Green Smoothie Goodness

Green smoothies have been popping up all over Pinterest and blogland for a while now, but I thought I'd just throw this one out there with the rest of them.  Better late than never, right?

If you're still on the fence about the green smoothie trend, just jump in and try it!  Seriously, if you don't like it, at least you can use the leftover ingredients to make a killer salad.  Win-win, right?  For the record, totally just typed "win-wine" at first.  Freudian slip?

What you're going to need:

- One sliced and frozen banana (I like to buy a bunch and come home and slice them up and freeze them in plastic bags so I have them ready to go)

- 5-6 chunks of pineapple (Do I even need to tell you to use fresh pineapple and stay away from that canned crap?  No, I didn't think so.)

- Generous handful of baby spinach leaves

- 2 to 3 coconut milk ice cubes

- 1/2 to 1 c. coconut milk (adjust to get a consistency you like)

- Small handful of UNSALTED, roasted almonds.  Don't use the salted ones.  Just... don't.

When blending, I've found that putting the spinach on the bottom of the blender and layering on the fresh ingredients and topping off with the frozen works out the best.

I love this smoothie as a post-workout or midday snack.  So light and refreshing, and the pineapple masks any grassiness from the spinach.

And yes, I drink my smoothies out of a beer glass.  In fact, that is my exclusive smoothie glass.  I won't use any other.  No, I am not a weirdo (okay maybe I am), the glass has a convenient half pint line which makes measuring out liquid easy.  And I can just pretend I'm drinking my favorite Double Chocolate Stout while downing green drank.

Day 10!

Yesterday was day ten of my 30-Day Shred.  Being the highly categorical person that I am, I decided to spend ten days on each of the three levels.  And holy crap, talk about feeling a difference from that first day!

I was barely able to get through the 20-minute workout (and trust me, there are days I'm still strugglin'), but my endurance has increased a lot.  Oh, AND I can do a PUSH-UP!  Maybe that's only exciting for me?  Whatever, totally couldn't do a push-up ten days ago.

Please ignore everything unflattering about this picture (including my incredibly messy bedroom) and focus on that little line that's starting to show up on the side of my abs!

Baby guns! I haven't had a curve in my bicep since high school.

Soo... stats....

Weight: 153.8 lbs

Bust: 37.5"

Waist: 28.5"

Hips: 44"

Bicep: 12"

Thigh: 24"

I feel like my stats are depressingly deceptive.  I didn't expect to drop 15 lbs and a bunch of inches in 10 days.  And I haven't.  In fact, I'm up a pound and a half, and all of my measurements are basically the same.  I've gained a half inch in my bicep and lost half an inch in my waist (the one part of me that I didn't think would get any smaller!).

But I feel so much different!  I've been gaining definition in my arms, my quadriceps are getting really firm.  My abs are also really starting to tighten up.  When I release my ab muscles, my stomach doesn't just poof out into a gut.  It just.... stays the same.  That is a damn good feeling.

My diet has taken a drastic change too.  I feel like that deserves a post of its own so I won't go too deep into it here.  But I have a lot more energy, and my metabolism has revved into gear.

Today I started Level 2 and holy shit, a lot harder than I expected!  I was drenched in sweat before the first five minutes were up.  I'm a little bit in love with you, Jillian.

Something Has Got to Give

I've talked a little bit on the blog about trying to get healthy or work out more, but it's been very, very little.  And for a reason.

Like 99.99% of American women, I'm not happy with my body shape.  And, like a lot of women out there, I would rather just bitch about it and try to wish away the cellulite than actually DO anything about it.

That right there pretty much sums it up.  But lately, I've been really frustrated with and disappointed in myself when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.  Why do I keep making these excuses?  Why don't I just get up and move my ass?  I swear, if I spent half the time working out as I did looking at healthy recipes and workouts on Pinterest, I'd look like Jamie Eason by now.

Orginally I thought it was the impending bikini weather that has started to make me really look critically at all that cellulite (I mean seriously, my rear has more dimples than a golf ball!), but I realized that's not it at all.  In reality, it's because Ryan and I want to start a family soon.  I've heard all kinds of "horror stories" about women who gain 40, 50, or 60 lbs during their pregnancy, and frankly, I'm terrified.  If I were to gain 50 pounds, it would put me over the 200-lb mark and that is a number I don't want to get anywhere near.  So it's time to really commit to this.

And what better way to commit to weight loss than to plaster pictures of your chunky butt all over the internet for everyone to see!?

Jesus, the width of my thighs makes me cringe.  Can we just not look at the area between my waist-band and my knees?  Kay, thanks!

So what am I gonna do about it, you ask?  Well for one, start eating clean and eating right.  I'm notorious for having a cup of coffee in the morning because it staves off my hunger until 2 pm or so, and then I'm out the door for work.  I usually only eat one meal a day, and that's between 8 and 10 pm when I get off work.  And by then I'm usually so starved that I eat whatever is big, rich, and covered with butter.  Yeah, there's a reason I can't walk down the aisle of a school bus without turning sideways.

And as for movin' and shakin', I've had Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD for a while now, and I'm planning on finally cracking open the case.

Oh, and to make this even MORE embarrassing, let's include some "before" stats, shall we?

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 154.2 lbs
Clothing Size: 8-10
Bust: 37.5"
Waist: 29"
Hips: 43"
Bicep: 11.5"
Thigh: 24"

So there you have it, folks.  I'm just gonna end this blog post now before I get any more red in the face or lose the courage to press "post."