Wellness Wednesday Tip #38: Drink Your Salad

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Happy Wellfie Wednesday folks! Welcome back!

     This week's tip come from Aimee Depelteau, PT, DPT, CSCS, a new member of the WW crew! Be sure to be out her blog at fitnerdphysios.com. Aimee's tip this week is Drink Your Salad! Smoothies are one of the best ways to get a nutrient dense snack or meal. Here are some great ways to ensure your smoothie is healthy and tasty! 

Tips for making a healthy smoothie:

  1. Avoid adding fruit juice to reduce the sugar content of the smoothie. Instead try using foods such as oranges/apples in the smoothie and then adding water for liquid. Another alternative is using unsweetened nut milk such as almond or coconut milk to give a creamier texture.

  2. Pack it with greens. One of the best things about smoothies is that you can put a tremendous amount of healthy leafy greens in them and barely taste it! This is especially helpful when trying to get kids to eat more veggies! Some great leafy green options are spinach, kale, and collard greens.

  3. Freeze your greens. Even if you make smoothies regularly, sometimes the greens can still go bad in the refrigerator so a great way to avoid this is to put them in the freezer once you buy them. They last so much longer this way! You can buy bunches of different greens and pack them into gallon freezer bags or Tupperware containers and you’ll have greens for days!

  4. Use frozen fruit. Frozen fruit is a great option for smoothies because it avoids having to add ice to the smoothie. Plus frozen fruit lasts much longer than fresh fruit! You can also buy fresh fruit and freeze it yourself!

  5. Use add ins such as chia seeds and flax seeds. These are both great sources of Omega-3s and Fiber so they make a great addition to smoothies. When using flax seeds try to find ground flax seed and add it in the smoothie before blending. When using chia seeds add them in after the smoothie is blended before drinking because they need to absorb liquid to access their health benefits. Chia seeds will add a bit of texture to the smoothie, but they don’t change the taste. 

     Having a high quality blender such as a Vitamix can make the world of difference in smoothie making. While it is very expensive, I like to think of it as an investment in my health. I believe that Vitamix offers the option for financing a blender so that could make it a bit easier to buy one. A less expensive brand that still works decently well is the Ninja Kitchen System, and it also comes with single serve cups and a food processor! Regardless of what you use it’s better to have any kind of blender than not having one, but if you get the chance to use a Vitamix it will change your life!   

     Get out there and make yourself a smoothie and let us know how it goes! Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures again this week and tag the WW crew members (@PBernerSPT, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @fitnerdaimee, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew