Day 27 - Pretty Green NutriBlast I Found On Pinterest

Today is Day 27 since I started using my NutriBullet.  I've probably had 1 or more NutriBlasts on 22 of those 27 days--maybe more.  I'm getting my money's worth out of it!

This week I found a couple of recipes on Pinterest that looked good, so today I tried one of those.  It called for a full cup of yogurt and a whole apple, but I barely had room for what I put in it.  I didn't add any extra liquid this time--it just had the 1/2 C yogurt and the juice from the fruits.

It was EXCELLENT and even LOOKED tasty!

Recipe:

• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1 small banana
• 1/2 Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 large navel orange
• 1/2 C vanilla Greek yogurt

 

Last night I also tried a healthy cookie recipe I found online.  These are "guilt-free treat" cookies.  I think they'd be a really good breakfast-on-the-go because of what's in them:

Recipe:

• 3 mashed ripe bananas
• 1/3 C applesauce
• 2 C oats (I used good ol' Quaker Oats Quick Cooking Oatmeal)
• 1/4 C almond milk (I used unsweetened, but I think sweetened would have been better)
• 1/2 C walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 C raisins
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t cinnamon
• Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

The walnuts were my own addition.  There were no instructions as to how much to put in each cookie or whether to grease the cookie sheet, but I can tell you--DO grease the cookie sheet!  And I used a good heaping tablespoon or more of batter for each one.  They didn't spread out a BIT.

The cookies aren't as good as, say, Toll House chocolate chip cookies, but they were decent.  I ate three.  :-)  Like I said, I used unsweetened almond milk, but I think they'd be better if I'd used sweetened.  They needed just a tiny bit more sweetness.  They could also use a bit more spice, I think, if you're good at doctoring things up.  Maybe some nutmeg--would that go with the rest of the recipe?

Day 24 - WEIGH-IN (233)

I'm still here and still making/drinking my NutriBlasts!  Work has gotten crazy busy again.  When that happens, I take my photos, but I don't always get around to doing personal stuff online.

So here we are, on Day 24 of my NutriBullet "adventure".

Here was today's weigh-in -- I'm now 7 lbs down!

Nice feet, eh?  :-)  Sorry--hope you're not eating YOUR breakfast when you're reading this, ha ha.

Today I had (speaking of feet) a podiatrist appointment so I didn't make a morning NutriBlast.  Then I had to go to the office, so I didn't make an afternoon one.  I ended up going to Subway for a turkey and avocado/lettuce/tomato on flatbread and a bottle of water.  That was good, right?  Same thing I might have eaten at home.

Then tonight I got home late, so I just had a Lean Cuisine--turkey and green beans.  Only 200 calories.  It was surprisingly tasty.

I haven't been depriving myself completely of treats, either.  Mid-afternoon today I took 2 Hershey's Nuggets out of the candy bowl at the receptionist's desk at the office.  A couple days this week I've also had a small piece of my husband's birthday cakeS (yup--he had 2!)  One was the black forest cake he asked me to make.  The other was a scrumptious homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that my sister Gail made for him.  I stayed out of the carrot cake until today.  The black forest cake I had for the past 2 nights--but only a sliver.  A "normal" serving, if you will--not the 1/4 or 1/2 cake I might have eaten a month or so ago.

Progress, not perfection!

Earlier this week, I had a couple of successes and one semi-failure in the NutriBlast department.

On Sunday (Day 21) I was leaving on a 2-hour drive to visit DH's family.  That didn't mess me up, though; I still made a fabulous smoothie to take on the road:

It was 1C of vanilla greek yogurt; 1/2C frozen blueberries; and a whole bunch of black grapes.  I decided in the spirit of making this a lifestyle I could stick with to switch from plain to flavored (aka sweetened) Greek yogurt.  It's still way healthier than something I would have had for breakfast in the past, and since I'm trying to have the fruity smoothies only about every 3rd day, how much can it hurt?  Right?

I love drinking the pretty ones.

