Smooth Operator

I've been drinking a lot of smoothies these days. It took me a long time to fully appreciate them. I had heard that they're a great breakfast idea because they are easy to digest and can pack a Vita-C punch first thing in the morning. I think I was hesitant because I really enjoy chewing, but when I got the braces on, chewing became unappealing. Anyway, I've had some Vega Shake 'N' Go powder in the cupboard since last year. I bought it before my first round of P90X thinking I'd have it after workouts instead of their pricey recovery drink. When I first tried it, I was like "blech." It kind of tastes like stevia and chalk by itself. But after I started incorporating it into smoothies with fruits and non-dairy milks, I began to really dig it.

Anyway, for posterity, here are my two favorite smoothie recipes. Roughly.

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1 cup non-dairy milk (I like unsweetened soy here)

Espresso powder (1tsp) OR 1/2 cup cold coffee

1 Tbsp Vanilla Almondilla Vega Shake N Go

1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks

1/2 cup unsweetened soy yogurt

3/4 - 1 cup non-dairy milk (I like vanilla hemp milk here)

1/2 cup (or enough to thin it out) coconut water

1 Tbsp Vanilla Almondilla

I've been trying to cut down my caffeine intake (coffee), and I can honestly say that these smoothies generally keep me pretty energized. I do get hungry earlier than I did when I ate oatmeal regularly, but for the sake of keeping my metabolism up, I think it's wise to have a smoothie and then a small snack rather than eating a huge dense bowl of oatmeal and then waiting another 4-5 hours to eat again.

Over the last year, I've been pushing pretty hard on the fitness end of the health scale. I assumed that was enough-- that I could continue to eat like I had and I'd magically become all fit and sexy. When that didn't happen, I got kind of discouraged. Since I started P90X2 (December 28ish?), I've been chiseling away at my diet and seen better results. I don't claim to be perfect, but I feel pretty good about the state of things.

And because I am a narcissist, here are my guns.