Eat (or Drink) This Now!

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We are almost halfway through January. Raise your hand if you've kept your New Year's resolutions.

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The majority of us want to eat better and exercise more, but without a firm plan or a support group in place, chances are we start to slowly lose motivation and fall back into our old habits.

I don't know about you, but I am not a morning person. I set two alarms, and then start playing a game of tag with the snooze button (I don't know why I think I need those extra 5 minutes, but I do). Then it's rush, rush, rush to put my gym clothes on and get out the door so I won't be late to my boot camp class. That leaves me with about 5-10 minutes to throw something down my throat that will give me enough energy to last a brutal workout.

A good friend told me that instead of going out on an empty stomach, I need to start making shakes which are quick and very convenient to make. She suggested I put kale or col rizada instead of just a protein powder mix alone because of the added benefits it has.


Some Benefits

• Kale is an antioxidant consisting of carotenoids and flavonoids. Antioxidants prevent damage to our cells and help repair damage already done. If you have ever been out too long in the sun or inhaled the air in NY/NJ, then you need antioxidants my friend!
• A cup of kale helps to regulate our bodies inflammatory process. This helps our bodies fight against inflammatory disease like arthritis and asthma.
• A diet rich in kale provides glucosinates which has been shown to help prevent colon, breast, bladder, prostate and ovarian cancers.
• Great source of Vitamins K, A and C

Ok so now I've somehow convinced you to buy some kale (found next to lettuce in the supermarket in case you're wondering). I'm not going to lie and tell you it's going to taste like a piece of chocolate cake, but if you add the right ingredients to your smoothie, you won't taste the kale at all. Here is my recipe, fast and very easy to do, especially since I usually make it with one eye open.


Kale Smoothie (make sure you rinse kale, take off as much of the stems in sink beforehand, and rip into pieces with hands)

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• 1 cup or handful of kale
• 1 cup of handful of your choice of berries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup of water (or soy milk)
• Dash of stevia sweetner (or a very small capful of grade A maple syrup) 
• 1 scoop protein powder (if you don't have protein powder, add greek yogurt)

Throw everything in your blender and blend! I usually like it to be really thin, so I blend it a little bit longer because it seems to go down easier that way for me. If you don't mind a bit of a crunch, then you don't need to blend it as long. Instead of adding sugar, you can add half a banana or some pineapple pieces to sweeten. You can also add a small capful of extra virgin olive oil to further help the digestion process. If you're fully awake and can find a bottle of flax seeds somewhere, throw some in also.

Try it before you start making that gag face, it might surprise you how much you will like it!
Cheers to your health xoxo