At my brother- and sister-in-laws', we had appetizers and dinner.  Usually when we go there I CHOW on plenty of salty crackers and/or chips and as much dip as I can pack onto them.  This time I had 5 tiny pita chips, each one topped with a smear of pesto and a roasted red pepper.

Dinner was really healthy: roast chicken, boiled carrots, steamed green beans, about 3/4C of mashed potatoes (another one of my red light foods), and one slice of canned cranberry sauce, with water to drink.  I had just one helping and was very satisfied.  No rolls; no dessert; no coffee loaded with cream and sugar after dinner.

Full Disclosure:  On the way home from that visit, we passed the only A&W root beer stand left in Vermont--you know, the old-fashioned ones where they come out to your car with a tray, and you get root beer in one of those thick, frosty mugs.  So we stopped.  I felt like having a creemee but they didn't have creemee, so I ordered a small root beer float with 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream.  DH ordered an entire cheeseburger basket with onion rings.  I helped him out by eating just 4 onion rings.  I was pretty proud of myself for making it out of there with just that.  :-)  It's another sign of growth--but the good kind!

On Monday (Day 22) I wanted to get back on the veggie wagon.  So that morning's drink had 5 veggies and only a little bit of fruit in it.  I drank half of it and put the other half in the fridge for the next day But to be honest, I couldn't drink the 2nd half--it just wasn't very good.  I tried too hard by putting such a high percentage of veggies in it,  and that just didn't work.  Here's what it looked like "under construction":

Recipe:
2C kale
Zucchini slices
Cucumber slices
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 tomato (small)
3 pineapple chunks
A few frozen blueberries
Plain almond milk to Max line (this was the OTHER big mistake in this drink--shoulda gone with apple juice for sweetness).

It looked so ugly after I mixed it up that I didn't even bother with a photo.  It was another tan sludge.  Not appetizing in the least, I have to admit.

Day 20 - Still 'Blasting - Just Need to Catch Up!

I haven't posted for a couple of days, but I've still been 'Blasting and taking pictures of my creations!

On Thursday (Day 18), I just felt like a simple, fruity drink for breakfast.  So here's what I had:

• 1 C Greek yogurt, plain
• 1/2 can peaches in their own juice
• 1/2 C almond milk, plain

It was pretty before and almost tasty-looking after--and oh, SO good!

When I make the fruity yogurt-based drinks, I usually make them in the smaller NutriBullet cup.  I just don't feel right having a huge glass when it has no veggies in it.

On Friday (Day 19), I was kinda late for work--one of the rare days I went to the office instead of working from home--so I fell back on yogurt and fruit again.

Here was that day's NutriBlast:

Recipe:

• 15 black grapes
• 1/2 yellow delicious apple
• 1T chia seeds
• 1 C plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
• A few frozen blueberries to make it colder

Today (Day 20) I got back to loading my drink with as many veggies as possible. 

A co-worker had brought in some kale to share, so I made my first NutriBlast with kale.  I'd never eaten kale before; I tasted a piece in the grocery store once, and it was bitter and peppery and awful.  But the home-grown kale was pretty bland, so I thought I'd try it instead of spinach, which is hard for me to use up before it goes bad.

As you can see, it started out beautiful again; then got a little nastier as it mixed; and then was REAL ugly when finished.  But as usual, it tasted very good--I was a good girl and drank every drop.  :-)

 

Recipe:
Kale - ~1 C
Zucchini slices
Cucumber slices
Red pepper, 1/2 medium
Pineapple - 4 large chunks
Grapes, 10 black
A few almonds
Maca powder - ~1 t.
Apple juice - to Max line

Day 17 - Two NutriBlasts -- Freggie, and Yogurt-y

This morning's NutriBlast had so much freggie goodness, it made me feel almost virtuous:

Recipe:

• Spinach - 2 C
• Apple - 1/4 yellow delicious
• Zucchini - 1/3 small
• Cucumber - 1/3 small
• Pineapple - 1/2 C, fresh
• Blueberries - a few frozen
• Almonds - 6-10
• Maca powder - 1 t
• Apple juice - ~1/2 C

I didn't bother taking a photo afterward because I've realized that if they contain spinach, they all kinda look the same after blending--like dark greenish-brown sludge.  If you want to see, look at a few of my earlier posts.  :-)

But once again, it was very tasty--and filling.  I drank the whole thing, no problem.

