7 Strategies For Smoothie Success (With Recipe)

Smoothies are a great way to pack nutrients and flavor into your day. They are easy to make and transport; the only limitation is your imagination!

To ensure that you sip on a deliciously smooth smoothie every time, follow these 7 tips (and check out my favorite detoxifying smoothie recipe below):

1. Follow the smooth order.

For the most efficient blend (and the smoothest consistency), pour liquids into the container first. This helps the blades get moving when you turn on your blender and encourages the solid ingredients to liquefy more evenly. Next, add powdered ingredients such as cacao, protein blends, and superfood powders, and cover them with soft ingredients like bananas, avocados, fresh berries and cucumber. This keeps the powders from flying up into the lid. After that, throw in hard ingredients like frozen fruits and raw fibrous vegetables. Always throw the ice in last, to help the machine pull all the other ingredients down into the blades for even mixing.

Note: With personal blenders (since you fill, and then invert the container onto the motor to blend), reverse this order and put ice in first.

2. Choose premium produce.

Using locally grown organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs in season and at the peak of ripeness supports your local community and gives you flavor-rich blends that are healthy and free of synthetic pesticides and genetic modification. That said, organic produce can be expensive. A good way to compromise is to focus on the produce that’s most susceptible to pesticides. Use the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list as your guide for buying organic versions of these: organic leafy greens, berries, broccoli, apples, bell peppers, grapes, kiwis, peaches, nectarines and celery.

3. Buy fresh, keep fresh.

Storing foods properly maximizes longevity, freshness and flavor. Bananas, citrus, kiwis, tomatoes, pears, and whole mangoes, papayas and melons are best kept on the counter at room temperature. Once they’re peeled and sliced, they should go into the fridge in sealed containers. Apples, berries and stone fruits (peaches, apricots, plums, cherries and nectarines) fare better in the fridge. Allow your avocados to ripen at room temperature, but put them in the fridge to slow their ripening or to keep them at their prime longer. Raw nuts and seeds, as well as cold-pressed oils (except olive and coconut), are best stored cold. Superfoods and protein powders, once their packages are opened, keep better chilled, too.

4. Wash your produce thoroughly.

Fruits and vegetables can carry soil, bacteria and pesticide residue, and should be cleaned just prior to using. (Washing in advance is a quick road to rapid rot.) Use a vegetable brush, and rinse under cold water. I wash all produce with a solution of 1 tablespoon of baking soda plus 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice per quart (liter) of water, and then rinse well. You can peel foods with edible skins, but much of the goodness in those fruits and veggies is in the skins or just beneath, so I prefer to leave them on.

5. Use a variety of ingredients.

I use a range of fresh and frozen fruits for flavor, texture, color and nutritional variety. I freeze, stew, or dehydrate produce that has been picked at the peak of ripeness and flavor for year-round use. Dried apricots and pears, and unsweetened pear and apricot purees add enormous flavor to smoothies, as do pumpkin butter and applesauce.

6. Freeze your fruit.

Fresh, ripe, seasonal fruit adds exquisite flavor to smoothies. But I use some fruits frozen even when they’re in season, for a slushy or creamy consistency and ultimate chill factor. Frozen fruit thickens smoothies and reduces the need for plain ice, which waters down flavor. Frozen fruit is also convenient and allows you to enjoy favorites year-round. Buying fruit in season and freezing it will generally save money as well.

7. Add vegetables — as you like them.

Vegetables of various kinds work into smoothies with great success — raw, steamed and roasted. Don’t rule out raw veggies frozen, either — our taste buds are temperature-sensitive, so frozen produce is milder in flavor. (In small quantities, you won’t even taste most things.) Vegetables that are best used fresh are leafy greens, carrots, onions, peas and fruits we often consider vegetables, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and avocados. My frozen raw picks: cauliflower, broccoli, peas, spinach and carrots; those good steamed include carrots and cauliflower; good roasted or steamed are sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash and beets.

