Advice needed for newbie w green smoothies :)

[Ivana]

Hi everybody, what a great site! I am reading the existing discussions with great interest.

I wonder if you could give me some advice on my diet. I am a 37 year old woman and I have recently become a vegetarian again ( I was a vegetarian for 7 years, starting at age 20) and this time around I have found tremendous inspiration in Victoria Boutenko's "Green for Life" (the updated version).

I wasn't that unhealthy to begin with and not new to being a vegetarian so I wasn't expecting any side effects of changing my diet as it didn't seem drastic.

I started with green smoothies once a day, a juice once a day combined with raw lunch and a cooked vegan evening meal. Now I am on 2 green smoothies per day and I am cutting out soy milk (have been off dairy milk for 2 years).

The first week (before going up to 2 smoothies per day) I wasvfeeling great, lots of energy and generally just feeling happy.

But now, after adding one more smoothie, which I have for breakfast (previously muesli with soy milk), I am not feeling so well anymore. I am okay, but during the morning hours I feel a bit lethargic, my thigh muscles feel like I have done a big workout (I do work out 3 times a week but I don't usually get sore) and I am going to the toilet a lot. I feel like I need more food, I am not feeling hungry, it just feels like I should have had a bigger breakfast. I generally pick up in the afternoon and evening, it feels like the evening meal really satisfies me - I would like to not eat a cooked meal, but it feels like I need it at the moment. I think my metabolism has always been fairly fast, but now it feels like it's lightning speed!

My husband, who is eating the same as me, reckons it's a detox symptom and that it will go.

Am I doing it right? What can I eat that would make me feel better in in the morning hours?

Your advice is highly appreciated.

[sport]

What are you putting in your morning smoothie.

[Ivana]

Hi, thanks for your quick response.

I typically put one banana, greens and water in my smoothie. This yields a large glass. Banana may be substituted with a mango. I am very careful to rotate my greens, I use spinach, kale, carrot tops, watercress, lettuce etc.

[sport]

Hi, thanks for your quick response.

I typically put one banana, greens and water in my smoothie. This yields a large glass. Banana may be substituted with a mango. I am very careful to rotate my greens, I use spinach, kale, carrot tops, watercress, lettuce etc.
That is not a lot of calories. I am not surprised that it does not keep you going for long. I would put 3 or 4 bananas (sometimes more) in my morning smoothie.
My friend finds a big difference if she adds some sunflower seeds to hers and it keeps her going for even longer.

[Ivana]

Oh, I would have thought that it was plenty, but I will take your advice. I really like the idea of putting seeds in the smoothies as well, thanks for that. Should I soak the seeds overnight?

[sport]

Yes. You need to always soak your seeds. I generally soak them in bulk and then re-dry them in the dehydrator so that there is always a supply but if you do not have a dehydrator then just soak them overnight and rinse well. You will then wash away all of the enzyme inhibitors.

[modernmonkey]

keep adding dense fruits to your smoothies until a meal last you 3-4 hours.

Joint pains are a common detox symptom. I suffered from them in the early days too.

Your published smoothie is under 300 calories. You really want to be aiming for 500-600 calories per smoothie if it's a meal.

[janed]

Hi-I'm a huge green smoothie fan-they were my intro to starting to eat more raw food. I add 2 tabs chia seeds which really make it filling (spoon stand upable!) and also coconut oil. The greens are usually blended up to the 6 cup line before I add fruit-frozen banana is delicious. The greens are blended first with 8 ice cubes (stops gs from being warm if blender has to work overtime) water or coconut water, ginger and half a lemon and lemon juice. I've worked my way up from 2 cups of greens over the last few years. I was vege for years and dairy free for the last 4 and vegan for the last 2 now and 100% RAW since just before Xmas. I haven't bought any of Alissa's books so will be interested to read.
I'm finding the last 2 and only times I've eaten cooked food the next day my joints are aching so much I can barely walk. Staying with my father for the last week I feel really RUDE that I don't eat their meals sitting at same table....so last night gave in and ate chickpea curry (mixed in with my raw sweet potato carrot apple coconut walnut /orange lemon juice tahini dressing salad!). Dad has kidney cancer and his partner cooks some meatfree meals-she drinks green smoothies but he won't...

[Ivana]

Thanks for all your replies!

I added flax seed to my smoothie this morning and I also had a couple of handfuls of mixed seeds and nuts. Also I had a bigger mid morning snack than usual. It was quite an improvement, my legs don't ache today.

Now... Is it normal to have 4-5 bowel movements per day with green smoothies? Apologies for the subject, but I am a little concerned. Every time I go, it feels like EVERYTHING goes, so to speak, I feel like I have been emptied! I am concerned that food is going through me too quickly and that my body doesn't get enough nutrients out of the food.

[RawBogan]

Hi Ivana,

Call me a crazy purist but after some experience my family and I have come to try and keep the green smoothies only fruit and vege. It just doesn't seem right to put seeds and super foods in anymore.