Later in the day, I made a pretty purplish fruit & yogurt 'Blast:

• 1 C Greek yogurt, plain
• 1/2 C frozen blueberries
• 15 black grapes
• Almond milk (plain) to the Max line

Since it looked like all the other blueberry & yogurt 'Blasts I've made so far, I didn't take a photo of it, either.

It was creamy, frothy, and delicious!

Day 16 - Yummy Yogurt-Based Breakfast Blast

I worked at my office today instead of from home, so I made a quick yogurt-based 'Blast for breakfast.  It was yummy--just 1C plain Greek yogurt; a few cubes of fresh pineapple; a handful of black grapes; and a few frozen blueberries:

The fruit I added made it sweet enough that I didn't mind that it was plain yogurt instead of vanilla.

Besides this today, I had a turkey/avocado sandwich on 1 whole wheat lavash bread; a plum; and a Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Kind bar.  Those Kind bars are really good.

I have about 4K steps on my FitBit right now.  Think I'll go head out and see if I can get it up to 5K before bedtime!

Day 15 - WEIGH-IN (235.5)

Well, I did very well with my eating over vacation and got in lots of steps on my FitBit.  Heck, I had over 7,000 steps yesterday!

Unfortunately, I stupidly hit a bag of Wavy Lays Low Salt potato chips right before bed--the night before weigh in--sigh.  Succumbed to an old habit and took the bag right into bed with me and ate mindlessly while I watched some stupid crap on TV.  What was I thinking?!?!? 

Here's the result:

 

So I'm 1.5 lbs higher than last week.  But that's ok--I won't let it discourage me.  I'm still down 4.5 from where I started, and today is a new day/week/opportunity to do better.  Progress, not perfection, right?

This morning's 'Blast should be called "Summer Sludge", cuz that's what it looks like.  Tastes good, though--at least I was able to finish it.  (No Rainbow Slaw in this one, ha ha--I'm back to spinach!)

Contents:

• Spinach - 1C
• Red pepper - 1/2 medium
• Zucchini - 1/3 large
• Apple - 1/2 large (yellow delicious)
• Black grapes - 15
• Blueberries, frozen - ~1/4 C (added just to make the finished drink colder)
• Almonds - 15
• Maca powder - 1-1/2 tsp (for protein)
• Apple juice - ~1/2 C

 See why I called it "Summer Sludge"? (It was quite a bit darker in person than it looks here:)

Day 14 (8/14/13) - My First Undrinkable NutriBlast

Today I made the first NutriBlast that I couldn't finish, although I gave it the ol' college try and drank more than half before dumping the rest down the drain.

Instead of using spinach as the base, I used something called "Rainbow Slaw".  Thought it'd be a good way to get in 4 veggies for the price of one.  It contained mostly cabbage (ugh), plus some carrots and broccoli.  I thought the other stuff in it would hide the taste of the cabbage, but no dice.

Contents:

• Rainbow Slaw 
• Red pepper - 1/2 large
• Cucumber - 1/2 small
• Blueberries, frozen - ~1/4 C
• Almonds - ~10
• Maca powder - 1 T

It looked very pretty, but it was pretty nasty.  I just couldn't do the cabbage ...

Day 9, 10, 11, and 12 - Vacation in Maine

I've been on vacation since Tuesday.

I packed up lots of fruit, veggies, and yogurt, etc, and even brought my NutriBullet on vacation!!

I made a few smoothies on the trip, some "freggie" and some yogurt-based.

I walked an average of 5K steps each day.