Kidney Cleanser

Serves 2

This fresh and fabulous flusher has a multidimensional tang (add stevia to taste) that keeps the liver detoxing at full speed. Cranberry juice, cranberries and red grapes are rich in antioxidants and quinine, which help cleanse the kidneys of urea, uric acid, and other toxins. Add the boosters for more cleansing power.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unfiltered apple juice
• 1⁄2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1 cup red seedless grapes
• 1⁄4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 cup frozen cranberries
• 1 cup frozen pitted sweet cherries

Optional boosters

• 1⁄4 cup frozen raw cauliflower florets
• 1 cup baby spinach, loosely packed
• 1 teaspoon maqui powder

Preparation

Throw all of the ingredients into your blender and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and creamy.

A beautiful collection of vegan smoothies from powerhouse blogger The Blender Girl, featuring photographs, flavor boosters, and nutritional add-ons for every recipe. is available now.

Photo courtesy of the author

Tess Masters

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-20504/7-strategies-for-smoothie-success-with-recipe.html

Writing through the ‘Journey’

I found Brandon Bays’ The Journey (http://www.thejourney.com/about-us/) through the Tree of Life centre (http://www.treeoflifemagazine.co.uk/) in Birmingham, England. Reading through their magazine, my attention was drawn to the article about a method which enables cellular healing. By then, I realized that although a lot of my past traumas started to ‘make sense’ in my head, my body was not fully aboard. I still carried a lot of fear and often acted as if I still lived on survival mode.

In September 2011, I went to the two-day intensive training in Birmingham with trepidation. The lobby of the hotel where the event was held was packed with people. I didn’t know anyone and my impulse was to hide in some far corner while waiting for the doors to open. A woman in a green dress, who happened to be one of the journey practitioners, made eye contact with me and chatted with me for a couple of minutes. Her presence was soothing and reassuring. As I walked into the training room, my shoulders dropped a little.

The event itself had an amazing effect on the atmosphere in the building. It seemed as if love oozed out of walls. Brandon’s charisma, life journey, teaching through stories and her ability to move the energy in the room blew me away. The processes I shared with other participants were deeply healing. In short, I was hooked. Two weeks later, I was on my way to a similar event held in London. I was a trainer and my role was to put new participants at ease, just like the woman in green had done for me.

So, what has been The Journey’s impact on my writing?

1. As I switched from survival mode to living more fully in the present, I started connecting with my life purpose. At the Manifest Abundance retreat in Holland in 2011, I found myself voicing an impossible dream: the words ‘I want to be a published author and inspire millions’ came literally out of blue. I still need to let go of a few old patterns to truly believe these words, but I started putting one foot in front of another and walking towards writing as my true calling.                                                                       
2. There is another way in which The Journey has a huge impact on my writing. One of the features of The Journey process is a visualisation where at a so-called ‘camp fire’ you have an opportunity to voice things you were not able to convey in the past, due to young age or fear, for example. It is not a monologue though. At some point, you give a chance to the people involved to tell their side of the story. At first, it feels weird to imagine what the other person might say in response. But gradually, I learnt to trust the process. Whatever comes out of my or their mouth somehow feels believable and spot on. So, when I write about my childhood, it’s enough to tune into the ‘scene’ and dialogue literally pours out of me. I have learnt to surrender to this process and go with the flow.                                                                                            
3. Most importantly, The Journey process has taught me to regard traumatic events of my life as lessons I can learn from… and then let them go. Finally, I got that I was not my story. What I used to regard as deadly sins and unforgivable mistakes can be my salvation. Some events of my life I used to despise were simply stepping stones towards the life I have today. As a result, my whole perspective on life has shifted, allowing me to switch from guarding my secrets to writing a memoir. I do not need to hold on to the stories to ‘keep safe’. My safety now lies in exposing dark corners of my soul in order to shine my light in the world.                                                                         

Author Bio 

Dr Gulara Vincent is a writer, blogger and a university law lecturer. She lives in Birmingham, England, with her husband and two young children. You can visit her writer’s blog at http://gularavincent.com/blog

5 Proven Ways That Being Healthier Makes You More Successful

When asked for his #1 productivity tip, Richard Branson paused for a moment, leaned back and said, “Work out.” By his estimate, it added about four hours of productivity to his day.

