Yes I know, I t’s been a bit quiet on the Yogaberry blog lately. This is not because I’ve decided that actually I don’t like yoga (or smoothies) anymore or hate writing blog posts but more that I’ve been focusing on other parts of the business like teaching yoga and making videos… I can tell you there are lots of exciting things coming up…!
So what else have I been up to? I’ve recently been invited by John Lewis to a Wellbeing event which included smoothie making and a Pilates class with Lottie Murphy so definitely not one to miss! Especially because it took place in the evening at the Oxo Tower which meant a trip to Central London without any children!!
We started off with a talk by Harley Street Nutritionist Hayley Pedrick who told us all about the advantages of making smoothies and some principles to follow. We then got to make our own smoothies (see the recipe below) which we enjoyed after the Pilates workout with Lottie Murphy.
What is so amazing about smoothies?
– drinking fruit and vegetable means that the body absorbs four times more nutrients and digests them up to twenty times faster!
– you’ll get to experiment with fruit and vegetable that you might not eat otherwise (Kale? Fennel? Beetroot?)
– you can “hide” spinach, kale and avocados in the banana or berries smoothie and the kids will love it!!
– it’s much easier to get your daily recommended intake of fruit and vegetable which is actually 7 portions!
– smoothies count towards your water intake so great to stay hydrated
Smoothie Making Principles
– generally use 2/3 vegetable and 1/3 fruit. Although for the kids I usually use 50/50 to make sure that it’s enjoyable for them
– don’t store them longer than 24 hours and always make sure the container is covered
Key components
1. fruit & vegetable (great to get the minarals and vitamins)
2. omega 3, essential fatty acids (avocado, nuts, flaxseed etc) can reduce muscle soreness and help recovery so great for post or pre-workout smoothies but also really healthy
(3.) protein to build and repair muscle tissue – unless you fancy putting fish or lean meat in your smoothie, whey protein powder works really well! I put this one in brackets as I wouldn’t really use it that much for the family but again great for a post-workout smoothie of course!
The Red Ambulances Recovery Shake
This is a great post-workout smoothie and it’s best to enjoy it within 30min of finishing your workout.
My smoothie making partner for the day was the lovely blogger and yoga teacher colleague Clare from Thought Brick. We were intrigued by a recipe which included turmeric and cinnamon. There were plenty of lovely John Lewis blenders available and we decided to use the NutriBullet. I just got one for Christmas so knew how easy it is to use!
Ingredients
1/3 can coconut milk
100ml coconut water
1 banana
1 scoop of whey protein powder
1/2 cup frozen berries
1 handful of romaine lettuce
1-2 tsp Manuka Honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
We also cheekily added a little bit of pineapple because we love the taste 🙂
An interesting article. Thank you. I enjoy smoothies so keep my blender and juicer on the worktop. I recommend adding Spirulena (preferably Lifestream) to any green smoothie as it is a wonderful wholefood.
Yes Spirulina is great too!! Always makes everything VERY green too 🙂