I ate haddock 2 or 3 times when we ate out at restaurants (we were in Maine), and I skipped the fried dough and other goodies at the zoo.  When everyone else was having banana splits, I had an ice cream cone after a day at the beach (and had to toss part of it).

The worst thing I had on vacation was on the last morning, when I had a cannoli at the "cannoli bar" next to our hotel.  (The "cannoli bar" lets you choose your own shell, your own filling--orange, almond, or chocolate--and your own "end-caps".)  That cannoli was awesome and worth every bite.

So now I'm home and have 2 more days until I weigh in again.  I hope to at least keep everything off that I had lost last week.

Now it's back to full-time 'Blasting AND I need to keep up the steps AND get back to the gym.

Day 8 - WEIGH-IN (234)

Holy crap, you guys--it's working!!

I told you on Day 1 that I'm 5'4" and weighed 240 lbs.  Here's a photo of me near the start of the Biggest Loser 5K Run/Walk that I did on July 28, 2013--shows my lower body in all it's lumpy glory (thus the walk!):

And here's what the scale said this morning!:

GET OUTTA TOWN!  Now that's what I call an encouraging start!!  :-)   (I know--the turquoise toenails are kinda scary.  Thought I'd try something different at my last pedicure.  Think I'll stick to the pink family after this.)


This morning's smoothie was very simple--1 C of Greek lowfat vanilla bean yogurt and the rest of the fresh pineapple I had on hand--probably 3/4 C:

It came out smooth and REALLY tasty--one of my favorites so far:

 

I have a lot on my mind this morning as I'm leaving for a few days' vacation tomorrow with 4 people, from 4 different locations, ranging in age from 8 to 80.  I think that's why I did a couple of oopsies while trying to get my breakfast made:

OOPSIE #1:  I DROPPED THE YOGURT CONTAINER when I opened it --oh, what a mess!!  It's one of the big ones, with only one serving missing.  Slopped all over my clothes, the stove, the cupboards, and left some nice big plops on the floor.

The dogs had fun licking it up, at least.

OOPSIE #2:  When I finally got done cleaning up the yogurt mess, I got the yogurt into the cup, then put the pineapple in, and then almost TURNED THE FULL CUP UPSIDE DOWN OVER THE NUTRI BULLET WITHOUT THE BLADES SCREWED ON!  Caught myself when the drink started to hit the lip of the cup.  Good Lord--talk about being on autopilot sometimes ... I need to pay more attention.  That could have gone all down inside the motor and ruined my beautiful new prized possession!

OK--I'm off to do errands, pack, and see how many steps I can register on my FitBit today!

Day 7 - NutriBlasting Again

I wanted to make today's 'Blast a bit more veggie-heavy and a little less sweet.  I used mostly water as the liquid, with just a little apple juice, because this one had a nice thick slice of fresh pineapple plus some grapes.

I left out the blueberries today to see if the color of the finished product would be more appealing; as you'll see, it didn't work.

It started out beautiful, though, like a nice sunny day!:

I put in:

• Spinach - 2C
• Carrots, shredded - 1/2 C
• Red bell pepper - 1/2 large
• Yellow bell pepper - 1/2 small
• Grapes, green - 10
• Pineapple - 1/2" thick slice
• Hemp seeds - ~1T

Here's the finished drink.  (Thought maybe the pink straw would pretty it up):

For some reason this one was more watery than usual.  I think the main difference is that I didn't put zucchini in this one.  Also this one has more detectable carrot bits in it.  Maybe I just needed to blend it a little longer.  Not my favorite so far, but it's do-able.

Tomorrow is my big 1 week weigh-in -- can't wait!

Day 6 - A Break from 'Blasting

Today I needed a break from my smoothies.  No special reason--just didn't feel like making any.

I did go out shopping and made myself walk the entire mall, just to get more steps in (because yesterday I barely got up from my desk and only got in 500, if you can believe that!  Scary.)

While out, I found some protein bars called Kind bars.  I had read about them in one of those "Lose 100 Lbs This Year!" stories in Woman's World.   One woman ate 2 of them every day, and she *did* lose over 100 lbs.  So I was curious.