As entrepreneurs, we often have the burning desire to make our venture succeed, no matter the cost.

We’ll stay up later, work longer, go further and push ourselves more than anyone else. We know we need to spend a few years living like most people won’t so that we can ultimately spend the rest of our life living like most people can’t.

We’ve read all the “Create Your Own Success” books and have seen all of the motivational quotes, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes.

Unfortunately all too often, “whatever it takes” means sacrificing our personal relationships, our happiness, and our health in order to succeed.

What we sometimes forget is that it’s easy to earn more money, no matter what our age.

However, when our health is neglected, it can be difficult – sometimes even impossible – to reverse the ill effects.

Neglecting our health in order to be successful in our careers leads to infinitely more downside than upside – like having a massive heart attack before the age of forty.

But what many of us may not know is that being healthy and staying fit infinitely improves our ability to earn money: it boosts productivity and energy; it accelerates how fast the brain can think and make decisions; it lets us rest and sleep better; and, most importantly, it prevents us from dying from self-inflicted illnesses of neglect.

Here’s how eating healthier and exercising more will make you richer and more successful, all while being one of the fittest people at the office.

#1 It Increases Productivity And Energy – A Lot

Entrepreneurs are obsessed with getting more done in less time. Picture this: let’s say you need to consume around 2,200 calories a day to maintain your body weight.

The brain uses up approximately 20% of your caloric intake, which in this scenario means your brain is actually using around 450 of those daily calories to function.

That’s 20% of your entire caloric intake fueling the super computer that we call your brain. As an entrepreneur or business owner, your brain is your most priceless asset.

So why neglect it?

Picture the day of the average stressed-out CEO: We wake up early, usually after a poor night of sleep.

We grab a breakfast to go, along with a coffee or a double shot of espresso. The morning is spent working or in meetings, and lunch might be a quick meal out (or we might skip it due to stress or looming deadlines).

The afternoon is spent with more meetings, working, drinking coffee, and the evenings are often more of the same. Skipping meals or eating nutrient-poor meals is depriving our brain of glucose, the energy it needs to function and work optimally.

Sticking with the right foods that contain lean proteins and low GI carbs gives us a steady release of energy and glucose, which in turn benefits the brain and ensures it’s firing on all cylinders without getting fatigued.

Of course, watching our diets isn’t the only thing we can do to keep our minds sharp: Exercising also improves brain function.

If you’re an older entrepreneur worried about losing your edge, getting your body in motion has been shown to slow down the loss of neurons and brain power.

Exercise has also been shown to boost your productivity (alertness, mood) in the hours immediately after it.

What’s more, people that regularly exercise show a permanent increases in their baseline level of energy that sticks over time, even after as little as a ten minute walk done regularly.

#2 It Punches Stress In the Face

One of the biggest, most detrimental side effects of entrepreneurship is the near-constant stress and anxiety we sometimes feel when we’re building something for the first time, wondering where our next dollar might be coming from.

Once the lizard brain takes over, it’s game over. Poor decisions are made as soon as emotions begin to enter the picture, leaving us no time to meditate on the decision or consider logical consequences.

The irony is that when we resort to drinking stimulants like coffee in excess, it increases the stress hormone cortisol.

Obviously this increases our stress levels, but there are serious health consequences ranging from increased belly fat, decreased immune function, poor quality sleep, full-on burnout, adrenal fatigue, and even hospitalization.

We’ve all heard the story of a burnt-out entrepreneur that landed themselves in the hospital with a serious health complication (typically GI-related) due to untreated stress.

Jonathan Fields, author of Uncertainty,wrote in a Huffington Post article that after several weeks of hitting deadlines while trying to prove himself as “the rookie,” – which involved drinking way too many double espressos and sleeping under his desk a couple hours a night – his immune system collapsed, and he had a perforated intestine with a baseball-sized mass that required immediate surgery.

Here’s the kicker: It all apparently occurred in less than a month.

Exercise and eating nutrient-dense foods also helps lower the anxiety, depression and stress levels that we can feel due to constant time crunches, deadlines and board meetings.