I agree with sport you should put more bananas in and especially blueberries(frozen if necessary) as we think they are nutrient dense and add heaps of 'zazz'.

I have always found the green smoothie only lasts a couple of hours energywise(I am a stonemason) so make alot of 'power bars' from raw pumpkin/sesame/sprouted buckwheat/sunflower/hemp seeds and dates, apricots, some cacao, maca etc.They have proved invaluable at helping us lift 60kg stones all day. Adam Hart's youtube channel has a fantastic primer video for making them.

All the best

Andy.

[MimiYoyo]

Hi Ivana,

Call me a crazy purist but after some experience my family and I have come to try and keep the green smoothies only fruit and vege. It just doesn't seem right to put seeds and super foods in anymore.

I agree with sport you should put more bananas in and especially blueberries(frozen if necessary) as we think they are nutrient dense and add heaps of 'zazz'.

I have always found the green smoothie only lasts a couple of hours energywise(I am a stonemason) so make alot of 'power bars' from raw pumpkin/sesame/sprouted buckwheat/sunflower/hemp seeds and dates, apricots, some cacao, maca etc.They have proved invaluable at helping us lift 60kg stones all day. Adam Hart's youtube channel has a fantastic primer video for making them.

All the best

Andy.

I just have to say that's very cool....a raw food stonemason!

I'm curious...what is your daily diet to keep up your energy levels?

[sport]

Raw Bogan. I agree with you regarding keeping it simple but I do not think that Ivana is ready for that stage yet. Right now she needs a smoothie that will carry her through the morning and in the beginning when you are transitioning from a SAD diet you need these things to reach satiation point.

Ivana. On the bowel movements. I have read that you should have as many bowel movements today as you had meals yesterday. A nuisance but at least you know that all of your toxins are being removed quickly.

[RawBogan]

MimiYoyo,

The power bars do most of the job of keeping energy up. We eat alot of them. We also eat leafy green heavy wraps for breaks and energy rich salads(often one with tonnes of shredded carrot, pepper, celery, sultanas, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil).

We have found the large quantities of leafy greens(kale/collards/BROCCOLI LEAVES/gotu kola etc) have anti inflammatory qualities that have healed MANY of our aches and pains collectively. That was never anticipated when we got into this. I think Pfizer and Glaxo would have us shot if they knew we knew.

[Eva]

Hi Ivana,

Call me a crazy purist but after some experience my family and I have come to try and keep the green smoothies only fruit and vege. It just doesn't seem right to put seeds and super foods in anymore.

I agree with sport you should put more bananas in and especially blueberries(frozen if necessary) as we think they are nutrient dense and add heaps of 'zazz'.

I have always found the green smoothie only lasts a couple of hours energywise(I am a stonemason) so make alot of 'power bars' from raw pumpkin/sesame/sprouted buckwheat/sunflower/hemp seeds and dates, apricots, some cacao, maca etc.They have proved invaluable at helping us lift 60kg stones all day. Adam Hart's youtube channel has a fantastic primer video for making them.

All the best

Andy.


MimiYoyo,

The power bars do most of the job of keeping energy up. We eat alot of them. We also eat leafy green heavy wraps for breaks and energy rich salads(often one with tonnes of shredded carrot, pepper, celery, sultanas, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil).

We have found the large quantities of leafy greens(kale/collards/BROCCOLI LEAVES/gotu kola etc) have anti inflammatory qualities that have healed MANY of our aches and pains collectively. That was never anticipated when we got into this. I think Pfizer and Glaxo would have us shot if they knew we knew.

Glad to see you here ~ certainly enjoying reading your posts and am feeling inspired. My husband is sitting right here with me, and I'm just about to share some of this with him. He tried raw for 40 days with TONS of success and was still as strong as ever, but he's convinced it wouldn't work long term... Planting little seeds here and there to convince him to convince himself otherwise. ;)

Anyways, thanks for sharing. :heart:

[RawBogan]

Eva. I MUST point out. I am not 100 percent raw nor vegan. Probably 80% raw and eat a very small amount of meat and half a dozen eggs a week. Absolutely no dairy. But I don't want to give the wrong impression.

The reduction on awful meat and processed products we used to rely on is however astounding and I anticipate being vegetarian soon. I think remaining very strong on raw for most would be a long process of trial and error but my inclination is to be very muscular anyway so have an advantage that way. Also, we found Brendan Brazier's book 'The Thrive Diet' a massive help in finding a good variety of foods for strength building.

[Eva]

Eva. I MUST point out. I am not 100 percent raw nor vegan. Probably 80% raw and eat a very small amount of meat and half a dozen eggs a week. Absolutely no dairy. But I don't want to give the wrong impression.

The reduction on awful meat and processed products we used to rely on is however astounding and I anticipate being vegetarian soon. I think remaining very strong on raw for most would be a long process of trial and error but my inclination is to be very muscular anyway so have an advantage that way. Also, we found Brendan Brazier's book 'The Thrive Diet' a massive help in finding a good variety of foods for strength building.

