day 22: ash wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday. That means Lent has started. For all you non-Christians, Lent is a forty day period of repentance and self-denial leading up to Easter. Now, I’m not very religious, but growing up in a Catholic family I have always practiced some form of food-oriented self-denial throughout Lent. Last year I was vegan, the year before that I gave up peanut butter and raisins, the year before that I gave up sweets and junk food, etc… For me, it’s more of a reminder to be grateful that I am lucky enough to not only have food to sustain me, but also food that I don’t even need for nourishment: food that is pure indulgence.
For Lent this year I decided not to eat any sweets. But for 40 days where there is no celebration of any kind this shouldn’t be too difficult. So I’m upping the ante. For the 6 weekends from now until Easter I am going to be drinking green smoothies as my meals. (My one exception being Sunday brunch at my in-laws. This would NOT fly with my mother-in-law.) The thing I love about green smoothies is I can get all of my required calories and even more vegetables that I normally eat in about 1L of smoothie. I can load it with superfoods like kale, goji berries, and cacao nibs. AND it’s all raw and all delicious (okay, mostly delicious… the taste can take some getting used to since I don’t add any sweeteners)
Feel free to join me by incorporating some green smoothies into your diet for the next 6 weeks too. I’ll be posting my smoothie recipes and my reviews on how they taste. I’d love for you to comment with some of your own smoothie recipes too. Cheers!
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Wow..you are brave! So you are just going to eat the green smoothies on the weekends? Meaning 3 a day? Good luck to you. I don’t think I’m giving anything up, just a vow to eat in moderation. I do believe that is the key, eat what you want (healthy!), but in moderation.
Wow, that’s some challenge! I’m giving up sweets, so I’m glad to hear you’ve had success with it! Good luck!
This should be easy for me. I’ve given up sweets for the year and have a smoothie a day. Quite often 2.
My standard smoothie is:
1/3c oatmeal uncooked
1c fruit(strawberries lately)
1scoop protein powder
1c water
Sometimes add PB,banana,EVOO
Good luck!
mmm… sounds tasty. I’ve never put oatmeal in a smoothie before. I’ll have to try it!
That sounds like a fantastic challenge! I love my green smoothies, I just wish my blender loved them as much as I do. Maybe its time for an upgrade.
Great challenge…I think that after 2 weeks you won’t even miss the sugar at all!
Keep us updated on your progress and good luck!