Another bonus: If you’re dealing with failures or wildly fluctuating moods, regular exercise has been shown to be more effective at perking you up than the antidepressant Zoloft.

#3 It Improves Your Memory

An unfortunate side effect of always been frazzled is that it kills your memory. In one study, aerobic exercise was shown to actually increase the volume of the hippocampus – the part of the brain dealing with memory and learning skills.

Regular exercise will not only decrease inflammation throughout the body and your brain, but it also will stimulate the release of growth factors that help protect the brain and keep it young.

This doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym: Just taking a ten minute walk in between projects or before lunch has actually been shown to boost mood, energy, productivity and more.

The above study done that actually increased certain parts of the brain was done on people walking 120 minutes a week – about 15 minutes per day.

#4 It Helps You Make Smarter, Faster Decisions

Picture this: You’re grinding it out one Tuesday morning, and you’re getting a bit foggy so you decide to take a break. You hop on over to Hacker News, look back up at the clock and realize it’s been an hour. “I need to be more focused and disciplined,” we tell ourselves. Well, being healthy and exercising can help with that too.

One study done on adolescents and young adults found that physical exercise dramatically improved executive functions (self control, memory, decision making, learning, etc.).

Why and how it works is simple: Moving more increases the heart rate and blood flow, which increases oxygenation of the brain. Sitting fourteen hours a day at your desk staring at a computer doesn’t help.

Multiple studies have found that after 30 minutes of doing an easy half hour bike ride, subjects performed much better (and faster) on a series of cognitive tests. Maybe the fact that working out (along with meditation) isone of the two most common daily health habits of millionaires says something?

#5 It Prevents You From Dying Young (Seriously)

Consider the life of the average start-up founder, solo-preneur or new business owner. Lack of sleep? Check. Constant reliance on stimulants (either legal or illegal?) Check. An ever-present feeling of stress and anxiety? Check.

Skipping meals or eating quick meals that aren’t exactly calorie-dense? Check. All four of these are serious risk factors for metabolic syndrome, the precursor to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and more.

In other words, when you get fat and out of shape, your risk of developing pretty much every disease and negative health condition increases – that doesn’t exactly make your life as an entrepreneur easier.

And if the other four reasons weren’t a compelling reason to eat healthier and move more, hopefully death is.

Even the symptoms leading up to metabolic syndrome impair your ability to perform at your absolute best. As your weight increases, energy decreases.

Men will have higher levels of female hormones, women will have very high levels of female hormones. Productivity decreases, sleep worsens, stress levels elevate.

Fighting the cult of productivity isn’t easy though. Thinking that we should cut corners to save an hour here and there to devote to building our empire can seem like a logical decision, but unfortunately it’s a shortsighted one.

Not only will being healthy actually boost your productivity, energy, happiness, mood and more, you’ll also look and feel much better and avoid an early grave. What’s more? It’ll make you a lot more money – with your sanity intact.

What’s worked for you? Share it below.

BY ALEXANDER HEYNE

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-proven-ways-healthier-makes-successful/

Recipe: These easy avocado eggs will revolutionize your mornings

A breakfast that’s nourishing, easy, and delicious is the unicorn of busy weekday mornings, which is why this avocado egg from nutritionist Tara Milhem deserves your full a.m. attention.

It’s as easy as cracking an egg into an avocado and baking it (so basically, foolproof). Plus it’s full of protein and omega-3s. Doesn’t that sound a little more exciting than your greek yogurt and strawberries? —Emily Karr

Baked Avocado Egg
Makes two servings

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 avocado
½ lemon, squeezed
Sea salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, then scoop out the inside of the avocado leaving half an inch in the rim. Break the egg into the avocado. Don’t worry if the whites spill over, just clean the sides and place on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle lemon juice, salt, and pepper over both avocado halves. Bake for 10 minutes or until the yolks set.

For more information visit www.thewholetara.com

(Photo: The Whole Tara)

http://wellandgood.com/2015/06/26/recipe-healthy-easy-avocado-eggs/

Are YOU Intuitive? Here’s 7 Ways To Find Out

Do you sometimes wonder if you are intuitive or have some degree of a spiritual gift, but just not sure if you do or how to tap into it? This article will help you discover your intuitive sense!