THANK YOU for your upfront honesty! Much appreciated. He was blown away, and he's still here with me at the office so I shared the extra info with him too. :)

Got to love Brazier's book. It was 1 of about a dozen books I brought with me in my luggage, so you know it's a good 'un in my view! :)

[RawBogan]

Oh yeah, I WAS vegetarian last year for 6 months with no detectable strength loss. I had a fair amount of hemp protein and am at this stage happy to buy into the argument that leafy greens supply enough(in large quantities) quality amino acids as building blocks for protein production. It makes sense to me.

[Eva]

Oh yeah, I WAS vegetarian last year for 6 months with no detectable strength loss. I had a fair amount of hemp protein and am at this stage happy to buy into the argument that leafy greens supply enough(in large quantities) quality amino acids as building blocks for protein production. It makes sense to me.

There you are again with more great information! :) Hubby's already gone from the office, but I will pass this along too. It's not new information, but coming from a stone mason, it's different!

[Ivana]

Thank you all, for all the great advice!

I feel that sport is right - I am not quite ready to go totally raw, but I am working on it (and thanks re bowel movements, I found the poo thread here, very amusing and also reassuring!). Even being semi-raw is a very powerful experience for the body.

I will take up the advice on adding blueberries to my smoothies, I have plenty in the freezer (I am in the UK and I prefer to buy my veg in season and locally).

I do prefer eating my seeds to adding them to my smoothie, so I will just have a serving of mixed seeds with my smoothie in the morning, I think.

I am still reading through the threads on this site, so much great advice! Must do some work now though ;)

[modernmonkey]

Just wanted to let the OP know that in my first week an unannounced poo accompanied every wee I had. It felt like a cleansing process. Things should settle down.

[Eva]

Just wanted to let the OP know that in my first week an unannounced poo accompanied every wee I had. It felt like a cleansing process. Things should settle down.

Just wanted you to know this made me smile because it's so familiar. So funny!

[modernmonkey]

Just wanted you to know this made me smile because it's so familiar. So funny!

I'm delighted I can make you smile with my bowel movements. Any other requests?

[Eva]

I'm delighted I can make you smile with my bowel movements. Any other requests?

*giggle* I dunno. Any good awkward moments? I love those! :woot:

[Eva]

P.S. Hey Ivana... something happened today that made me think of you. Good reminder actually! I upped my green smoothie to 2 liters instead of the usual 1 because it was SO GOOD! (Everything was fresh and local, including mangos from our mango trees -- totally ridiculously good.)

After the smoothie, I was on Cloud 9 and had this really intense high from the nutrients hitting me all at once. But got really spacey at one point not too long after. And then when it came time for hunger again, it hit HARD, like I had to eat STRAIGHT AWAY or trouble was looming ahead.

So I did, and I was craving avocado big time. I had a HUGE salad with a whole avocado (the Brazilian ones are HUGE -- so picture 2 haas avocados). This helped.

But it reminded me of the detox stage I went through way back when green smoothies and all this raw craziness were new to me... sometimes you just have to eat a LOT of really healthy stuff to keep your energy up. And sometimes you need more fruit in the smoothie to balance out the intensity of the greens (in so few calories, some can really pack a punch!).

Anyways, I know you're coasting pretty well now (AWESOME!) but I'm just sharing that in case it's a help to you. :)

[Ivana]

Thanks, modernmonkey and Eva, your experiences are greatly appreciated!

I wish I had mango trees! Not possible in the UK :(

This morning I had a smoothie of rocket leaves, 2 bananas and a cup of blueberries - so yummy! Also 1/2 cup mixed seeds.

My bowels seem to have calmed down now, yesterday 2 movements only.

(can't believe I am discussing poo online with my real name!)

[Ivana]

Hello again, I'm doing just fine with my smoothies now, feeling good and slowly adding more raw veg and fruit to my diet and phasing out cooked food.

I have noticed a vast improvement in my sense of smell, it's great!

Also I have no longer got a sticking out tummy, so I can start wearing my tighter dresses again! It's like I haven't got all that slowly digested food taking up spaced anymore ;)

Eva, I started oil pulling, like you suggest on your site, I have high hopes for this as I have suffered from acne since I was a young teenager. My skin is feeling smoother already.

But I need your advice again: I have got the nastiest mouth ulcer at the moment and it looks like there is another one coming, both on the inside of my lower left lip (I also mainly get spots on the left side of my chin, very strange). Why is that? What can I do? I do get them like once or twice a year, but I have never found anything that worked.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Ditch the soy milk...... so not good for your thyroid gland

You can make delicious raw vegan milk in not time. What come to worst buy the rice milk instead but the raw vegan milk is so much better (Contain all the enzymes).

Consider to go 100% raw food. You need a good 30-40 to reset your body and be free from any cook food craving. Alissa DVD will help you to do this.

Protein is an amino acid and you only need 8 essentialS of them for your body. A simple apple or a simple tomato has them all. Amino acid are in all plant base food. Get also the book Brigitt Marsh (Rawsome). Not expensive and very informative.

I love Brendon Brazier. I buy also his product.