Happy May!
As you guys know, I like to start the month off with a list of things I think would help make it a little happier/fun/fit. Since May is already a pretty awesome month, I was having a hard time thinking of things that would make it extra amazing. Since so many of you joined me for a green meal a day in March, I thought we would do something similar for this month.
How about a smoothie a day in May?
Smoothies are so refreshing in the toasty weather and are a great way to get in a lot of nutrients with hardly any prep.
Here are some of my favorite smoothie essentials:
Smoothie components:
-Liquid: Milk of choice, juice, coffee or water
-Protein: protein powders, nuts/seeds, nut butters
-Fruit: frozen fruit is the best way to go because then you don’t need to add ice, which waters smoothies down. I’ll always split browning bananas in half and put them in a bag in the freezer for smoothie purposes.
-Greens: spinach is my favorite because it has such a mild taste, but many people like the taste of kale or chard in their smoothies, too. Seeded cucumber, fresh mint and spirulina are fun ways to add in some green.
-Texture: Nuts/seeds (I’ll soak most nuts so they’re a little softer to blend), bananas and avocado with give smoothies a beautiful texture, yogurt and oats are a great way to bulk up a smoothie.
-Fats: You always want to make sure you have a little bit of fat in your smoothie to aid in nutrient absorption. My fave options are nut butter, chia seeds, hemp seeds and coconut oil.
-Extras: goji berries (soak in water to soften), espresso powder, sweetener (dates, Stevia, sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc) flavored extracts, shredded coconut, cinnamon and other spices, chocolate chips, cacao nibs….
Smoothies can be a very satisfying meal if you make sure to add in protein, healthy fat and enough calories to sustain you. If my smoothie is on the smaller side, I’ll enjoy it with a piece of toast with nut butter, a Larabar, amazeball or a salad.
(Amazeball + oats atop a smoothie pool. Try it, you’ll like it)
Make-ahead tip: put all of your smoothie ingredients in the main part of the blender and place it in the fridge overnight. The fruit may soften a little, but in the morning, all you have to do is blend and go
Throughout the month, I’ll share some smoothie recipes with you, and please link to your smoothies in the comment section, or tweet me your daily pics @fitnessista #smoothieaday
For inspiration, here are some awesome recipes:
-Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie
Who’s in for the challenge? What’s your go-to smoothie combo?
Mine: almond milk, banana, frozen berries, nut butter, Sun Warrior, spinach, Stevia
Happy blending 
xoxo
Gina
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
Although I missed today, I’m going to attempt this…I love smoothies, I just get tired of cleaning out the blender!
My fav. combo is almond milk, frozen banana, PB, and spinach…simple yet classic!
Yeah that’s my biggest hold up about smoothies, I HATE cleaning the blender lol.
LOVE this! Smoothies make life so much more tolerable. And by that I mean, well, they make breakfast feel like you’re eating ice cream every day! I’ve tried carob powder or unsweetened extra dark cocoa powder and it feels like straight up Dairy Queen, in a wholesome way. Smoothie day in May, yess!
Great idea, especially with summer coming up. I’m excited to get my vita-mix up and roaring again
Love this challenge! My Vitamix is almost as excited as I am. This made me think of your question about whether or not it’s a good idea to “Hide” veggies in dishes for kids….well I do that to my hubby. Haha. He has no idea that he is slurping spinach and flax seeds. Happy blending!
For some reason I just can’t do “green monsters” … it’s the last thing I crave for breakfast and when I make them after a workout or any other time of the day, I just get tired of it halfway through and the thought of finishing it kind of makes me gag. So yes, I’m weird. I’ll reserve my smoothie time to the few months or weeks when it’s 30°C and more in Germany. That might make me crave a smoothie… we’ll see
A smoothie a day is such a great ‘get into summer’ idea! I like choco soy milk, strawberries, honey, Greek yogourt, spinach and hemp hearts. Do you know where I could buy the sun warrior protein for the lowest price?
I’ll join you, because I’ve been doing a smoothie a day since Jan. 1 and I’m HOOKED. I have a big green smoothie every a.m. – my favorite combo is 1 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 small frozen banana (I bag ‘em ahead of time too), 2 T. PB2 (chocolate or regular), 2 T. hemp seed, 1 t. coconut oil, 1 packet probiotic powder (unflavored, no calories – using GoLive right now), romaine lettuce and baby spinach to fill the blender (and I JAM it in!), a little bit of H2O to thin it out a bit. Whirl and guzzle. Love it!
I am having a mild smoothie obsession lately. Although the possibilities are endless, you can also end up with some pretty grody smoothies – so I’m always open to new favorites!
My husband drinks a smoothie almost every morning. I usually drink 1 about 3x a week. I’ll have to up my smoothie intake this month!