1. You Know When Someone Is Calling

Does a family member or friend pop into your mind and minutes later the phone rings and it’s them?

Or the other way around, the phone rings and you think of them and that’s EXACTLY who’s calling?

This is a common sign of your intuitive sense coming to life!

You can even practice this and use it as a fun psychic game. Record how many times you’re right to track your accuracy!

2. You Feel The Emotions Of Others

You find yourself at the check out line at the store and you start to feel sad, agitated or depressed and not sure why? I mean you were fine 5 minutes ago, right?

You greet the checker and she’s cordial but you feel that you’ve upset her somehow? This may just be your empathetic sense kicking in.

You have the ability to pick up on the feelings, emotions and thoughts of others. This one can be so confusing because you can really think it’s YOUR thoughts, feelings and emotions.

This happens to many empaths, but can be eased by simply determining what belongs to you vs. the other person.

One of the best ways to assign ownership is to ask, “Is this my emotion or someone else?” Listen to the answer you get.

You might just be surprised at how often it’s NOT associated with you at all!

3. You Feed Off Of Energy

Let’s say you realize you are an empath, now what?

Do you have to go through the rest of your life feeling everything around you? Nope!

There’s an exercise that will help you only hold onto what’s yours.

Imagine yourself in a clear box.This box surrounds you completely.

You can see through it and it doesn’t limit your ability to push your energy out, but the energy of others cannot permeate the box. You are safe in this box.

This will help you isolate your emotions and feelings and not take on those of others around you.

4. You Know What To Do – Even If You Don’t Know Why

You’re driving in your car. Next think you know you hear a voice inside of your head saying turn left, but you decide to turn right because you’re listening to the navigation system.

As you turn right, the road has been blocked off for construction. Darn! You should’ve turned LEFT! UGH!

That was your intuition trying to save you the trouble and aggravation of having to go through the entire detour!

5. You Are Connected With Your Spirit

Have you ever seen a flash of light or shadow out of the corner of your eye? It was so quick.

You wonder “Did I imagine it?” Chances are… probably not!

This really might be you connecting with spirit.

That can feel scary, but just ask that spirit only working for the white light or positive light for your highest good step forward and this will help protect you from negative energies.

6. You Can Hear Your Higher Self Guiding You

You hear a voice inside of your head.

You think you’re crazy. Really, you genuinely think you are crazy.

This voice is probably your higher self, your guide or spirit talking with you.

Listen up! What special messages they have for you!

7. You Seem To Predict Events

You have a dream about an event. An earthquake, a tragedy or passing of someone.

You wake up feeling startled and you can’t seem to shake the dream.

You grab your morning cup of coffee and jump on the internet to check the latest new and there it is-right in front of you-your dream! You dream of something and then is happens… this is a form of premonition.

Again, your intuitive sense at work for you.

You can keep a journal by your bedside and as soon as you wake up from a dream jot it down.

Record the dreams with dates so that you can see what dreams come true and the timing of these dreams. You can set an intention just before bedtime to ask your higher self to remember the dreams as accurately as possible.

You would be surprised at how much this helps!

Understanding your intuitive self can sometimes feel scary and you may not know how to process the information you are receiving, but trust what you are getting.

The more you can trust and surrender to this compass of Scooby sense the more you will feel a sense of balance.

Find places that you can hone and improve your senses. Work with certified professionals who have a reputation for their work.

You might just find a place within yourself that feels safe and some new friends in the process!

By Colby

http://www.finerminds.com/mind-power/are-you-intuitive-heres-7-ways-to-find-out/

Chase Your Passion: Do These 5 Things To Achieve Your Dreams

Do you live your life with good intentions, but often breeze through your days waiting for the next gust of wind to blow you in one direction or another towards your passion?

Do you believe that the universe has a grand plan for you, but at the same time, you believe in free will?