Oh - my - GOODness, they're good!  They come in multi-packs, OR you can buy them singly.  I tried the Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew first--and promptly put 2 more boxes in my cart.  Then later in the evening I tried the Almond Coconut.  Those were equally good.

Here's a quote from the site:  "A recent study conducted by the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center found that two KIND bars a day can curb appetite and even help prevent weight gain."  Not sure how credible that is, but I know they're good and the ingredients don't look too bad.  They're worth a try!

So this is what I ate all day:

• 3 slices of turkey breast on lavash bread spread with 1/3 avocado
• 10 walnuts
• 1 Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Kind bar
• 1 C homemade chili w/1/4 C sour cream
• 1 Almond Coconut Kind bar

The day was light on veggies and fruit, but I stayed within my calorie range AND got in over 5,200 steps.

Day 5 - TWO NutriBlasts, including a Fruity One!

 Today has been chock-full of NutriBlast goodness.  I am STUFFED.

I had a fresh pineapple to use up and a couple of "miscellaneous" leftover things, so I made the morning smoothie a little different than previous days.  Here's the recipe:

• Spinach - 2C
• Zucchini - 1/2 small
• Carrots - 1/2 C shredded
• Bell pepper - 1/2 small
• Plum - 1 whole (not the pit)
• Pineapple - 1 ring
• Hemp seeds - 1T (for protein)
• Apple juice to Max line

I thought if I left the blueberries out, it might not be so ugly, but ... you'll see.  :-)

Ta da!--more "monster vomit".  But it still tasted good.  You just can't dwell on how it looks, I guess.  Just keep in mind how good YOU'RE gonna look after you drink all this veggie goodness!

Then, I decided to make a rooty-tooty-wicked-fruity smoothie for this afternoon.  The only veggie in it was one leftover piece of red bell pepper that I didn't want to waste.  Here's the recipe:

• Cabot Greek Yogurt, Vanilla Low Fat - 1 C
• Banana - 1
• Plum - 1
• Green grapes - handful
• Blueberries (frozen) - handful
• Chia seeds - ~1 teaspoon
• Apple juice to Max line

I actually tossed out the rest of the expired-7-months-ago yogurt that I used yesterday and sprung for a new tub.  I'm supposed to be getting healthy--not making myself sick, right?

Finally, a recipe that didn't turn out dark green!:

This one was very good, just like all the others.  The predominant flavors were yogurt and banana, which makes sense since those were the highest-quantity items in the drink.

My husband is sitting at the table eating a huge pile of homemade chili nachos with sour cream.  And you know what?  I'm so flippin' full, I'm not even interested in joining him.  Hallelujah!

----------
For the record, in case I suddenly get really thin and you want to emulate me, here's everything I ate all day YESTERDAY, 8/8/13:

Blueberry/Chobani Blast
1 red pepper
1/2 C hummus
1 pluot
1/2 C walnuts
1 lavash bread
1/2 avocado
3 slices turkey breast

Day 4 - Original NutriBlast #2: Chobani, Frozen Blueberries & Apple Juice

Today I was in the mood for something different.

So this morning's NutriBlast consisted of:

• 1C vanilla fat-free Chobani yogurt
• ~3/4 C frozen blueberries (same ones I picked about 10 days ago)
• A splash of apple juice for sweetness

It's good to use frozen fruit in these drinks because it makes the finished product colder.  A cold "blast" can be easier to drink than a warm one.

Today I used the small cup that comes with the NutriBullet.  Normally I use the large one, because I need room to pack in all those veggies.

The expiration date on the Chobani was 1/13/13; today is 8/8/13.  (You can see that I had good intentions back about 8 months ago when I bought the stuff, but I never got myself to actually EAT it.)  That's another cool thing about these NutriBlasts--it allows you to get good-for-you stuff into your body that you normally might not.

I gave the yogurt the sniff test before using it, and the consistency seemed fine, so ... we'll see what happens!  I think manufacturers just put those dates on stuff to make you throw it out sooner and buy more.  Hope the joke's not on me later.  :-)

I'll have a veggie-based "blast" later today.