When i make smoothies for the husband & I, we always yell “Smoooooooothies!” when i turn the blender on. (like Cameron Diaz in What Happens in Vegas)
My go-to smoothie: Almond milk, frozen banana, almond butter, blueberries, JuicePlus Complete (protein)
who doesn’t love smoothies!???
my go to: almond milk, frozen banana, bunch of spinach, sunwarrior vanilla, chia seeds!
Just made the chocolate cherry bomb with pumpkin instead of banana (I was out) last week, and It.Was.FreakingAmazing….I’m a total convert. Love the texture and the pumpkin flavor melts into the smoothie better than ripe bananas. Mmm… I’m going to love this month!
I wished I loved smoothies! I just feel like they are always too calorie dense for a “drink” (despite them being an actual meal… it just feels like a drink!)
But I think in the future, when my meals are based more on weight-maintenance than loss, I might come around to the glory that is the smoothie!
I can definitely get on board with this challenge! I think a few cashews make smoothies taste like cake batter!
That is VERY interesting and sounds tastie!!! I must try!!!
This is great! I will definitely participate
Maybe you could post what you put in your smoothies each day too to give us some ideas? My go-to mix is juice, yogurt (Greek or regular), frozen mixed berries (blueberries, black,berries, strawberries + raspberries), frozen kale/fresh spinach, + flax.
It’s funny that you came up with this because I totally had a smoothie yesterday (and it’s been a long time) and I Just had this longing for one!! I totally will keep up the trend today, too!!
Smoothie-a-day in May sounds awesome! I don’t know if I’ll get around to participating every day but I’ll certainly try! Great tip about putting all the ingredients in the fridge overnight- that might be what it takes for me to be able to have smoothies in the morning! My smoothies usually include: frozen berries, spinach, protein powder, cocoa, cinnamon, stevia and almond milk!
[...] more nutrients in my diet. It was a great coincidence when the Fitnessista set out the challenge smoothie a day for May. This morning it was my breakfast but it also works as a great quick lunch when your jetting out [...]
http://whippeditup.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/mason-jar-smoothie/
I forgot how good bananas where in smoothies, can’t taste all the kale I put it:) Nutritious and delicious.
I’m on a big smoothie kick right now, so this is right up my alley! Already did my smoothie for breakfast today!
I make a version of the chocolate cherry bomb and it is amazing! I usually just use frozen dark cherries, a scoop of chocolate amazing grass and some milk of choice! It is my favorite!
I love making smoothies but I wounder if I’m eating too much when I add them in. I normally have one in the morning on my way to work. Mine are made without protein powder. But I also eat my breakfast before I have it. Breakfast usually consists of cereal or oatmel. I don’t work out until later that evening. Is that too much for my morning?
I love this! I will be joining you! My go to smoothie recipe: 1 cup water, 2 cups kale, 2 cups spinach, 1 cup frozen berries. SOOO good! My 3 boys all drink this up and ask for more!
I missed this post, so I was playing along without even realizing! I need to buy spinach. This week, my smoothies have been basic: a banana, hazelnut milk, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. I never add sweetener to mine, but I like a little chocolate. It makes it feel so much more decadent and worth cleaning my blender.
For those who hate cleaning the blender, a standard mason jar will screw on to your blender blade (at least this is the case with my later) and you can drink right out of the jar, just need to rinse the blade after. I kicked off the challenge with BlackBerry banana. Yum!
whoooooaaa what a great tip!
thanks for all the great smoothie ideas!! can’t wait to try them all.
when you put oats in your smoothies, do you cook them ahead of time? thanks!! xo
Today I did this peanut buttery chocolate goodness http://www.thegetinshapeworkoutplan.com/low-calorie-chocolate-peanut-butter-banana-smoothie/
Thanks for link love lady – just realized that you linked to my blackberry smoothie.
I love this idea!
I’m not a huge smoothie drinker in the winter, but now that it’s warming up I’m excited to start drinking them again. My favourite combo is milk, yogurt, spinach, banana, strawberries and ground flax!
[...] a lovely Thursday. I gotta make a smoothie (it is Smoothie a Day in May afterall) and get back to work. [...]
I LOVE this post! I definitely needed more smoothie recipes. My go-to is 1 c unsweetened almond milk, 1 c frozen mango, 1/2 c frozen berries, 1 heaping T almond butter, 1 T cocoa powder, 1 T vanilla brown rice protein powder, 2 dates and 2 large handfuls of spinach. Sometimes I will substitute the cocoa powder for 70% cacao dark chocolate from whole foods. It’s my fave!
[...] taking part in Fitnessista’s Smoothie a Day in May and so far I’ve had a delicious smoothie every day this week (trying to make them green as much [...]