Lessons from 4,228 smoothies

A practical guide

Since receiving my Blendtec blender(s) nearly 12 years ago, I have made 4,228 smoothies.

That’s an average of 0.96 smoothies a day or 6.72 smoothies a week.

So what does it take to drink 6.72 smoothies a week for 12 years?

Discipline? A love of cold food? The palette of a small child averse towards texture?

Let’s find out.

The origin story

My mom got me a juicer for my birthday when I was 17.

I had been into health and fitness for a few years at this point and was on the cusp of making wellness my entire personality. A juicer was the key to achieving my final form.

Shortly after receiving the juicer, I drove 20 minutes to our local organic market and purchased $40 worth of fruits and vegetables, plus a supplement called Acidophilus that I read about on the internet once.

I then spent 45 minutes peeling, cutting, and preparing produce for my juice. I shoved oddly shaped pieces of pineapple and naked beets into the machine with a whoosh until I was left with a single cup of sugar water and a pile of undesirable mush which I promptly threw into the garbage.

I repeated this tedious process twice more until all the fruits and vegetables were gone. I then informed my mom that all the fruits and vegetables were gone, and we would need to purchase more.

What happened to the fruits and vegetables?

I made juice.

How much juice?

Three juices.

How much did it cost?

$40.

The next day, I woke up and my juicer was gone. In its place was a shiny new Blendtec blender and a 120 page book on smoothies.

A Blendtec it said has the ability to blend all parts of a fruit and vegetable whole, no cutting or peeling required. This maintains the full nutritional profile of the food while reducing waste.

It was on this day that I became a smoothie girl.

The perfect food

What compelled 17 year old me to adopt a daily smoothie habit is impossible to say. But I do know why I still drink smoothies to this day, and that is for the simple reason that smoothies make me feel really really really good.

Shortly after I started drinking smoothies on a regular basis, I noticed my skin was a little bit brighter, my mood a little bit better, and my hair a little bit thicker. I sipped on chunky spirulina protein greens and made a mental note of every positive sensation I experienced, filing it away in Pavlovian fashion.

People often tell me I have “discipline”, but it’s not discipline at all (maybe a little bit).

It’s mostly just me doing something that makes me feel good, and prioritizing that long-term good feeling over the short-term discomfort of making a smoothie.

What’s really in my smoothie

It’s important to remember that choking down liters of disgusting liquid is a right of passage in the health world. Fortunately, I have moved past that phase, as you will too.

Here is the **basic** recipe I follow to make my smoothies today.

1-2 cups of neutral bulking vegetables. Great for adding body to your smoothie and bulking it up with some fiber. Easy to hide. Mostly used to add volume and get my veggie quota up.

2 handfuls of dark leafy greens. Most nutritional bang for your buck and so easy to hide. Do not skimp on dark leafy greens. Add as many handfuls as you can stomach.

1 serving of fat. Fat is important for satiety and the absorption of fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K). Fat will also emulsify your smoothie and keep it from separating which is very important.

1 cup of frozen fruit. I used to put bananas in my smoothie, but it was too banana-y. Then I became a purist and avoided any fruit in my smoothies whatsoever. Now I add a small cup of frozen fruit mostly just to make everything cold and because I like the way it enhances the texture.

Turmeric root and/or ginger root. I like the spice. Plus turmeric is highly anti-inflammatory and ginger is great for your immune system, so might as well throw it in.

1 scoop of protein powder. Never skip protein powder.

1 scoop of collagen. Fun fact, I’ve technically never been 100% vegan because I’ve been taking collagen for the last 8 years. I swear it’s helped with all of my weird joint things, including repairing a strained hamstring back in college.

1-3 fun powders. I buy a lot of random powders and throw a few into my smoothie each day depending on how I’m feeling.

1-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar. If you have a fruity smoothie and you add vanilla protein powder to it, throw in some apple cider vinegar to brighten it up and balance out the flavor. It is the trick to making any smoothie taste more balanced.

Very practical tips to maintaining a smoothie habit

I prep everything in the morning (and sometimes in bulk). I’ve come a long way from my juicing days, but I still have to cut veggies for my smoothies everyday which is a little annoying at 7 am and an insurmountable chore at 3pm. I find that if I spend 10 minutes in the morning preparing all of the ingredients for my smoothie then put it in a bowl in the fridge for later, it increases the chances of me having a smoothie later that day (or I just blend it in the morning and stick it in the fridge).

I streamline ingredient additions. I add a minimum of 3 powders to my smoothies, and sometimes as much as 5 or 6. Rather than individually screwing and unscrewing 6 different containers, I’ve experimented with combining powders or seeds together and then taking a scoop of that amalgamated mixture and putting it into my smoothie to speed up this process. I also like to put different greens powders into spice jars to make them easier to sprinkle in.

I treat it like a supplement, not a food. I know I’ve been calling smoothies “food”, but for me, it really is more like a supplement. Having a smoothie each day means I meet my daily minimum requirement of fruits and vegetables, along with a healthy dose of protein, inflammation fighting superfoods, micronutrients, and more. This mindset shift can help you be consistent.

I make one even if I don’t want one. There are many days that I do not want a smoothie. In fact, at least 40% of the time, I do not want a smoothie. But I make one anyway and then I end up drinking it because I made it.

Kelly + Smoothie FAQs

Below are the answers to some questions that are frequently asked of me and my smoothies. Going forward, all questions regarding my smoothies will be redirected to this FAQ.

What’s in your smoothie?

My smoothie is different most days, but generally follows the recipe as outlined in the section above. Please refer to that recipe.

Why is it that color?

If the smoothie is an unsavory color, this is likely because I combined something green (vegetables or greens powder) with something red and or blue (frozen berries). No, the color does not bother me.

Does it actually taste good?

Most of the time. Sometimes, I add too much peppercorn or apple cider vinegar or dandelion greens and it does taste quite bad, but I drink it anyway.

Does it keep you full/satisfied?

Most of the time, yes. If your smoothies are not satisfying, add more fat and protein. Avoid all fruit smoothies and smoothies without protein or fat (this is a juice, refer to the story in the first section).

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Life has been very busy lately, which is mostly a good thing. It just means I don’t have as much creative energy right now, but I’m embracing this season of productivity. I would like to share that I have been taking AG1 for about a month now and I don’t think it’s done much for me. Seems a bit expensive for the results (none), but I’ll give it another month and see just to be sure.

Thanks for reading, xoxo Kelly