Hi, all!

Smoothies are all the rage now, and are met with mixed reviews, but one of the common complaints I hear is that smoothies do not fill them up. I hear you.

Yesterday I did a smoothie demo (for which I’ll be sharing the recipe for a Strawberry Coconut Smoothie, next week), but before I made each smoothie I gave a short spiel on some helpful smoothie-making tips. One of the points I drove home, was that in every smoothie, and every MEAL you need three key ingredients. Without these three key ingredients, we have a tendency to go HUNGRY an hour later. And when we are HUNGRY, we risk falling victim to cravings and not eating our best.

What are those three key ingredients?

1. Fiber
2. Fat
3. Protein

Most smoothies people make have fruits and vegetables in them, which is AWESOME, and if you’re not regular now, you will be by incorporating a fruit and veggie smoothie into your day (oh, I went there). The problem with most smoothies is, if it’s just fruit and/or veggies, it’s only ONE of the three key ingredients– FIBER.

So what’s an easy way to incorporate fat and protein? HEALTHY fat and protein?

How about some almonds?! Almonds have both, and the protein and fat in the almonds is going to slow down the absorption of SUGAR naturally occurring in your fruit. What this means for you, is more stable sustained energy and being fuller longer.

Here are some more examples of smoothie add-ins to give you a boost of fat or protein:

• Coconut Oil
• Hemp Protein Powder or Seeds
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Avocado
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Flax Seeds
• Chia Seeds
• Spirulina
• Chlorella
• Maca

Does this list sound like a bunch of weird hippie-dippie stuff? That’s because it is. And that’s okay! Just pick one or two or three hippie-dippie things and start from there. For instance, I’ll usually add hemp protein, flax seed, and cashews to my smoothies. Oh, and LOTS of greens… but we’ll get into that next week.

So what about meals?

It’s the same concept: Fiber, Fat, Protein

Here are some meals I’ve made recently that combine the three:

Protein used in these meals: Chicken, Salmon, Garbanzo beans, Hemp seeds

Fats: Avocado, olive oil, coconut oil

fiber: Kale, mixed greens, broccoli slaw, tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, celery root

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