One thing I like to do when I drive to and from work everyday is to listen to podcasts. It's a great time to work on some personal development instead of sitting there like a zombie and listening to junk talk radio. Anyhow, a podcast that I follow called "Zen and The Art of Triathlon" suggested this green smoothie recipe/philosophy, so I gave it a try this week. It's been a real success and has truly changed the way I fuel and snack throughout out the day.

Basically, you make a smoothie filled with TONS of leafy greens and vegetables, then combine lots of fruit and other fun stuff to make this big green colored smoothie. What's cool about the green smoothie is how you drink it. Brett, the main dude on Zen and The Art of Triathlon, suggests making your smoothie the night before then storing it in a large water bottle. Then at work the next day, you take the large water bottle along with an empty smaller water bottle. You then fill the smaller water bottle with some ice and some water (about a quarter full of water) then add your smoothie from your big water bottle. You then sip on the smaller water bottle all day long and continually refill with the big one as needed.

Words can't express how much this has helped with my training, nutrition, and hydration. The smoothie isn't a meal replacement, but it is more of a snack that you sip on all day. It really keeps your metabolism going strong without ever felling hungry, which has always been a problem for me. I would bust my ass training for an hour or two in the morning, then the rest of the day I would be STARVING! Now, every time I start to feel that little furry hunger monster creep up in my stomach, I can reach for my green smoothie and poof, no more hunger. Aside from keeping my hunger down all day, the health benefits of the smoothie are immense.

Enough talk, here's how to make it...(the following is from Brett at Zentri.com)

Green Smoothie = liquid base + leafy greens + veggies + fruit + special ingredients.

Some people skip the leafy greens and veggies, and that can be bad news for your health. Drinking a huge fruit-only smoothie is like pouring sugar syrup right into your guts. Fruit may be healthy, but fruit is loaded with sugar and needs to be taken in moderation.  Grinding up 5 lbs of fruit sugar into a liquid and pouring it directly into your food-hole is a great way to start off a "Let's get diabetes!" party.  Now, there's nothing wrong with a fruit smoothie per se, just make them a small treat, not a daily habit of gigantic proportions.  Ok, back to the regularly scheduled program...

Liquid Base. Odwalla Superfood (a sweet mix of some crazy-healthy ingredients). You can also use water, ice, coconut or almond milk. Mix and match any of the above to make the smoothie runny enough to be blendable. Lately, I've been using the Odwalla or Naked super food with about a 1/3 cup of water.

Leafy Greens. I stick with two basics: Kale and mixed baby greens. You can easily use spinach as well. Leafy greens are the whole point of the smoothie, so don't skimp. People don't eat anywhere near enough leafy greens, and putting them in a fruit smoothie is the an amazing way to sneak them in your diet. They improve your health so dramatically, any way you can find to chomp on more of them is fantastic. I use 2 large handfuls of kale and 2 large handfuls of baby greens.

Veggies. I always throw in some carrots (about 10 baby carrots). On occasion I will put in a piece of a beet or a chunk or yellow, red, or orange bell peppers, which are actually very sweet. Green bell peppers don't taste good in a smoothie, BTW.

Fruit. In a Green Smoothie, fruit is more of an accessory to make the leafy greens and veggies taste better. I usually add two pieces of whole fruit or the equivalent amount of smaller fruits. Examples include bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries, strawberries, lots of stuff, really. I simply grab what's available and use it. I also always throw in some grapes because they work great as a natural sweetener.

Special ingredients. To make the smoothie truly super green, I throw in a tablespoon or two of spirulina. To add some kick to the flavor, I'll squeeze in a little fresh lime, toss in some Ginger, and even put in a little cilantro (another leafy green!).  To add in some healthy fats, I'll put in some avocado and/or Vega EFA oil.

How to Drink/Store. I pour as much of the smoothie as possible into a liter bottle and put that in the fridge. The leftover goes into a sports bottle with some ice and water. I sip on the sports bottle throughout the day. When it gets empty, I refill it with more smoothie mix and ice water.  It's all gone by early evening.

You might be thinking all this is too much, and it is.  I just stick to the formula and grab what's available in my kitchen.  No smoothie has all the stuff listed above.  I never make the same smoothie day-to-day and I never measure out the ingredients on purpose; each one tastes slightly different and that's good. For example, I bought a couple of pears and some strawberries this week and I'm using those as my main fruits instead of the banana and orange that I usually use.

You don't need a green smoothie daily.  What you do need is leafy greens and veggies.  The green smoothie is just a tasty and convenient way to do it.  If you eat a green salad or two a day, you probably have your green bases covered, so don't think this is the only way.  Enjoy!