Green Smoothie Power and a Recipe

I knew green smoothies are good for you, but who knew they were THIS good for you?!  I've gone raw before, and always done some green smoothies.  But usually they just had a leaf or two of kale.  Now, after re-reading Victoria Boutenko's Green For Life, I'm determined to develop a taste for more greens.

Turns out, it's not as hard as you'd think!  The more greens you get, the more you want.  Before green smoothies, the only greens I got, aside from green vegetables, was iceberg or romaine lettuce.  So back then, I started slow, with 1 kale leaf, a lot of fruit, and agave.  This time around, I'm getting ambitious, so I've been adding raw asparagus, broccoli, dandelion greens, new-growth pine branch tips, etc.  Yep, you heard me, PINE TREES!

I've been drinking about 48 ounces of green smoothie every day for about the last five days...half for breakfast, half for lunch.  I haven't really deliberately changed much other than that.  Of course, as a side effect, I've had less room for the standard junk.

I'm noticing that the more greens I add, the more results I'm seeing.  And, the more tolerant I am to adding even more greens!  Here are some of my results:

1.  Less pain (back and neck pain had been increasing as I ate worse and worse, now it's getting much better)

2.  Less insomnia (easier time getting to sleep, staying asleep, and sleeping more deeply)
3.  More energy (able to motivate myself to exercise, have more stamina)

4.  Less fatigue (not getting sleepy in the afternoons, getting by better on the little sleep I get)
5.  Can't seem to finish my meals
6.  Cooked food (especially junk) isn't as appealing anymore (wished I'd had a salad instead of soup last night)

There is a lot more, I'm sure, but that's what I'm remembering right now. 
So if you're new to raw or to green smoothies and haven't eaten many greens in the past, start out slow.  Maybe 1 kale leaf, with some mild veggies like carrots or cucumber, and some sweet fruit, like oranges and bananas.  If you still don't like it, keep adding stuff til you do, like a natural sweetener such as agave.  Yes, I know, some raw foodists think agave is evil.  My jury is still out on that.  However, if someone is trying to transition to raw, or is just looking to add something good to their daily diet, do what works for you.  Start out with a little kale and a lot of fruit, then work to add in a little more greens at a time, and start subtracting fruit and sweetener.  Next thing you know, you'll be seeing amazing results for yourself!

Here's a recipe I came up with today. It's pretty tasty.  I got really gutsy and upped the kale to 3 humongous leaves.  If you're a beginner, but way back on the kale (maybe one regular leaf to start), and add more fruit fruit (and if you feel you need it, some agave nectar to sweeten it more).  All that matters now is getting started and sticking with it--you can add in more greens and start minimizing fruit and sweeteners as you get used to it. 

2 small oranges
1 large banana
1 handful of frozen mango chunks
3 giant leaves kale
1/2 cucumber with skin on (cucumber is good for your skin)
Agave (to taste if you want it--I actually added NO agave today...yay for me!)

Blend until smooth.  Drink.  Feel the radiance!

I usually add soaked goji berries or powdered superfoods, but I went as natural as possible today.