In other words, do you hedge your bets and seek to balance life—like a surfer who acknowledges the waves beneath her board but insists on standing up tall and being in control?

Sometimes, this formula works better than others. The waves can be mighty and knock you off the board, while moments later, you are the master of the next set.

I don’t surf. In fact, I’ve never surfed. And, I didn’t see what was coming in my life, a book that would come together as a result of constant attention to a hobby I was developing: photography.

One day, I started to photograph a particularly beautiful sunset…with what I had at hand, my iPhone. I took down-and-dirty little photographs and began sharing them with friends and family, then on Facebook, then in the pages of a book.

What happened? Did life just sweep me up and hurl me into this place of being published, or did I have something to do with it? I initially thought it was both, but retrospectively, it’s worth breaking down.

Related: How To Find Your Purpose

So what actually happened? Was it dumb luck? Or was there some order and planning in the way things turned out?

It occurs to me that some elements that went into this project could be replicated, given the right conditions.

How To Go After Your Dream

1. Passion 

I fell in love with the sun and opened a space in my heart and my life to take in its beauty. I found something that I could not live without. That I was compelled to share and that filled me up in a way unlike the rest of the events of my daily life.

Related: 3 Ways To Live A Life Full Of Passion

What are you passionate about? Take inventory of what activities, interests, investments bring you the most satisfaction. One of these, your passion, could be your secret weapon for success. How you feel when you review these things will be a good indicator to determine what it is that “juices you.”

2. Ritual

I embraced my passion on a regular basis. I was dedicated every day to capturing the sun’s beauty through the lens of a camera. Depending on the time of year, I always knew when to be available to shoot the pictures.

Be sure to carve out a particular time of your day or week to schedule in attention to your project. Pencil it in. Consider it a priority like you do brushing your teeth, or washing your hair. A ritual is meant to be a repetitive action.

Related: 8 Reasons To Learn How To Build Good Habits

3. Focus

I kept the expression of my passion focused to a narrow (yet boundless) subject matter, the rising and setting sun. Sure, I enjoyed taking pictures of my cats, of my friends, and the many water birds that South Florida is known for. And, sometimes these birds even landed on the terrace rail. (I have to admit, one of them made the book!)

It’s easy to be distracted, but do what you can to stay on your course towards chasing your passion. If necessary, turn off electronic devices when you’re working on your project. Think of your project as if it were a mantra in your meditation which serves to pull your thoughts back to a single focal point. Your project is your mantra.

Related: 10 Powerful Mantras That Can Change Your Life

4. Testing 

I shared my photos with family and friends and the public at large through Facebook and Instagram and received rave reviews and many encouragements to put them in a book. Had I missed this step, how would I know that what I was doing was of any interest to the outside world. How would I know there was a market?

When friends saw pictures of mine on Facebook and suggested I put them into a book, I listened. However informal this step was, it informed my decision to move ahead with a book.

Take stock of who around you is best suited to provide feedback for your work. Who do you trust? Who do you know will be honest with you and give you constructive criticism?

Try to even think beyond your circle of friends. Who might you call upon to be a sort of focus group for your project. The more objective these people are, the better.

Related: 4 Things All Successful People Have In Common

5. Conditions

I have the advantage of working in the publishing business for twenty years so I made the most of what I had. I had an abundance of connections to both help me create a book by with inspirational passages to complement my photos and I was well-versed in media to help get the word out.

What about the situation that you’re in can support you in getting your message out? Who in your world might lead you to the right person or people to help further your project? Are there are any tools right in front of you that you might use to propel you towards success?

Look through the business cards you’ve collected and look through those emails you thought were too valuable to delete. Make lists of the people you know, of the resources you have. In these lists, I promise, help abounds.

The Takeaway

While it feels like we’re functioning by the seat of our pants and that luck is either with us or not, determining our fate, there really are forces that we’re directing that help point us in the direction of fulfilling our dreams, goals and projects. It’s just a matter of paying attention to what truly moves us, how dedicated we are to making what might seem like a pastime something more, and keeping our eye on the ball. Chase your passion and live the life of your dreams.

Kim Weiss

http://inspiyr.com/your-passion/