Once more, it was delicious!  Tastes kind of yogurt-y, but at the same time, not as overwhelming a flavor as if I'd just eaten the Chobani plain.


NOTE:  Yesterday besides my "freggie" (get it?--fruit/veggie?) 'Blast, I also ate the following over the course of the day:

• 3 thin slices of turkey breast on lavash with 1/3 fresh avocado spread on it
• 1C leftover homemade mac & cheese
• 1/2 C walnuts with a few Ghirardelli 70% dark chocolate chips mixed in
• 2C fresh blueberries

The blueberries were my nighttime snack.  Evening is my hardest time of the day.  Before I started paying attention again to what I'm eating, normally I'd sit down in front of the TV at night--and I'll admit it, sometimes even in my BED!--with something *awful* like a bag of nacho chips with a bowl of sour cream,  or a pint (isn't that a single serving?) of Ben & Jerry's, or whatever else I come across while I'm prowling.

Because I'm hoping to lose weight -- a lot of it -- on this journey, I'm going to try to track everything I eat in addition to the 'Blasts.  That way when others happen upon my blog, hopefully it'll inspire them to see that you can eat things in addition to the NutriBlasts and still lose weight and be healthy.

I'll do another post soon that tells a little more about myself, with some Before photos.  Lord knows, I have plenty of those ... I'm just working on finally getting an AFTER! 

Day 3 - Same NutriBlast, But With FROZEN Blueberries

In today's morning NutriBlast I used some blueberries that we picked last weekend and I froze.  They made the drink a little colder (obviously) and even more refreshing. 

I'm starting to really like making these healthy concoctions every morning.  I was smart and bought some pre-cut, pre-chopped veggies and just bagged them up together so that all I really have to do is dump out what I need into the cup each morning, blend it for about 30 seconds, and away I go!  (See, I know myself, and if eating better takes much effort at ALL, it's too easy to just not bother with it.) 

So no photo this morning--just go back and look at yesterday's and imagine it colder.  :-)

Day 2 - Same NutriBlast as Yesterday, Plus.

Today I had basically the same NutriBlast as yesterday.

I forgot to put the hemp seeds in before I started blending, and I noticed that the color was much lighter.  So I took 2 "during" photos as well as the Before and Afters.

It's weird that some light little seeds that look like chopped walnuts make a smoothie so much darker!

Here's the "Before"--so pretty!:

Then here's the start of blending, before addition of hemp seeds:

 Here's after I added just 1T of hemp seeds and blended again:

  

And here's the lovely finished product!: 

 

One lesson I learned today:  Do NOT bring your big cup of breakfast into your car without the cap and expect to get very far before it tips over!!  Yup, I knocked it over while trying to buckle my seatbelt.  Looked like monster vomit all over my console and between the console and driver seat.  Lovely way to start the day.  :-)

Other than this smoothie today, I had a plum; some string beans from our garden; a bunch of crackers left over from a party on Saturday night (boooooo!!); a red pepper with hummus; and several handfuls of fresh blueberries that we picked this weekend.

All in all, a good day.

Day 1 - (240) - My First NutriBlast

I have a new NutriBullet.  I'm going to use it to get healthier, and hopefully, slimmer.  My starting weight is 240 pounds.  I'm 5'4" tall and 55 years old.  I plan to weigh myself and record my weight here weekly.

I thought it might help me, and possibly others, to document my actions AND meals along the way, because you never know--THIS time I might stick with it long enough to actually get somewhere.  So here goes!

This was my first "original" NutriBlast, before blending and after.  Looked SO healthy before blending--not quite as pretty after--but it still tasted delicious!

 

It consisted of:

• 2 C spinach
• 1/2 small zucchini
• 1/4 C shredded carrots
• 1/4 large red pepper
• ~10 grapes
• ~1/4 C blueberries
• 1T hemp seed
• apple juice to Max line