothie

serves 1 hungry person

1 small cucumber, cut into chunks

1 fresh pear, cut off it's core OR large handful of seedless grapes

1 small frozen banana, broken into chunks

2 large stalks celery, cut into large chunks

1 large date, pit removed

1 handful fresh spinach

1 handful fresh or frozen kale

5 ice cubes

water--not too much

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smoothie reaches desired consistency.

Here's something very interesting:

Mark Bittman, right, with Chef Mario Batali, before becoming plant strong? I love Mario Batali, and I'm seriously worried about him.

Mark Bittman after becoming plant strong?

I received a blog birthday present from the universe. Debby from Happy Healthy Long Life clued me in about Mark Bittman's new ventures. If you don't know who he is, he is one of the most incredible New York Times food writers and cookbook authors. Seems like he's caught on to the healthy eating movement and he's making a big stink about it. Get the story here. He's leaving his old eating life behind and joining our ranks. Yeah Mark! Yeah universe! Can't wait to subscribe to his new blog.

Do you know who Mark Bittman is? Do you own any of his cookbooks?

What are your impressions of the public psyche when it comes to healthy eating? Do you believe we are on the cusp of major social change regarding eating habits? Or are all of the people around you seemingly unaffected?

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Raspberry Banana Date Soft Serve

So it seems my 11 year old cannot get enough banana soft serve these days. "Dessert Mommy?" she says. "Sure!" I say.

Wow, what planet am I on?

Planet happy!

And speaking of planet happy, today for lunch I had my first ever blogger meet up! It turns out that one of the coolest plant-based diet bloggers in the universe lives within 30 minutes of me and we met for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Organic Energy. For her own personal reasons, I can't publicize who she is, but I can tell you that I am so excited to make these kinds of connections. Who knows, I'm already dreaming up a plant strong pot luck at my house where my new blogger friend and I, along with some other local plant strongers, get together for some socializing and rockin' food. 

Anyway, back to the frozen banana soft serve . . . last night's raspberry variety got my daughter so pumped up that she asked me if I could make this one EVERY night. Okay, twist my arm!

  

Raspberry Banana Date Soft Serve

serves 2

1 1/2 large frozen bananas, broken into chunks

1 cup frozen raspberries

4 large pitted dates

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Place all ingredients into high speed blender or food processor and blend until it becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream, scraping down the sides and tamping down (if using the blender) as necessary.

Have you ever made frozen banana soft serve? If yes, is it a regular thing in your diet?

What are your favorite additional ingredients or do you love it best with just bananas?

Do the other members of your household eat it too?

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Raspberry Mango Banana Soft Serve

If you've never tried ice "cream" like this . . .

This is Max. He's almost 3.

He's a pretty picky eater.

More please!

Nuf said.

Raw Vegan Raspberry Mango Banana Freeze

serves 2-3

2 large ripe frozen bananas, broken into chunks

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

2 large pitted dates

1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1/4 cup unsweetened nut milk of your choice

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend, tamping down, until all ingredients are blended to a smooth consistency. Serve immediately.

Do you make raw vegan ice creams? If so, how often? Who in your household eats them?

What are your favorite ingredient combinations?

If not, what are you waiting for?

Again, thank you everyone for all of the wonderful comments! This is so fun!

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C is for Cookie, and These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are for Me!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for all of the comments on my last post. This is all very exciting, and exhausting too (my fellow bloggers know what I am talking about--getting comments is all about commenting on other blogs, and it's practically a full time job. I will do my best!). And while comments and commenting are really fun, I have to keep focus on the main reason this blog exists--sharing my passion for nutritionally excellent food.

Remember I told you I've been ogling over other healthy bloggers Best Recipes of 2010 lists? Well, I wasn't kidding around. So last night, when my trusty kitchen assistant Maya asked if we could bake cookies, I responded with a surprising "Yes" and about knocked her socks right off of her feet!

All of the ingredients for Fat Free Vegan/Susan's Banana Maple Oatmeal Cookies are staples in my kitchen (I LOVE when that happens!). I made two simple changes: substituting dark chocolate mini chunks for the raisins (I personally loathe cooked raisins in baked goods and I knew that to make these a real treat, they had to involve some form of chocolate). I also substituted orange juice concentrate for the lemon juice (I was just plum out).

Everyone in my house loved these cookies, and I love a sure thing! My husband, who won't eat anything with banana in it, didn't even notice the banana (I think) and scarfed down a bunch (he can safely do that). I however, managed to contain myself to just 2. Sweet food is my downfall, but sometimes you just gotta let loose a little. Thanks Sue for your best of list! Here's the recipe.

What kinds of treats do you make in your kitchen?

How often do you indulge in "healthy" baked goods?

Do you find it difficult to limit how much you eat when you are treating yourself? Or are you at a place where it's just no big deal?

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Good Morning! Basic and Sophisticated Green Smoothie Recipes

Thank you for the responses to my last post on the obesity epidemic! It's good to know there are a lot of people out there who want to see change and are passionate about the fight.

Now onto something less political, well, slightly less political: Green Smoothies.

I try to start every day with a green smoothie. Here are my reasons why:

1. I love sweet food, and they are sweet

2. I like to have a breakfast that fills me up and has staying power

3. I want to start my day with a nutritional punch, even a powerhouse

4. Green smoothies are easy to make--they do not require a recipe or measuring once you learn the formula

5. They are easy to clean up after

6. All of the ingredients can become kitchen staple items if you know what they are

7. Green smoothies are easy to take on my way out the door to work

8. I lost 50 pounds drinking green smoothies so I know they are a "safe" food for me

And here is a basic formula for a green smoothie:

frozen banana + greens + other fruit(s) + liquid + ice

optional, but highly recommended for regularity and nutritional goodness: ground flax seed or chia seed

Here are options for each component: use one or more from each category:

GREENS: fresh or frozen spinach, kale, collard, swiss chard, romaine lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, carrot (okay, it's not green). I recommend starting out with spinach because you cannot taste it in the smoothie and then adding one other green in addition, a little so as not to be overly aggressive at first.

FRUIT: I always start with a ripe FROZEN banana because it adds the creamy texture to the smoothie. If you don't like bananas, just leave it out. Then add more fruit, any or all, fresh or FROZEN (that makes this very easy!) in combinations that you like: fresh pitted date(s), strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango, apple, pear, orange, clementine, grapes, canned pumpkin puree, young coconut flesh, sweet potato

LIQUID: water (believe it or not, it's all that you NEED), unsweetened nut milk-almond is my favorite (365 Brand from Whole Foods is great), soy milk, rice milk, hemp milk. I like to find the lowest calorie versions of any of these products.

Once you master the basic green smoothies, you are ready for some sophisticated combinations if you like that kind of thing. This morning I woke up to a great blog post from Gena at http://www.choosingraw.com/ about making your own Chai Spice Blend. I immediately cleaned up my kitchen and went to town (I mean work) on it.

Choosing Raw's Chai Spice Blend

Chai Spice Mix (yields about 1/3 cup spice mix)

2 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 1/2 tbsp. ground cardamom
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. white pepper (I used black pepper because that's what I had)

Place all ingredients in a jar or baggie. Seal. Shake it like a Polaroid picture!

Proceed to yummy smoothie.

Healthy Girl's Chai Green Smoothie

serves 1

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond (or other nut) milk

1 heaping tsp chai spice blend

2 large dates-pitted

1 large frozen banana, broken into chunks

7 medium ice cubes

1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 giant handful fresh spinach

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

For my taste buds, this chai smoothie ranked right up there with the best green smoothies of all time.

Do you drink green smoothies? Why or why not?

Is there something else that is your go-to breakfast?

What is your favorite green smoothie recipe?

"I wanna know, what you're thinking . . ." (another song lyric reference)

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